O's game blog: Chris Tillman on the mound in road trip finale

Out to quickly erase the memory of Saturday's 11-4 loss where Ubaldo Jimenez allowed six runs and the Orioles fell behind 7-0 after three innings, the O's play the series and road trip finale today at Cleveland.

The Orioles (27-20) gave up runs in six different innings on Saturday, went 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position and made four errors. So yeah, they expect today to be better.

After going 2-1 in Anaheim, 0-3 at Houston and 1-1 in Cleveland so far, the Orioles will have a losing road trip. They are 3-5 heading into today on this three-city, three-time zone excursion.

Today's pitching matchup features right-handers with Chris Tillman (6-1, 2.61 ERA) facing Cleveland's Mike Clevinger (0-1, 8.71 ERA).

Tillman enters this outing with seven consecutive quality starts and he is 5-0 with a 1.94 ERA in that stretch. He has allowed two runs or less in eight of his 10 outings and the Orioles are 8-2 in Tillman starts in 2016. In his most recent start, Tuesday at Houston, he gave up three hits and two runs over seven innings, throwing 105 pitches.

Clevinger began this year at Triple-A, going 5-0 with a 3.03 ERA for Columbus. He made his major league debut on May 18, allowing four runs in 5 1/3 innings. On May 23, he allowed six runs in five innings against the White Sox. Right-handed hitters are 8-for-19 (.421) versus Clevinger. The 25-year-old Clevinger was Cleveland's minor league Pitcher of the Year for 2015.

Saturday on the farm: Triple-A Norfolk lost 2-0 at home against Scranton, its second straight shutout loss and 10th of the season. The Tides fall to 17-33 and were held to three hits, two by Trey Mancini, who is batting .250. Starting pitcher Joe Gunkel took the loss, going six innings. He has allowed just two runs in 15 innings his past two starts. For the year, Gunkel is 1-3 with a 4.36 ERA.

The game was Ron Johnson's 626th as Norfolk's manager, passing Gary Allenson (2007-11) for the most in Tides franchise history. The announced crowd of 10,157 was a season high. Mike Yastrzemski went 0-for-4, snapping his six-game hitting streak.

Altoona beat Double-A Bowie 5-3 to drop the Baysox to 18-29. Left-hander John Means, in his Bowie debut, allowed eight hits and four runs over 5 1/3. Two of his runs scored after he left the game. Bowie got three solo homers in the game as Tucker Nathans, Garabez Rosa and Chris O'Brien all connected.

Today is Louie's Birthday Bash at Prince George's Stadium with a postgame helicopter candy drop for kids after the 2:05 p.m. game. Right-hander Brandon Barker, acquired Monday in the Brian Matusz trade from Atlanta, makes his Orioles organization debut this afternoon.

Single-A Frederick won 4-1 at Carolina last night to improve to 24-24. Right-hander Franderlin Romero, acquired from Cincinnati Monday, made his O's organization debut and got the win. Over six innings, he allowed four hits and one run with one walk and five strikeouts. Josh Hart had three hits, including two doubles, and Wynston Sawyer homered with two RBIs.

Frederick is a hot team, winning four of its last five. Since the Keys began the year 7-16 on April 30, they are 17-8.

Single-A Delmarva won 7-1 at home versus Lakewood. Ryan Mountcastle returned to the Shorebirds lineup after missing eight games with a bruised knee. He went 1-for-3 as the designated hitter. Alex Murphy hit a three-run homer and DJ Stewart hit a solo blast, his fourth, as Delmarva improved to 28-20.

Shorebirds starter Francisco Jimenez gave up three hits and one run over 5 2/3. Lefty reliever Ryan Meisinger pitched 2 1/3 scoreless, reducing his ERA to 0.38. Over 23 2/3 innings for Delmarva, Meisinger has allowed just one run with eight walks and 37 strikeouts. Left-hander Brian Gonzalez (5-1, 1.95 ERA) gets the start for the Shorebirds today at Perdue Stadium at 2:05 p.m.