Entering interleague play

The Orioles are entering their first interleague series tonight against the Mets, and they're designated as the visiting team at Citi Field. Attendance and statistics count as road games. The uniforms will be gray in color.

We're slowly getting back to normal.

The Orioles were 12-8 against the National League in 2014 and 11-9 in 2013.

Starter Bud Norris gets the opportunity to bat tonight, which puts a knot in manager Buck Showalter's stomach. It isn't because Norris is completely overmatched at the plate. It's the injury risk - a fastball off the knuckles while squaring to bunt, a blown hamstring while running the bases.

Norris is 26-for-173 (.150) with five doubles, 11 RBIs, four walks and 58 strikeouts, but he's 3-for-6 with the Orioles. However, Captain Obvious reports that Norris' presence in the lineup won't make up for the absence of Jimmy Paredes.

The Orioles lose their designated hitter and it's highly unlikely that Paredes is used in the field during these two games. It's a nice bat coming off the bench, but that's it.

Everth Cabrera figures to remain the shortstop despite his slump - five hits in his last 31 at-bats - and Steve Pearce or Rey Navarro will play second base. Manny Machado isn't budging off third base and Paredes' issues defensively are magnified in the outfield.

Paredes' deficiencies with the glove aren't due to a lack of effort, as Showalter points out. He works hard at it and he made a couple of excellent plays at third base in spring training, but it's again become a challenge for him.

Closer Zach Britton probably won't bat in this series, but he went 5-for-8 with a double, a home run, two RBIs and three runs scored in 2011. You know he'll be campaigning for the chance to take some swings.

Norris hasn't pitched since April 26 against the Red Sox, when he allowed three runs in 6 2/3 innings in an 18-7 victory at Camden Yards. He's 9-12 with a 5.20 ERA in 27 career starts on six or more days rest, 1-1 with a 4.68 ERA in five starts against the Mets and 0-1 with a 6.17 ERA in two starts at Citi Field.

Left-handers are 14-for-35 (.400) against Norris this season.

Michael Cuddyer is 3-for-7 with a double against Norris.

Mets starter Bartolo Colon is 4-1 with a 3.31 ERA in five starts this season. The stat that blows me away is the one walk in 32 2/3 innings.

Colon is 12-8 with a 3.25 ERA in 27 games (26 starts) against the Orioles. He's 2-0 with a 2.77 ERA in two starts at Citi Field this season.

The current Orioles are batting .347 (25-for-72) against Colon. Chris Davis is 4-for-10 with a double, a home run and three walks, Jones is 8-for-26 (.308), Delmon Young is 4-for-8, Travis Snider is 3-for-9, Cabrera is 2-for-4 and Machado is 2-for-3.

A win tonight would put the Orioles two games above .500, tying their season high.

The Orioles are 6-7 on the road this season, including their weekend series against the Rays. They're 2-6 in the first game of a series and 4-4 in the last game.

The Orioles are 12-0 when they lead after seven innings and 12-0 when ahead after the eighth. They're 11-3 when scoring first and 1-8 when the opponent takes the first lead. The Orioles are 12-6 when scoring four runs or more and 0-5 when held to three runs or fewer.