O's game blog: Tillman tries to complete an unbeaten road season

As the Orioles begin the final series of the regular season tonight at Toronto, Chris Tillman (13-5, 3.26 ERA) will face Blue Jays right-hander Drew Hutchison (10-13, 4.51 ERA). Tillman can complete the season without a road loss. He is currently 8-0 with a 4.19 ERA in 15 road starts. With a win or no-decision tonight, Tillman will record the most road starts without a loss in a single season since at least 1914. He is currently tied with Greg Maddux, who went 13-0 in 15 road starts in 1995. Daisuke Matsuzaka (9-0 in 13 starts in 2008) is the last pitcher to go undefeated on the road over a full season, and just seven pitchers (minimum 10 starts) have completed the feat since 1914. Tillman also can extend his streak of consecutive starts allowing three earned runs or fewer to 21 straight. In this 20-start stretch since June 10, Tillman is 8-3 with a 2.21 ERA. Tillman has tied Steve Barber (Aug. 17, 1965 to June 4, 1966) for the second-longest streak in club history. Dave McNally is the record holder with 25 in a row in 1968. The Orioles have won Tillman's last 11 starts, outscoring their opponents 65-27. In 13 starts since the All-Star break, Tillman is 6-0 with a 2.06 ERA and .201 average against. In 83 innings, he has walked 18 and struck out 71. Tonight, Tillman makes a career-high 34th start. Before last night, the Orioles were 26-0 this year when hitting three or more homers in a game. They actually hit four in Thursday's loss. The Birds last lost a four-homer game on June 25, 2011 against Cincinnati, winning 19 straight games with at least four homers in between. The O's are 19 games over .500 against the American League East at 46-27. With a winning series against Toronto, they would finish the season at least 20 games over .500 in the division for the first time since 1980 (49-29). The Orioles are 10-6 against Toronto, going 6-4 at home and 4-2 on the road.