A look ahead at a big weekend series in Detroit

The Orioles' important nine-game road trip moves on to Detroit for a three-game series that starts tonight at Comerica Park. The Orioles took three of four from Detroit in May at Camden Yards.

At 76-63, the Orioles lead Detroit, at 75-64, by one game for the second American League wild card. So, needless to say, this is a big series.

Since May 16, the Tigers are 34-19 (.642) at home. On the year Detroit is 18-13 (.581) versus teams from the AL East. The O's are 21-8 (.724) against teams from the AL Central.

Facing Fulmer: In the 2011 First-Year Player Draft there were several high school pitchers from the state of Oklahoma expected to be high picks. The Orioles took Dylan Bundy with the No. 4 selection, the Diamondbacks selected Archie Bradley at No. 7 and the Mets took Michael Fulmer with the No. 44 overall pick. On July 31, 2015 the Mets traded Fulmer and Luis Cessa to the Tigers to get outfielder Yoenis Cespedes. Tonight Fulmer faces the Orioles at Comerica Park.

Like his friend Bundy, Fulmer is having a strong season, going 10-6 with a 2.77 ERA for the Tigers. From May 21-July 17, Fulmer went 7-1 with a 0.83 ERA. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, since the major leagues began keeping track of earned runs just over 100 years ago, no other pitcher has compiled an ERA that low over a span of 10 successive starts in the season of his major league debut.

But the 23-year-old right-hander has not been as good in recent starts. He is 0-3 with an ERA of 6.48 his last three starts. Still he should provide quite a challenge tonight for Orioles hitters that scored 24 runs in three games against Tampa Bay.

The RISP stat: The runners in scoring position stat is rather volatile for the Orioles. Heading into the series at Tropicana Field, they went 7-for-60 (.117) over a 10-game stretch. The clutch hits were missing. But in the series with Tampa Bay they went 12-for-35 (.343). And the team scored 24 runs.

The Orioles certainly can put up runs without a lot hits with RISP due to the power on the team. But getting those two-run singles and two-run doubles can be big anytime.

The leading O's hitters with RISP among regulars:
.306 - Adam Jones
.301 - Mark Trumbo
.297 - J.J. Hardy
.279 - Manny Machado
.273 - Matt Wieters

Does Davis play?: All indications are that Chris Davis will return to the Orioles lineup tonight after sitting out Wednesday's game. He left the game the night before in the fifth inning with a sore left hand. Davis has been hitting homers at a strong rate lately. Over his last 20 games he is batting .290 with 11 homers and 16 RBIs. Davis is 8-for-18 during a five-game hitting streak with three homers and six RBIs.

Since Aug. 1, Davis has hit 13 homers in 116 at-bats or one for every 8.9 at-bats. Before that date he had hit 22 in 365 at-bats, or one every 16.6 at-bats. Furthermore, Davis is more productive against right-handed pitching and Detroit is scheduled to start three in this series. On the year he has 28 homers, a .519 slugging percentage and OPS of .867 against right-handers. Against lefties he has seven homers, a .410 slugging percentage and an OPS of .733.

Radio broadcaster Joe Angel calls Davis "the big fella" and they could use him this weekend.