O's game blog: O's host Tigers in series finale, plus minors notes

Looking for a series win for the first time in more than a month, the Orioles (17-38) host the Detroit Tigers (20-32) tonight in the rubber match of this series. The Orioles won 5-3 Monday and lost 3-0 last night, their ninth loss in the last 11 games and 16th in the past 20.

Before this series, the Orioles had a seven-game stretch where they scored 43 runs on 74 hits with 11 homers and batted .356 with runners in scoring position. In these two games, they've scored five runs on 13 hits while going 1-for-13 with RISP. But O's pitchers have allowed just six runs on 16 hits, including one home run.

Tonight, left-hander John Means (5-4, 2.96 ERA) makes his 13th appearance and ninth start. He has allowed six runs over 10 innings his past two games but also has yielded just one earned run in exactly five of his starts.

Means went 3-3 with a 2.81 ERA in April and is 2-1 with a 3.13 ERA in May. Lefty batters hit .190 with an OPS of .658 off him and right-handers bat .245/.734. In six home games (four starts), he is 3-1 with a 1.54 ERA and a 0.900 WHIP. If he had enough innings to quality for the league leaders, Means' ERA would be 11th in the American League. Means has never faced Detroit.

Detroit will start lefty Ryan Carpenter (0-2, 9.00 ERA) and he is making his fourth start. He allowed 13 earned runs over nine innings in his first two games, then allowed just one earned run over five innings on 56 pitches in his last start against the New York Mets. Carpenter made seven starts this season for Triple-A Toledo, going 1-4 with a 4.15 ERA.

Dylan Bundy allowed three runs over seven innings at Oriole Park last night. That was just the fourth time an O's starter has pitched seven or more innings. O's starters have gone six or more innings 12 times and have 11 quality starts.

Over his last nine games, Hanser Alberto is batting .424 (14-for-33) with four doubles, a homer and five RBIs. He is batting .414 (24-for-58) against left-handed pitching and that is best average in the major leagues versus lefties among qualifying hitters. Alberto is now batting .391 (9-for-23) with three doubles, one home run, and four RBIs in six games in the leadoff spot.

Jonathan Villar recorded his 17th multi-hit game of the season after singling in the first and sixth innings Tuesday night. He extended his hitting streak to five games, averaging .450 (9-for-20) during this stretch.

Diaz activated: One of the Orioles' top prospects, outfielder Yusniel Diaz, was activated today off the Double-A Bowie injured list. He's been out with a hamstring issue since late April. Perhaps because of that long layoff, the O's are sending him to Single-A Frederick for now. Earlier with the Baysox, he batted .225/.313/.338 with three doubles, a triple, a homer, five RBIs and an .651 OPS over 20 games.

Also today, Double-A Bowie lefty Brian Gonzalez was placed on the seven-day injured list. He is 0-1 with a 4.55 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP pitching out of the Baysox bullpen.

The Orioles today released lefty Travis Seabrooke. He was 2-2 with a 7.50 ERA and WHIP of 1.71 with Frederick. Seabrooke was the club's fifth-round pick in 2013.

The Norfolk Virginian-Pilot reported today that Norfolk's Ryan Mountcastle got a cortisone injection for a sore left wrist. He will miss his fifth straight game tonight, but could return as soon as Saturday. In 43 games with Norfolk, he is batting .326/.351/.528 with 13 doubles, a triple, seven homers and 33 RBIs.