From Oakland to Anaheim, it won't get easier for the Orioles

Are the Orioles headed from the frying pan into the fire? They have left Oakland, where they faced the team with the best record in the majors, to head to Anaheim to face the Los Angeles Angels, who have baseball's second-best record. The Angels are 59-38 and while they trail Oakland by 1 1/2 games for the American League West lead, they are red-hot right now and have the best home record in baseball. On Sunday, the Angels scored twice in the ninth off Seattle's Fernando Rodney to turn a possible 5-4 loss into a 6-5 walk-off win. It was the Angels' major league-best 30th come-from-behind victory. Los Angeles is 12-2 in its last 14 games. At home, Los Angeles has won 10 straight series, a new club record. The Angels have won 20 of 23 and 25 of their last 30 home games. Yep, big challenge for the Orioles. The O's are 5-9 at Anaheim since the 2011 season. More notes on the O's: * The Orioles bullpen went into the All-Star break allowing just one run over 16 2/3 innings. But in the Oakland series, the Baltimore bullpen allowed eight earned runs over 9 1/3 innings. * Nelson Cruz went 1-for-13 in the Oakland series. Over his last eight games, Cruz is 3-for-29 (.103) with no homers and one RBI. * Over his past four games, J.J. Hardy is 5-for-11 with two doubles, a homer and two RBIs. * Manny Machado has reached base in a career-high 19 straight games, batting .389 in that span. In 11 games since the end of his five-game suspension, Machado is batting .429 (18-for-42) with three doubles, three homers and six RBIs. * The Orioles are 12-8 against the AL West. But that includes a 6-1 record versus Texas and a 6-7 record against the other teams. They are 4-3 against Houston and 2-4 against Oakland. * Bud Norris (7-6, 3.96 ERA) is expected to come off the disabled list and get the start for the Orioles tonight. In four lifetime starts against the Angels, Norris is 3-0 with a 0.32 ERA. In two starts in Anaheim, Norris is 2-0 and has pitched 13 scoreless innings, holding the Angels to a .159/.260/.205 slash line.