Orioles back home with chance to move above .500

A win tonight over the Mariners will allow the Orioles to move past them in the wild card chase and put the club above .500 for the first time since June 11 in New York.

Big game in a big series. They all qualify as such with September approaching.

The Orioles lost two of three in Seattle a few weeks ago and they don't get Yovani Gallardo in the rematch. They also don't get Felix Hernandez, who's been out for about a month with right shoulder bursitis and hasn't pitched in Baltimore since May 11, 2011.

The Mariners committed five errors yesterday in the first inning, three by shortstop Jean Segura, in a 10-1 loss to the Yankees. It was the most miscues in an inning in franchise history and the most by anyone since the 1977 Cubs.

Can Chris Tillman get his first win since May 7? Does it matter? Because, you know, wins for pitchers and all that.

Tillman is 1-7 with a 7.75 ERA and 1.991 WHIP in 18 games this season, including two bullpen appearances. The last relief effort came against the Mariners on Aug. 16, when he allowed two hits in a scoreless inning.

The pairing of Tillman and the Mariners makes sense for the Orioles, since he's 7-1 with a 3.30 ERA and 1.116 WHIP in 11 career games (10 starts) over 57 1/3 innings.

He joins Adam Jones as constant reminders that the Erik Bedard trade was terribly one-sided. Tony Butler can't change that fact.

The current Mariners are 34-for-105 (.324) against Tillman. Robinson Canó is 15-for-36 (.417) with a double and two home runs. Danny Valencia is 6-for-17 (.353) with a double and home run. Nelson Cruz is 5-for-16 (.313) with two doubles and two home runs.

The series provides another opportunity for Cruz's former teammates to show their love and respect for him. He made quite an impact in 2014, and not just at the plate.

Check the field before batting practice and you'll find guys like Jonathan Schoop and Manny Machado chatting with Cruz. Schoop keeps crediting Cruz for being a mentor, and they remain close friends, which heightened the second baseman's excitement over making the All-Star team.

Schoop is putting up career-high numbers across the board, and Cruz's influence is all over it.

"That's one of the many things that analytics doesn't pick up," said manager Buck Showalter. "That's why there has to be a combination of what people see and feel and know down in the clubhouse and the things that it does for young players.

"I'll tell you an interesting story. I know they love to see Nelson and they talk to him, and Nelson wanted nothing of it. He said, 'OK, Jon, you're having a pretty good year. What are you going to do to finish it off? Are you resting on it? It's the middle of August. Are you doing your work in the weight room, are you getting your sleep at night, are you going to finish off this good season or just have it be an above-average season?' Those are the type of things that guys like Nelson Cruz do. How do you evaluate that?"

The Orioles will face two left-handers in the series, beginning tonight with Marco Gonzales, who doesn't have a major league win since 2014 with the Cardinals. Tonight marks his fifth start of the season, including the Aug. 16 game in Seattle when he allowed four runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Tim Beckham hit a leadoff home run because he's Tim Beckham and you can no longer hope to stop or contain him. Craig Gentry had a triple off Gonzales and probably will be in right field tonight, with Trey Mancini in left and Mark Trumbo the designated hitter.

I've been wrong before - check my Ryan Flaherty prediction yesterday - but I'm pretty confident about this one.

Flaherty's exclusion for the weekend lineups in Boston illustrates how the bats are heating up. To play Flaherty in left field yesterday and Seth Smith in right, as I suggested, would have meant sitting Mancini, Trumbo or Chris Davis.

Doug Fister's numbers against left-handers were brutal, making it more likely that Davis played. Trumbo had five hits, including a home run, in his last nine at-bats before yesterday. Mancini is 11-for-23 in his last six games and seemingly immune to prolonged slumps.

Mancini is 13-for-26 with 11 RBIs in seven career games at Fenway Park. Just pencil him into the lineup whenever the team is in Boston.

A double yesterday gave Mancini 20 for the season, making him the first Orioles rookie to reach that total since Nick Markakis (25) in 2006.

Right-handers have a lifetime .319 average against Gonzales and left-handers are batting .213. There's no way Gentry sits tonight.

What about Davis? He hits from the left side, but he's also 15-for-47 (.319) with two doubles, three home runs and nine RBIs in his last 12 games.

The bullpen should be the same with closer Zach Britton available to pitch. Britton felt fine yesterday and would have taken the ball if handed to him, but he never got the chance.