The homestand begins: KC at O's

Game Preview Kansas City (38-59) at Orioles (42-55) After completing a grueling 2-7 road trip with a win on Sunday, the Orioles return home to Camden Yards. Tonight the Birds begin a seven-game homestand with the start of a four-game series vs. Kansas City. Tonight's pitching matchup features Rich Hill (3-3, 7.64) pitching for Baltimore vs. former Oriole lefty Bruce Chen (0-5, 6.58). The O's ended their road trip with Sunday's 6-2 win at Boston. That snapped Baltimore's five-game losing streak and the O's 11-game losing streak at Boston. The O's hit just .250 and scored only 18 runs in the final six games of the trip at New York and Boston. Now they return home where the O's have a 26-21 record. They have won nine of the last 14 home games. Nick Markakis, who knocked in three runs Sunday, had a solid road trip with the bat. He hit .368 during the nine games with four homers and 9 RBI. Nine of his last 17 hits have gone for extra bases. Nolan Reimold went 7 for 10 with three doubles over the weekend at Boston. Reimold was 12 for 28 (.429) on the road trip with five doubles and 4 RBI. Aubrey Huff continues to struggle at bat. He is hitting .129-0-2 over the last 15 games. Luke Scott went just two for 23 on the road trip. The Royals lost two of three to Texas over the weekend to complete a 1-8 homestand vs. Tampa, Los Angeles and the Rangers. Kansas City, which has the worst record in the American League, has lost 11 of its last 12 games. The Royals win Saturday over the Rangers snapped a ten-game losing streak. KC is 15-27 on the road. The Royals, who are just 5-16 in July, began the season with a record of 18 and 11. They have gone 20-47 since. The O's split a four-game series at KC in mid May. The Birds were 5-3 last year vs. the Royals. The Orioles have won 14 of the last 19 between these teams and are 44-17 vs. KC since 2001. O's hitters, 2009 vs. KC: Andino: 0-1 Huff: 5-15, HR, 2 RBI Izturis: 3-17, 3B, 3 RBI Jones: 0-0 Markakis: 4-15, 2 2B, 4 RBI Mora: 4-13, 2 RBI Pie: 3-16, 2B, 3B, RBI Reimold: 4-17, 2 RBI Roberts: 5-14, RBI Scott: 0-0 Wieters: 0-0 Wigginton: 1-11 Zaun: 1-11