O's game blog: It's Tillman time in season opener

Welcome to the first game blog of the new season. Leave comments here as the game goes, as instant reactions we get from fans can be interesting to track as we watch each pitch.

As the Orioles begin their 62nd season since moving to Baltimore today, they open on the road against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Right-hander Chris Tillman (13-6, 3.34 ERA in 2014) faces right-hander Chris Archer (10-9, 3.33 ERA in 2014) in the season opener at the Trop.

For about the final four months of last season, Tillman pitched very much like an ace. Over his last 21 regular season starts, he went 8-4 with a 2.38 ERA and 16 quality starts.

In 14 starts after the All-Star break, he was 6-1 with a 2.33 ERA (10th in the American League) and a 1.01 WHIP. Tillman's strikeout rate went up as the year went on. He averaged 5.6 strikeouts per every nine innings before the break and 7.7 after.

The Orioles went 24-10 in his career-high 34 starts in 2014 and went 11-1 in his last 12 of the regular season.

As with other O's starters, Tillman didn't pitch as well in the postseason, going 1-0 with a 6.75 ERA in two playoff starts. Over 9 1/3 innings, he allowed seven runs and three homers.

In 14 career starts versus Tampa Bay, he is 4-6 with a 4.08 ERA. In three starts last year, he went 2-0 with a 1.71 ERA. He gave up just one run over 15 innings in his last two starts against the Rays.

The 26-year-old Archer is coming off a very solid season. Over 194 2/3 innings, he gave up just 12 homers and fanned 173 batters. He was better on the road than at home with an ERA of 2.78 away from St. Petersburg and a mark of 5-5 and ERA of 4.00 in 15 starts at Tropicana Field.

Left-handed batters hit .228 versus Archer and right-handed batters hit .262. He allowed a .280 average when pitching with runners in scoring position.

He made two starts in 2014 against the Orioles, going 0-1 with an ERA of 9.00, allowing 19 hits in 10 innings. The Orioles batted .404 (19-for-47) against him with six doubles and a homer last season. In five career games versus Baltimore, he is 1-2 with a 5.76 ERA and WHIP of 1.52.

LUNGevity Foundation recognizes O's: As a new baseball season starts, LUNGevity Foundation today announced the Baltimore Orioles as the April LUNGevity Hero for their active participation and support in the quest to end lung cancer.

The Orioles' longstanding commitment began as a tribute to their former public relations director and LUNGevity advocate, Monica Barlow, who died from lung cancer in 2014 at the age of 36. The Orioles turned their grief into action, raising awareness and vital research funds for the disease.

The Orioles have raised awareness about lung cancer and LUNGevity by wearing LUNGevity t-shirts during spring training, donating proceeds from their 2014 playoff winnings, and hosting LUNGevity's annual Breathe Deep Baltimore walk at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. In advance of LUNGevity's Baltimore walk, the Orioles enthusiastically promoted the walk through radio interviews, television game broadcasts, stadium announcements, Jumbotron promotions and more, to encourage the entire community to join them. Management and individual players also got involved.

Orioles Manager Buck Showalter spoke at Breathe Deep Baltimore, MASN broadcaster Jim Hunter introduced and emceed the event, former Oriole Nick Markakis named LUNGevity as the charity of his choice for Major League Baseball's "Strike Out Cancer Day" initiative, and first baseman Chris Davis donated $100 to LUNGevity for every home run he hit in the 2014 season. The Oriole Bird, Baltimore's beloved mascot, also joined the effort, donning a LUNGevity bow tie with FOX broadcaster Ken Rosenthal in support of lung cancer research. Their efforts encouraged Major League Baseball to select LUNGevity as the beneficiary of their 2014 Winter Meetings Auction, which raised more than $176,000.

Norfolk rotation: Reporter David Hall of the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot tweeted today that the order of the rotation at Triple-A Norfolk will be Tyler Wilson, Mike Wright, T.J. McFarland, Zach Davies and Eddie Gamboa. The Tides open on Thursday at Charlotte.