O's game blog: Chris Tillman will try to stop another losing streak

He will certainly need some run support to do the job this afternoon, but once again Chris Tillman (14-4, 3.50 ERA) will try to stop an Orioles losing streak.

The right-hander has proven very adept at halting streaks this year. In fact, he has helped the club snap five streaks of three consecutive losses or more. He's done this three times alone in the last 31 games, and all three streaks were of at least four straight losses.

The rundown:
April 27: Pitched 6 2/3 scoreless against Tampa Bay, stopping a three-game streak.
June 14: Tossed seven, allowing one run versus Boston, ending a three-game skid.
July 5: Pitched one-run ball over seven innings at Dodger Stadium, halting a five-game streak.
July 21: Threw seven, giving up a run versus the Yankees as the O's stopped a four-game slide.
July 31: Went 5 2/3 frames, allowing two runs at Toronto as the O's ended a five-game losing streak.

Tillman, however, is winless over his last three starts, going 0-2 with a 5.94 ERA, his longest winless stretch of the season. The Orioles are 1-2 in those games and they are 19-5 (.792) in his 24 starts in 2016. Over his last seven starts, Tillman is 4-2 with a 3.02 ERA, allowing two earned runs or fewer five times.

In six career starts against Oakland, he is 3-0 with a 2.58 ERA. In three career starts at Oakland, Tillman is 1-0 with a 2.65 ERA.

Orioles starting pitchers have recorded six consecutive quality starts - a season-high - with an ERA of 3.00. They have seven quality starts the past nine games with a rotation ERA of 2.97 in that span.

Tillman's mound opponent today was his teammate when the season began. Andrew Triggs, a 27-year-old right-hander, was a key late-inning reliever as Double-A Bowie won the 2015 Eastern League championship. Last November, he was added to the Orioles' 40-man roster. But, Oakland claimed him on waivers March 16. He is 0-0 with a 5.35 ERA over 33 1/3 innings in 19 games, and has made one start for the A's.

Today, he'll try to become the fourth Oakland starter in four days to shutdown the Orioles' offense. The first three - Kendall Graveman, Zach Neal and Ross Detwiler - have combined to allow just two runs over 20 1/3 innings in this series.

Triggs went 0-2 with a 1.03 ERA and 17 saves in 17 chances for Bowie last season. He fanned 70 in 61 innings and had a walk rate of 1.48 per nine innings. In this interview, I talked with him about his addition to the Orioles' 40-man roster.

The Orioles have lost three one-run games in this series. Here are the American League leaders in one-run winning percentage:

.765 - Texas (26-8)
.679 - New York (19-9)
.606 - Detroit (20-13)
.528 - Oakland (19-17)
.516 - Kansas City (16-15)
.500 - Orioles (13-13), Los Angeles (12-12)

By the way, Boston is 13-14 and Toronto is 13-19 in one-run games this year.

Will the Orioles' offense finally break out today? It doesn't seem that long ago that they scored seven runs in one game and 10 in another in Chicago.

But, the Orioles have scored just three runs in the series at Oakland while allowing only six. The Birds have scored three runs or fewer in three straight, six of eight and 11 of 16 games. They have done that 16 times in 26 games since the All-Star break, averaging 3.2 runs per game while going 12-14 in the second half.

Bowie wins in ninth: Double-A Bowie posted a 6-5 walk-off win at home today over New Hampshire. Conor Bierfeldt hit a two-run homer in the eighth to tie it 5-5 and Garabez Rosa's single in the ninth won it for the Baysox. Left-hander Tanner Scott pitched two scoreless in relief to get his first Double-A win. Starter Matthew Grimes allowed three runs over five innings. Right-hander Jesus Liranzo gave up two runs over two innings and has a 2.25 ERA over his first four Double-A games. The Baysox now head to Richmond for a weekend series before returning home Tuesday for a seven-game homestand.