O's game blog: Chris Tillman pitches series finale in Anaheim

ANAHEIM, Calif. - As the Orioles take the field tonight, some questions come to mind. Can they get their offense going before the ninth inning? Is Chris Tillman really beginning to pitch better? Will the Orioles ever win another road game?

The Orioles have lost eight straight on the road and are 3-12 away from Camden Yards this year. They went 3-1 at Yankee Stadium and are winless everywhere else. A loss tonight and they will have been swept three straight for the fourth time in 2018.

Tillman (1-4, 7.03 ERA) will make his sixth start. He ended a 22-start winless stretch last Friday against Detroit. He allowed just one hit over seven scoreless innings at Camden Yards and has an ERA of 2.77 over his past two starts. Before that, he was 0-3 with an ERA of 11.91, losing at Houston, New York and Boston.

Against the Tigers, Tillman used strong secondary pitches to record his 12th career start of seven or more scoreless innings. He got his first win since May 7, 2017.

Tillman was glad to be back in the win column, but after that game he would not say that his previous season struggles are behind him for good. He said it was too soon to say he had turned a corner.

"No. Absolutely not. Every start is a challenge," he said. "The next team couldn't care less what the heck I did tonight. You have to keep working. Just a piece of the puzzle and you have to keep on going."

The Angels starter tonight is 21-year-old right-hander Jaime Barria (1-1, 3.86 ERA), who will be making his third major league appearance and start. He made his major league debut April 11 at Texas and got the win, allowing just one run over five innings. Entering this year, Barria was ranked as the Angels' No. 6 prospect by Baseball America.

He is the youngest player - at 21 years, 267 days - to have earned a winning decision in the majors this season. The next youngest is the Rockies' German Marquez (23.053).

On April 11, Barria became the first player to make his major league debut as a starting pitcher for the Angels since Matt Shoemaker on Sept. 20, 2013 versus Seattle. He also became the first player to earn a win in his major league debut as a starter since Sean O'Sullivan on June 16, 2009 at San Francisco. Barria is the first Panama-born pitcher in Angels history. The only other player in franchise history who was born in Panama is Hall of Famer Rod Carew.

At 8-22, the Orioles begin play tonight with a .267 winning percentage that is tied with Kansas City for the worst in the American League. The only team in the majors that is worse through last night's games is Cincinnati at .226 (7-24).

The Angels' Albert Pujols needs two hits tonight to become the 32nd member of Major League Baseball's 3,000-hit club. When he gets there, he'll join Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Alex Rodriguez as the only players ever with 600 home runs and 3,000 hits.