As Chris Tillman struggled, Tyler Wilson was strong for the Orioles

For the Orioles, two right-handers took the mound last night, one that had been struggling lately and the other who was looking to become the majors' first 15-game winner.

Who would thought it would be Chris Tillman that would give up six runs to slow the recent momentum of the Orioles starting rotation? Who would have thought that Tyler Wilson would get back on the mound for the Orioles and be unhittable for four innings?

It was a reversal of recent fortune for both.

On July 3, Wilson was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. The day before, he had given up a career-high eight runs and three home runs in three innings at Seattle's Safeco Field. He allowed 13 runs and 19 hits in his last two starts for the Orioles as his ERA jumped to 5.22.

The Orioles had Wilson go the minors but not pitch for a period of time to freshen up his arm. Wilson then made two Norfolk starts on July 15 and 20 with mixed results. He yielded six runs in 5 1/3 innings, pitching two short starts to keep that arm fresh and have him available to rejoin the Orioles if needed.

Last night he was needed and he came through. He faced 12 batters and retired them all on just 40 pitches. He was rolling.

Much different from his recent games in both Baltimore and Norfolk.

After Tillman went just five innings in last night's 6-3 loss to Colorado, Wilson saved the bullpen for tonight with his outing. If the bullpen contributes to a win tonight, you know manager Buck Showalter will point to Wilson's outing Tuesday helping the team on Wednesday.

"Yeah, sure, I hope so," Wilson said about saving the 'pen last night. "I hope everybody's effort today obviously snowballs into tomorrow. Hopefully bridging the gap there and being able to close the game can help save some guys in the bullpen. Thankful I had a chance to put up some zeroes tonight.

"It was great to get back out there, get your feet wet again, get the adrenaline pumping and find that rhythm again. There is no experience that can compare to actually being out there and in the game. My outings down at Norfolk I felt good and was working on some things and felt like they were productive outings."

While Wilson was taking time to freshen up his arm, was he also taking time to tweak some things with his pitching?

"I think there is tweaking that is constantly ongoing," Wilson said "So the freshening up was great, but there is always going to be tweaking. The game is constantly evolving and you always have to focus on getting better."

More notes on the Orioles:

* The six runs allowed by Tillman last night tied his season high for the third time. He gave up six on April 14 at Texas and June 25 at home versus Tampa Bay. The Orioles had been 12-0 in Tillman's home starts until last night and Tillman is now 8-1 with a 3.74 ERA in 13 starts at Oriole Park.

* Two Orioles win streaks were snapped: their five-game winning streak and a six-game home victory streak as they lost to the Rockies. The Orioles lost for just the second time in 13 home games and for the fifth time in 25 games at home.

* Adam Jones hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning. He is now batting .311/.352/.455 (41-for-132) with four doubles, five home runs, 26 runs and 18 RBIs over his last 31 games.

* Shortstop J.J. Hardy has reached base safely in six consecutive games, batting .476/.500/.524 (10-for-21) with five multi-hit performances in that span. He has also hit safely in 15 of his last 18 games (.379/.406/.545) going 25-for-66 with five doubles, two homers and 11 RBIs during that stretch.

* The Orioles continue to struggle recently hitting with runners in scoring position. They are 2-for-14 (.143) in this series and 12-for-75 (.160) in 12 games in the second half.

* First baseman Chris Davis went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts last night. He is hitless over his past 24 at-bats. Over his past 16 games, Davis is batting .103 (6-for-58) with one homer, three RBIs and 26 strikeouts.