Which bird will take flight? Pre-series O's, Cards notes

Checking in with some notes on both teams as the Orioles get set to host the St. Louis Cardinals for the first time tonight. * The Orioles lead the American League with 32 homers in June. They hit nine in the Cincinnati series, and the Orioles have homered 13 times in the last seven games and 27 times in the past 17 contests. * Orioles starting pitchers have just one quality start over the last 10 games and an ERA of 5.43 in that stretch. The ERA of the O's starters was 7.63 over the weekend against the Reds. * Adam Jones' RBI streak ended at seven games Sunday when he failed to drive a runner home. He had nine RBIs during the seven-game run. Jones has three homers over his last five games, four in eight and seven in 22 June games. * St. Louis is 41-38, but has lost five of its last six and 12 of its last 15 games. The Cardinals are 4-5 versus the AL and 20-20 in road games. They are beginning a six-game trip tonight that later heads to Tampa Bay. * In his 16 years with St. Louis, manager Tony LaRussa has won eight division titles, two National League pennants and the 2006 World Series. * St. Louis, which scored just seven runs and was swept over the weekend in a three-game series by Toronto, led the NL Central by 2 1/2 games June 9 but now is in second place, three games back. * J.J. Hardy's streak of six consecutive two-hit games ended when he went 0-for-4 on Sunday. He went 12-for-27 during those six games. Hardy has four homers in his past 10 games and eight in 22 games in June. He has homered in eight straight series. * Vlad Guerrero has just four extra-base hits, with two doubles and two homers, over his last 32 games.