O's game blog: Looking for a series victory

The Orioles are 4-11 this season in rubber match games and they play one tonight against the National League West champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Jonathan Villar hit a tiebreaking 443-foot three-run homer in the seventh inning last night as the O's won 7-3 to even the series at a win each.

The Orioles (47-98) snapped a six-game losing streak as they matched the 2018 team win total. They are 23-51 at home and 30-27 when hitting multiple homers. The O's are 7-12 in interleague games and the Dodgers are 8-9.

O's center fielder Austin Hays recorded his first career three-hit game and his first multi-hit game since Sept. 21, 2017 last night. He singled in the third inning for his first hit of the 2019 season and first since Sept. 29, 2017 at Tampa Bay.

The O's Dwight Smith Jr. recorded his 21st multi-hit game when he plated Hanser Alberto with a single in the sixth inning to tie the game at 2-2. Also, he drove in the game's first run with an RBI double in the second inning. That marked his first extra-base hit and RBI since being recalled from Triple-A Norfolk on Sept. 1 when rosters expanded.

The O's send right-hander Dylan Bundy (6-13, 5.06 ERA) to the mound tonight for his 28th start. The Orioles are 9-18 in the first 27. Bundy allowed five runs and eight hits over six innings against Texas in his last start. In his previous three, he went 1-0 with an ERA of 3.00, allowing one homer in 18 innings.

Facing the Orioles tonight is left-hander Rich Hill (4-1, 2.55 ERA), who was an Oriole in 2009. In 14 games then, he went 3-3 with an ERA of 7.80.

Hill was activated today after being placed on the 10-day injured list with a strained left forearm on June 20 and later transferred to the 60-day IL on July 2. He last pitched for the Dodgers on June 19 versus San Francisco, throwing a scoreless inning.

In 10 games on the year, he has fanned 61 batters against 12 walks in 53 innings while posting a 1.11 WHIP. He averages 2.0 walks per nine innings and 10.4 strikeouts. He last faced the Orioles on May 7, 2016 as a member of the Athletics, earning the win after allowing only one earned run on two hits in 5 2/3 innings and 103 pitches. In 12 career games (two starts) against Baltimore, he has a 2-0 record with a 0.87 ERA, holding batters to a .127 average while putting up a 0.77 WHIP.