Lough on improved offense, Stinson on his return to team

David Lough is starting in center field tonight for the Orioles as Adam Jones will serve as the designated hitter. Lough is batting just .196 in 102 at-bats. But he is 6-for-14 with a double, two homers and five RBIs over his past six games. "Yeah, but we aren't winning," Lough said of his offense finally starting to come around. "So doesn't matter what I do. It's what we do as a team. It's unfortunate we can't win more games. But I feel fine, I feel good. Knew I'd come around eventually at some point." He did continue to get chances as manager Buck Showalter has given Lough starts even with his average under .200. "I think Buck knows what I'm capable of doing. Especially when I'm going good. He stuck with me when I was going bad and I think in the back of his mind he knew what I was capable of doing. It has started to come around now and I feel comfortable. Good to help the team any way I can," he said. Meanwhile, Josh Stinson will return to the active roster today and be added in time for tonight's game. Stinson went 0-0 with a 7.15 ERA earlier this year for the Orioles giving up six runs in two innings in one game April 13 against Toronto. Even knowing the O's had a need for a long man tonight, Stinson said he was a bit surprised to get the call. "You know obviously I wasn't on the (40-man) roster," he said. "It was a surprise but you don't want it to happen that way where you have to use two long guys to get through the game. But excited to be here and hopefully this time I can stick up here. "Me and Griff (Norfolk pitching coach Mike Grifin) started working on some mechanical things. Last start I threw a lot better than it showed. Through the first five innings I'd given up about two runners on base. I got tired in the sixth and hadn't started much this year. But working on some stuff to try and get back to where I was last year." Stinson has gone 0-3 with a 5.19 ERA in nine games, making two starts at Triple-A. His last two outings were starts where he threw 81 and 89 pitches. In those two games he went 9 2/3 allowing 11 hits and seven runs. Stinson wants to show the Orioles he can pitch effectively as he did last year, with an ERA of 3.18 over 11 games. Last September he pitched nine innings and gave up just three hits and one earned run. "I showed I could pitch here last year," Stinson said. "Obviously what I did the first month here wasn't same as last year. Need to get my mechanics where they were. A lot of it is my front side. Pulling out, flying open and missing spots."