Hammel and Chen trying to turn back clock to 1997

The Orioles are listing Jason Hammel, Wei-Yin Chen and Jake Arrieta as the starters for the three-game series against the Nationals that begins tonight at Camden Yards - just in case there were any doubts about the alignment. According to Elias, if Hammel and Chen win this weekend, they would become the first Orioles duo to record eight wins each by June 23 since 1997: Jimmy Key (11), Scott Erickson (10) and Mike Mussina (eight). You remember what happened in '97. The Orioles are 9-3 at home against the Nats since 2008. Matt Wieters (3-for-7), Nick Johnson (3-for-6) and Wilson Betemit (3-for-6) have combined for nine hits in their last 19 at-bats. The other nine Orioles batters have combined for three hits in their last 109 at-bats, posting a .028 average. Here's the breakdown: J.J. Hardy 1-for-23, Chris Davis 0-for-20, Adam Jones 1-for-11, Brian Roberts 1-for-11, Mark Reynolds 0-for-11, Robert Andino 0-for-10, Steve Tolleson 0-for-9, Steve Pearce 0-for-8 and Ronny Paulino 0-for-6. After scoring 12 runs on 16 hits in the final game of the last homestand against the Pirates on June 14, the Orioles scored a combined 12 runs on 28 hits in the six games of their road trip. They batted .159 (28-for-176) with one home run. Betemit's home run Wednesday night ended the Orioles' homerless-games streak at five. It was their longest stretch of the season and the longest since a seven game stretch Aug. 4-11, 1992. The franchise record is 20, set July 20-Aug. 5, 1955. I thoroughly enjoy when Bill Hall breaks news, and he did it again today by tweeting that he saw Livan Hernandez in a Chicago airport and the veteran pitcher was headed to Milwaukee to join the Brewers. The club hasn't made an announcement, so Hall gets credit for another scoop. Hall, who was the first to tweet about the Orioles purchasing his contract the first time, and later that he cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk, is headed to Toledo with the rest of the Tides. I assumed that they flew out after yesterday's game, but I guess it's different in the minors.