Norris set to face the Royals (Meek clears waivers)

Bud Norris hopes history repeats itself tonight in Kansas City, but only to a point. In his only career appearance against the Royals on May 21, 2013, Norris tossed six scoreless innings before the Astros bullpen blew a 3-0 lead. Norris is making his fifth road start tonight for the Orioles. He's 1-2 with a 5.48 ERA away from home. In his last outing, Norris was working on a quality start until Detroit's Ian Kinsler hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning. Norris hit Torii Hunter, the benches and bullpens emptied and the right-hander was ejected. Norris wasn't suspended, which allowed the Orioles to stick with a five-man rotation. Alex Gordon is 3-for-3 against Norris. Small sample size. If you obsess over the slotting of pitchers in a rotation, Norris must quality as a No. 2 now that he's directly behind Chris Tillman. And that's exactly how he wants it. None of this No. 5 stuff. Norris has registered a 3.98 ERA in seven starts. He's worked at least six innings in four starts, and came within an out of making it five. He's a valuable guy in this rotation. With left-hander Danny Duffy on the mound for the Royals, look for Caleb Joseph to get the start behind the plate and manager Buck Showalter to choose between Steve Pearce and Delmon Young as his designated hitter. Young is 2-for-8 with a double against Duffy. Duffy has a 1.96 ERA in eight appearances this season, including two starts, but he's lost three of four decisions. He's allowed only two runs in 10 innings in his two starts, but he's 0-2 and has issued seven walks. Duffy took the loss at Camden Yards on April 26. He entered the game in the 10th inning, hit Jonathan Schoop and committed two throwing errors. That'll do it. The Orioles are 3-4 against left-handed starters this season. They're 13-8 on the road. Note: Reliever Evan Meek has cleared waivers and been optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. The Orioles designated Meek off the 25-man roster yesterday and recalled reliever Brad Brach. It was a procedural move. He stayed on the 40-man roster.