O's game blog: O's look for an 8-2 start in Toronto

TORONTO - He has not been in the Orioles organization very long, in fact just over two weeks. But right-hander Alec Asher will join the club's starting rotation - at least for one day. He will start here this afternoon against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Orioles acquired Asher on March 28 from Philadelphia for a player to be named or cash. Two days later, he pitched a scoreless inning versus Detroit in a spring training game. He broke camp with Triple-A Norfolk, made the start and pitched 4 1/3 scoreless last Monday for the Tides against Gwinnett. He allowed four hits with no walks and six strikeouts, throwing 74 pitches.

Over the last two seasons, Asher made 12 major league starts with the Phillies with very poor stats in 2015 but very good numbers last year. In 2015, he pitched to an ERA of 9.31 in seven starts. Last September, he went 2-1 with a 2.28 ERA over five starts for Philadelphia.

A fourth-round pick of the Rangers in 2012, he was involved in the trade in July 2015 that brought sent Cole Hamels to the Rangers.

On June 16, 2016, Asher was suspended for 80 games for violating Major League Baseball's drug policy after testing positive for the steroid chlorodehydromethyltestosterone. He also underwent Tommy John surgery on his right elbow when he was just 14.

Toronto's starter this afternoon is right-hander Marco Estrada (0-1, 5.73 ERA), who got the start against the Orioles on opening day. He gave up two runs and five hits over six innings. His last start was Sunday at Tampa Bay, when he gave up five runs and seven hits over five innings.

In the two starts, lefty batters are hitting .300 (6-for-20) against, right-handed batters are hitting .261 (6-for-23) and he has permitted an average of .231 (3-for-13) with runners in scoring position.

In four starts last season, Estrada went 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA against Baltimore. In 11 career games (nine starts), he is 4-1 with a 3.20 ERA and 1.101 WHIP.

The Orioles are unbeaten in close games this season, going 4-0 in one-run games and 2-0 in two-run games.

O's hitters notes:

* Welington Castillo is 7-for-15 (.467) during a four-game hitting streak.

* Chris Davis is 5-for-12 (.417) over his last three games with two homers and two doubles.

* Manny Machado is 1-for-19 (.053) in his last five games and 0-for-8 in this series.

* Jonathan Schoop is 6-for-11 (.545) over three games with two doubles, two homers and four RBIs.