Road trip finale: Orioles at Minnesota

Game Preview Orioles (51-75) at Minnesota (63-63) After losing back-to-back games by one run each, tonight the Orioles play at Minnesota at 8:05 p.m. in the final game of a three-game series and nine-game road trip. Jeremy Guthrie (8-12, 5.45) pitches for the Orioles vs. Twins right hander Nick Blackburn (8-8, 4.27). Scott Baker pitched the Twins to a 2-1 win Monday night and Delmon Young had four hits including the winning hit in the last of the 9th as Minnesota won 7-6 Tuesday night. Five of the eight games on this road trip have been decided by one run and the O's are 2-3 in those games. The Orioles have lost nine of their last 12 one-run decisions and are 14-18 in one-run games on the season. With two losses already in this series, the Orioles are just 1-10-1 in 12 series since the All-Star break with a record of 11-27 in the second half. Brian Roberts went 0 for 5 Tuesday, snapping a streak of 26 consecutive games reaching base safely at least once. It was the longest active streak in the Majors. Roberts leads the AL with 48 doubles, that is three shy of his O's team record of 51. He is on a pace for 62 this year and has hit 20 doubles over his last 37 games. The O's and Twins have split four games this year with the last three games all one-run decisions. Tonight's winner will take the season series. The O's last won a season series vs. Minnesota in 2002, going 5-1 that season. Minnesota is a club that doesn't often beat itself. The Twins have made just 56 errors on the year, tied for the second fewest in baseball. The O's offense has been inconsistent on this trip. Three times they have scored just one run while four times they have scored five runs or more. The O's are 3-5 on this trip and 21-44 on the road on the season. Minnesota is now tied for second with Chicago in the AL Central, 4 ½ games behind Detroit. The Twins have won a season-high five in a row. It's Minnesota's longest win streak since taking ten straight June 17-27, 2008.