O's game blog: A look at tonight's game and farm system notes

After last night's 5-1 loss to Toronto where the Orioles were held to four hits, the all-bird matchup continues at Camden Yards tonight with the Orioles (71-60) hosting the first-place Blue Jays (75-56).

The Orioles are now a season-high four games out of first place. They do hold the second wild card spot in the American League, but by just one game over Detroit, by two over Houston and Kansas City and by three games over Seattle.

The Orioles are just 3-11 in their last 14 AL East games. They are 6-8 versus Toronto with a 4-3 mark at home and 2-5 on the road. Toronto has won four in a row, 10 of 15 and is 24-16 in the second half while the Orioles are 20-24 since the All-Star break.

Tonight right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez (5-11, 6.62 ERA) makes his 20th start and pitches against Cy Young contender J.A. Happ. The lefty is 17-4 with a 3.19 ERA and ranks second in the league in wins and ninth in ERA. Happ is trying to join Boston's Rick Porcello as the only 18-game winners in the majors.

Over his last two starts - July 28 against Minnesota and Aug. 25 versus Washington - Jimenez has allowed two runs over 11 innings. He has an ERA of 3.32 in five games in the second half.

But in three 2016 games (two starts) versus Toronto, he is 0-1 with a 14.09 ERA, allowing 15 hits and 12 runs over 7 2/3 innings. In 16 career games he is 6-5 with a 4.91 ERA against Toronto.

Happ allowed eight runs in 12 1/3 his past two starts, but in 12 road starts for the season is 7-2 with a 3.32 ERA. Toronto is 19-6 in his 25 starts, including 2-0 against the Orioles and his ERA is 3.21 in those games. In 11 career games against Baltimore, Happ is 4-3 with a 3.48 ERA.

Farm notes: With seven games left in the minor league regular season, Triple-A Norfolk is 3 1/2 games out of first place and it looks now unlikely to make the postseason. The International League's postseason All-Star team was named today and Norfolk did not have a player named.

Norfolk's Corban Joseph has hit safely in seven consecutive games in which he has batted, hitting .480 (12-for-25) with two home runs and seven RBIs. Joseph has batted a team-best .345 in August, and his .308 average in 101 games between Norfolk and Double-A Bowie ranks third among O's farmhands.

The Tides Christian Walker, the reigning International League Batter of the Week, has hit safely in 13 of his last 15 games. Over that stretch, he has hit .305 (18-for-59) with three home runs, seven doubles and nine RBIs. Walker has a team-high 58 RBIs this season, giving him 151 RBIs in his Tides career.

Double-A Bowie begins its last home series of the season tonight against Harrisburg. Starting pitching has played a key role in the Baysox's first four-game home winning streak of the year. Starters Brandon Barker, David Hess, Matthew Grimes and Jason Garcia combined to throw 22 1/3 innings and allow just three earned runs. The last turn through the rotation has been one of the best of the season for the Baysox pitching staff as the fifth starter John Means allowed just one earned run over six innings in his last start, bringing the total to 28 1/3 innings and four earned runs allowed the past five games.

With an elimination number of two, Single-A Frederick hosts Potomac tonight. The Keys' Yermin Mercedes has hit safely in his last seven contests and is hitting .304 (8-for-27). Wynston Sawyer is tied for third in on-base percentage among full-season minor leaguers (.422). Frederick's Aderlin Rodriguez was named a Carolina League postseason All-Star on Saturday, the Keys only 2016 representative. Earlier, Rodriguez was named a midseason All-Star and he has twice been named the Orioles minor league Player of the Month.

The Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds have released their 2017 schedule. As with previous years, the schedule will feature 70 home games at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium and 70 road contests.

The Shorebirds begin the season on the road on Thursday April 6, with four games against the Greenville Drive (Boston Red Sox affiliate), followed by a three-game series against the Greensboro Grasshoppers (Miami Marlins affiliate). Delmarva will return home for its home opener on Thursday, April 13 against the Hagerstown Suns (Washington Nationals affiliate). The first homestand of 2017 will feature four games against the Suns before a three game series versus the Grasshoppers.