O's game blog: O's look for a series win against Oakland

After last night's 7-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics, the Orioles (61-64) host the A's (54-71) tonight in the second game of a three-game series.

Adam Jones homered twice last night and went 4-for-4 as the Orioles improved to 3-2 versus Oakland, 37-25 at home and 10-10 in August.

Jones hit his 23rd and 24th home runs. This was his second multi-home run game of the season (also July 9 at Minnesota) and the 12th of his career. He has 38 multi-hit games, the second-most on the team. Jones has hit safely in nine of his last 10 games, batting .425 (17-for-40) during this stretch. He is hitting .342 (26-for-76) in 19 games in August.

Second baseman Jonathan Schoop hit his 27th home run, a three-run blast in the fifth and was part of back-to-back home runs with Jones Monday night. It is the sixth time he has been a part of back-to-back home runs. Schoop's 91 RBIs are the second most by a second baseman (primary position) in Orioles history, behind Roberto Alomar with 94 in 1996. Schoop is hitting .308 (69-for-224) in 60 games at home.

Catcher Welington Castillo hit his 13th home run of the season, a solo homer to lead off the eighth inning last night. He is hitting .365 (19-for-52) with four home runs when leading off an inning. In 20 games since the All-Star break, he is hitting .342 (25-for-73) with five home runs.

Orioles hitters lead the AL and rank third in the majors with a batting average of .296 with runners in scoring position. Jones ranks fourth in the AL and 12th in the majors with a batting average of .371 with RISP while Schoop ranks sixth in the AL at .365 and Trey Mancini ranks 10th in the league at .341 with RISP.

On the mound tonight, right-hander Ubaldo Jiménez (5-8, 6.47 ERA) will make his 26th appearance and 21st as a starting pitcher. Over his last two games covering 9 2/3 innings, Jiménez has allowed 14 hits and nine runs. He had pitched to an ERA of 1.93 in his three previous games. In seven starts in the second-half, Jiménez is 1-4 with a 6.03 ERA. In 37 1/3 innings he has allowed 52 hits with 11 walks and 41 strikeouts. Lefty batters are hitting .284 off him while right-handers bat .280.

Right-hander Paul Blackburn (3-1, 3.46 ERA) will make his 10th start for Oakland. Over his past two starts he allowed 18 hits and eight runs over 9 2/3 innings. Over his past four starts, he is 2-0 with a 5.16 ERA and .330 batting average against.

Called up from Triple-A Nashville on July 1, Blackburn went 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA and .212 average against in his first five starts for the A's. In four road starts, he is 2-1 with a 1.69 ERA. He made the start in Oakland versus the Orioles on Aug. 11 going 5 2/3 and allowing 10 hits and four runs on 96 pitches.

A win tonight or tomorrow afternoon would give the Orioles their first series win since they swept three from Kansas City July 31-Aug. 2. Since then they have gone 2-2 versus Detroit. 1-2 against the Los Angeles Angels, 2-2 versus Oakland, 1-2 against Seattle and 1-2 versus the Angels.