Britton on batting

NEW YORK - Ubaldo Jimenez gets his turn at batting tonight in the finale of a two-game interleague series between the Orioles at Mets at Citi Field.

Jimenez is a career .113 hitter in 10 major league seasons, going 31-for-274 with nine RBIs, 17 walks and 94 strikeouts. He batted .045 (3-for-67) in 2008, .220 (13-for-59) in 2009 and .104 (8-for-77) in 2010.

He'll try to recapture that 2009 magic tonight. He'll also try to produce the rotation's eighth consecutive quality start.

Jimenez is 2-3 with a 3.40 ERA in six career starts against the Mets and 0-1 with a 2.57 ERA in two starts at Citi Field.

The current Mets are 4-for-30 against Jimenez. Curtis Granderson is 2-for-11 and Michael Cuddyer is 0-for-8.

Closer Zach Britton probably won't get a chance to hit tonight or in any National League ballpark, which is a pity considering that he was 5-for-8 with a double, home run, two RBIs and three runs scored in 2011.

"I'm sleeping on my stats," Britton said, having a little fun with the topic. "Buck (Showalter) always mentions, 'Do you want to hit again?' And I said, 'Yes, but not for my stats.' I'll keep those stats. But if I hit now, we're in trouble. It means a lot of people have thrown or I did something really bad and have to hit.

"I'm game, but I took my bat out to BP the other day and Dave (Wallace) and Dom (Chiti) stole it from me. I don't even know where it is anymore. It's fun doing it. When we talk to the hitters about it, it's because I don't care if I get out. It's like if they pitch, they don't care if the guy hits a home run or whatever, so you just have fun with it. That's kind of what it is. It's just something fun to do, but I think I'd pull my oblique now since I haven't batted (since) 2011. That's all we need is an injury. But it's fun."

Britton has one more offensive goal in mind.

"The only thing I want to do maybe is get a triple," he said. "I could have a cycle for my career. But I feel like now the scouting report is out. See a lot more breaking balls. My last at-bat, George Sherrill struck me out on three pitches, three sliders. I was like, 'You're bringing in a lefty specialist to pitch to me?' Came in dropping sidearmed sliders.

"I remember talking to (Brian) McCann when he was behind the plate. I swung at the first two and he said, 'You're not going to see a fastball this entire at-bat.' I hadn't seen a left-handed slider ever. Like in high school, let's be honest, they don't throw like that. Cool memories, though."

Britton's home run came on July 3, 2011 against the Braves' Brandon Beachy at Turner Field. He returned to the dugout and got the silent treatment from his teammates.

Britton was the first Orioles pitcher to hit a home run since Kris Benson against the Mets' Pedro Martinez on June 17, 2006. He's also the last Orioles pitcher to homer.

"I have a lot of people tweeting at me the video of my home run," Britton said. "It's like my dad's go-to video. He doesn't even care that I pitch. He's just like, 'Have you seen my kid's home run?' 'Is your kid a hitter?' 'No, but he's got a home run.'"

That's one more home run than Zach's brother, infielder Buck Britton, the former Orioles farmhand who's now at Triple-A Oklahoma City in the Dodgers organization.

"I wear him out with it all the time," Zach said.

The Orioles have never faced Mets starter Jacob deGrom. He may want to be careful with Chris Davis, who's homered in four of his last eight games.