O's game blog: O's look for sweep today against Houston

The last time the Orioles swept back-to-back three-game series was April 22-May 1, 2005 at Toronto and against Tampa bay. The Orioles are going for a sweep of the Houston Astros here today with Chris Tillman on the mound. He has made six starts this year and the Orioles are 5-1 in those games. In fact, they are 36-18 in Tillman starts since 2012. The right-hander is 3-1 with a 3.80 ERA. He gave up three runs in six innings Tuesday against Tampa Bay. He has allowed three earned runs or fewer in six of his seven starts. Tillman has been real good at Camden Yards, pitching to a 2.04 ERA despite an 0-1 record. He's allowed just one homer over 17 2/3 innings and a .229 batting average against at the Yard. Right-hander Jarred Cosart (1-3, 4.50 ERA) gets the start for Houston. He gave up seven runs in the first inning against Oakland on April 18 to inflate his ERA, but over three starts since that outing, has pitched to an ERA of 1.83. Lefty batters hit .225 off Cosart, right-handed batters hit .190 and his overall average against is just .210 with a 1.96 ground-to-air out ratio. Nelson Cruz hit another homer last night. That is four homers his last 11 games and eight in his last 18. Over his past 20 games, Cruz is batting .305 with eight homers and 23 RBIs.