O's game blog: Orioles go for another AL East series win tonight

The Orioles have won a season-high seven straight series. They have lost just one of their last 12 American League East series. They can add to both totals with a win here tonight in a rain-shortened, two-game series against the Yankees. The Orioles are 9-1-2 in the last 12 AL East series, and they have won three in a row and five of their last six. They are 29-19 against the AL East with a much better road (17-8) than home (12-11) record against the division. The Orioles have scored 36 runs over their last four games. If you go back to the last eight games, they have scored seven runs or more five times. In those eight games, the Orioles are batting .311 with 16 doubles, 19 homers and 55 runs scored. The Yankee meanwhile, have scored just four runs their past three games, scoring in only three of their last 29 innings. On the mound tonight, it's Chris Tillman (9-5, 3.73 ERA) against right-hander Michael Pineda (2-2, 1.83 ERA). The Orioles are 16-9 in Tillman's 25 starts, and he leads the team in quality starts (15) and quality start percentage (60.0). Tillman has given up three earned runs or less in 12 consecutive starts, going 4-2 with a 2.40 ERA in that stretch with 10 quality starts. Pineda has been out since April with a strained muscle behind his shoulder. He has made two minor league rehab starts going 3 1/3 and 4 1/3 innings, throwing 58 and 72 pitches. So he should be on a limited pitch-count tonight. A win tonight and the Orioles will be 8-3 against New York and move to a season-high 19 games over the .500 mark. On June 6, the Orioles were 6 1/2 games out of first place. They begin play tonight leading the division by 6 1/2 games.