Looking at starters for weekend series in Cleveland

The Orioles have settled on two of their three starters for the weekend series in Cleveland.

The third one seems obvious, but isn't official.

Mike Wright (2-3, 4.97 ERA) will take the mound for the series opener Friday night against the Indians, followed by Ubaldo Jimenez (2-5, 6.04 ERA) on Saturday afternoon. The Sunday starter is listed as TBD, but Chris Tillman (6-1, 2.61 ERA) would be working on normal rest after pitching last night in Houston.

Tillman has recorded a career-high seven consecutive quality starts.

The Indians are countering with Trevor Bauer (3-2, 4.31 ERA), Danny Salazar (4-3, 2.32 ERA) and Mike Clevinger (0-1, 8.71 ERA).

The Orioles haven't revealed the length of Jimenez's leash, but he needs a good outing the way seven castaways needed a boat. Or someone who knew how to repair a hole in a boat.

In his last three starts, Jimenez has allowed 17 runs (16 earned) and 22 hits over 15 innings. He's also walked 11 batters. He's registered a 1.776 WHIP this season in 50 2/3 innings. Left-handers are hitting .333 against him.

Jimenez is 0-3 with a 7.02 ERA in three road starts this season. For his career, he's posted a 4.47 ERA in day games and 3.89 ERA in night games. He's 1-2 with a 5.06 ERA in four career starts against the Indians.

I may be doing a lousy job here of improving your outlook. Let me try again.

Jimenez owns a 3.67 ERA in 36 career starts at Progressive Field. And in a start last year at Camden Yards, he shut out the Indians on four hits over eight innings, didn't walk a batter and struck out seven in a 4-0 victory in Game 1 of a doubleheader.

A few weeks earlier, he held the Indians to one run in five innings in Cleveland. Oh sure, he walked six batters, but focus on the lack of runs in two starts against them.

Despite whiffing 19 times last night, the Orioles rank 17th in the majors and eighth in the American League with 354 strikeouts. The Astros lead the majors with 456.