Orioles return to San Diego (updated)

The Orioles are in San Diego for a two-game series against the Padres. Two games? Seriously? Hardly seems worth the flight. Upon further view, it may be an appropriate number, since two significant events happened in Orioles history during their first-ever series in San Diego in 2007. Anyone know without looking it up? Answer to follow. Bud Norris is making his second start for the Orioles tonight. He's 2-1 with a 3.13 ERA in four starts against the Padres, with 25 strikeouts in 23 innings. He's 1-0 with a 2.77 ERA in two outings at Petco Park, with four runs, nine hits, five walks and 11 strikeouts in 13 innings. Mark Kotsay is 4-for-9 with three doubles against Norris. Chase Headley is 3-for-9 with a home run. Edinson Volquez is 0-1 with a 6.43 ERA in three starts against the Orioles, with 12 runs (10 earned) and 18 hits in 14 innings. He's walked nine and struck out 13. The Orioles had internal discussions about Volquez leading up to the non-waiver trade deadline, but they weren't sold on him. Matt Wieters will be back in the lineup. He's 2-for-2 with two doubles against Volquez. Small sample size. Nick Markakis is 2-for-5 with a home run. Nate McLouth is 4-for-9 with a double. J.J. Hardy is 4-for-15 with two homers. We can assume that McLouth will bat first again tonight, but Markakis continues to lead the majors with a .336 average atop the order, with a .371 on-base percentage, six doubles, eight walks and 13 runs in 27 games. It won't happen, but manager Buck Showalter could bat Markakis first, followed by Manny Machado, Chris Davis, Adam Jones, Wieters, Hardy, McLouth, Henry Urrutia and Brian Roberts. And then everyone could freak out over Wieters batting fifth. Update: Oh yeah, right. No designated hitter. Forget Urrutia. Move Roberts to eighth and Norris bats ninth. McLouth has eight two-hit games in 14 starts since the All-Star break. Maybe he should just continue to hit first against right-handers. OK, let's go back to that 2007 series in San Diego. Dave Trembley took over for Sam Perlozzo as interim manager prior to the first game on June 19. I made the trip to San Diego and continued on to Arizona, experiencing climate shock in the process. Absolutely perfect weather followed by the feel of sticking your head inside a pizza oven. But yeah, it's a dry heat. The Orioles dropped the opener 12-6 to extend their losing streak to nine games before winning the next two nights. The other significant occurrence? Miguel Tejada was hit on the hand in the eighth inning of the second game, an injury that ultimately would end his consecutive-games streak at 1,152. The Orioles lost two of three in San Diego in 2010. Kevin Milwood earned his first win as an Oriole in the second game, which doesn't quality as a significant event in club history. At least not in my book.