O's game blog: Bud Norris on mound in series finale against New York

The Orioles have gotten solid starting pitching this series against the New York Yankees, and after a shaky first start, right-hander Bud Norris looks to keep that going tonight.

Wei-Yin Chen and Miguel Gonzalez have combined to pitch 13 innings against the Yankees, allowing eight hits and three runs with two walks and 14 strikeouts. Over their last four games, O's starters have pitched to an ERA of 2.38 with three quality starts.

Tonight, Norris (0-1, 24.00 ERA) pitches against 25-year-old right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (0-0, 5.06 ERA).

After pitching to a spring ERA of 9.26, Norris lasted just three-plus innings on Friday against Toronto in the Orioles' home opener. He gave up seven hits and eight runs. Toronto went 7-for-14 with four doubles against him.

But Norris pitched well last season against New York. He went 4-0 with an ERA of 2.74. In 23 innings, he walked six and fanned 28 with a .205 average against and 1.00 WHIP. Those are his only career starts versus the Yankees.

Eovaldi started for the Yankees on Friday against Boston, which won 6-5 in a 19-inning marathon. He went 5 1/3 innings, allowing eight hits and three runs. Left-handed batters went 5-for-10 against him that night and bat .294 against Eovaldi in his career.

Acquired in a trade with the Miami Marlins in December, Eovaldi has a poor career record of just 15-35 with an an ERA of 4.08.

Last season with Miami, he went 6-14 with an ERA of 4.37. He gave up 10.1 hits per nine innings with 1.9 walks, 6.4 strikeouts and a 1.33 WHIP.

This will be his first career appearance against the Orioles.

The Orioles bullpen has now been scored on in all eight games this season. The longest stretch last year was six straight games twice - from April 20-25 and from June 12-17.

On the five games of this homestand, the Orioles have scored 28 runs with a team average of .287, six doubles, a triple and nine home runs. The O's have four multi-homer games.

As a final note from Gonzalez and his excellent start from last night, over his last 15 starts since last July 1, Gonzalez is 7-5 with a 2.01 ERA. He is 1-1 with a 1.42 ERA through his first two starts this season.

Among the American League batting leaders, Adam Jones ranks first in RBIs (11), slugging (.929) and total bases (26). He's tied for second with four homers and is third with a .429 average.

Since a 13-0 opening night loss, the Single-A Frederick Keys have won six straight to improve to 6-1. The Keys swept a doubleheader at home today against Lynchburg with 7-0 and 4-3 wins. In the opener, lefty Mitch Horacek pitched a complete-game three-hitter, recording his first career shutout on just 74 pitches. Games are seven innings each in minor league doubleheaders. In the second game, the Keys rallied with four runs in the sixth for the win. Frederick's six-game winning streak matches its longest from the 2014 season.