First-place Orioles have right stuff to beat lefties

12:35 AM ET

BALTIMORE — Last year, the Baltimore Orioles couldn’t hit lefties. This year, they can’t not hit them.

On Friday at Camden Yards, the Birds battered Chicago White Sox southpaw Carlos Rodon en route to a 6-3 win. It was the Orioles’ third straight win against a lefty starter — they bested Chicago’s John Danks on Thursday, a day after beating the Tampa Bay Rays’ Matt Moore.

A year after going 22-23 against southpaws, Baltimore is now 5-1 in games started by lefty hurlers, including a victory in Boston that came with David Price on the mound. Their only blemish is an 8-4 loss to the Texas Rangers’ Cole Hamels, whom they still tagged for three runs and seven hits in five innnings.

Nolan Reimold’s three-run shot Friday off the White Sox’s Carlos Rodon was the most recent example of the Orioles’ dominance of lefties this season. AP Photo/Gail Burton

Not only are the O’s beating lefty starters, they’re pummeling them. In the five games combined, they’ve outscored the opposition 39-18. It’s a complete 180 for a team that last season hit much better against righties.

In 2015, Baltimore’s OPS against righties was .752, compared to just .662 against lefties. That 90-point differential was the largest in the American League and second only to the Colorado Rockies in the majors. It was also counterintuitive given how right-handed the Orioles’ lineup was last year.

Despite the drastic reverse split, …

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