O's game blog: Chris Tillman faces Detroit in series opener

For the first time in more than a month, the Orioles can reach the .500 mark tonight. They were 39-39 on June 29 and have been an under-.500 team since. But a five-game win streak and 11 wins the past 16 games have them at 53-54 heading into tonight's series opener with Detroit.

The five-game streak is one shy of a season high. They won six in a row from May 4-9 with one win versus Boston, three against the Chicago White Sox and two against Washington.

The Orioles and Tigers open a four-game series tonight at Camden Yards. Although the game is not starting on time as scheduled at 7:05 p.m. due to the threat of inclement weather. As of 7 p.m., the tarp was on the field and no start time had yet been announced.

The Orioles outscored Kansas City the last three nights by 15-3 in sweeping that three-game series. Their pitchers gave up just 15 hits in the three games with five walks and 19 strikeouts. The three starters - Ubaldo Jiménez, Dylan Bundy and Jeremy Hellickson - combined to allow just one earned run over 22 innings against the Royals.

Tonight, Chris Tillman (1-6, 7.65 ERA) will take the mound for his 15th start. He had pitched to an ERA of 3.31 over a three-start stretch, providing hope he was turning around his season. But then he allowed eight runs and nine hits over 4 1/3 innings on Friday night at Texas in an 8-2 Orioles loss. It was a step back.

After that game, Tillman said he dealt with some cramping issues at Globe Life Park.

"My arm was good," he said Friday. "I had the full body cramps going on, but other than that, my arm felt great. Physically, it felt good, just cramping here and there."

Tillman allowed two runs in the first inning in that game. He now has a first-inning ERA of 10.93 for the season, allowing 17 runs over 14 innings with a .377 batting average against.

"It's been the case with him for a while," manager Buck Showalter said of the opening-inning struggles. "You've usually got to get him early. There's a lot of starting pitchers like that. Chris really just hasn't gotten on the horse after the first inning too much. Because we have a history with him, we keep looking for that. (Friday), he wasn't able to do it."

Tillman has just three quality starts and the Orioles are 5-9 in his games. In nine home starts, he is 1-3 with a 5.20 ERA. In nine career starts against Detroit, he is 6-0 with a 2.45 ERA and 1.023 WHIP. The Orioles are 7-2 in those games.

Over the last five games, since Tillman's last start, the O's rotation has posted an ERA of 0.76. Over that span, O's pitchers have allowed three earned runs over 35 2/3.

Left-hander Matthew Boyd (5-5, 5.30 ERA) will make his 15th start for Detroit. He has recorded three consecutive quality starts, going 3-0 with a 4.19 ERA. In eight road starts, he is 3-3 with a 5.54 ERA.

The Tigers are 49-57 and stand in fourth in the American League Central, 8 1/2 games back of first-place Cleveland. They are six games back for the second AL wild card. The O's are 2 1/2 games behind Kansas City for that spot with Tampa Bay a half-game behind the Royals and Seattle 1 1/2 out.

Detroit has won four of its last five, beating Houston and New York. The Tigers gave up seven total runs in the four wins. They have won two straight road series for the first time in 2017. They are 12-11 versus the AL East. Detroit beat the Yankees 2-0 yesterday. Going into the game, the Yankees were the only team in the majors to not be shut out at home this year.

Detroit skipper Brad Ausmus is one win shy of 300 for his career. His record is 299-291 (.507). He was named the 37th manager in Tigers history on Nov. 3, 2013.

The Orioles are approaching the 10,000th regular season home run in team history. They sit now with 9,994. The Orioles will become one of four teams with 10,000 since 1954, joining the Yankees, Tigers and Red Sox.