Can Tillman build off his last start against the Jays?

Bring up Chris Tillman's struggles against the Blue Jays and he'll quickly mention his last start against them.

That's going out on a high note. And the improvement ... wait for it ... strikes a chord with him.

Tillman held the Blue Jays to two runs and five hits over 7 1/3 innings on Sept. 28 at Camden Yards. He needed it to lower his season ERA against them to 11.72 in six starts, to go with an 0-4 record and 2.013 WHIP.

For his career, Tillman is 4-10 with a 5.79 ERA and 1.383 WHIP in 20 starts against Toronto. The current group is batting .321 against him.

This one won't be easy, but at least there's no rain in the forecast.

The roll call of destruction includes Edwin Encarnacion (16-for-49, three doubles, three home runs), Josh Donaldson (7-for-23, three doubles, home run), Ryan Goins (9-for-23, home run), Kevin Pillar (6-for-16, double, three home runs), Russell Martin (4-for-8, double) and Jose Bautista (11-for-39, three doubles, three home runs, 10 strikeouts).

Justin Smoak is 2-for-13.

One of these things is not like the other ...

Marco Estrada is 1-1 with a 2.77 ERA in two starts this season, allowing four runs in 13 innings. He's 2-1 with a 3.42 ERA in six career games (four starts) against the Orioles and 0-1 with a 4.73 ERA in three games (two starts) at Camden Yards.

The current Orioles are batting .171 against him, with 14 hits in 82 at-bats.

Pedro Alvarez is 3-for-21 with a home run and nine strikeouts against Estrada. The Orioles know he's going to heat up. They continue to wait for it.

The numbers suggest this won't be the night, but stranger things have happened.

Ryan Flaherty is 2-for-7 with two home runs. Do the Orioles find a spot for him in tonight's lineup?

Jonathan Schoop is 2-for-6 with a home run, Matt Wieters is 2-for-6, Mark Trumbo is 1-for-4 with a home run, Manny Machado is 1-for-9 with a home run and Chris Davis is 1-for-8 with a home run.

It's not like the Orioles have never hit a home run off this guy.

* Rule 5 pick Joey Rickard leads all rookies in hits with 18.

Rickard has hit safely in 12 of his 13 games and has reached base in all 13. He's batting .292 (14-for-48) with four runs scored in 11 games from the leadoff spot.

* Rickard also had his first major league outfield assist last night. The Orioles lead the majors with 50 since the beginning of the 2015 season.

* Machado is batting .407/.467/.796 during his 13-game hitting streak. He now owns the longest active streak in the majors.

* The Orioles are 6-1 at home and their pitching staff has registered a 2.11 ERA in 64 innings.