O's game blog: Orioles go for series win against Toronto

The Orioles will try to win an important series against Toronto this afternoon. A win will move the O's within 2 1/2 games of the first-place Blue Jays while a loss will drop them, once again, 4 1/2 games out. The Orioles have taken two of the first three games in this series and they've now won nine of their last 11 American League East contests. They are 17-10 on the year within the division and that's the best record by any AL East club in division games. The Orioles are 5-2-1 in AL East series. They are 8-6 in division games at home and 9-4 on the road. The Orioles are 5-4 versus Toronto for the season and they are 16-8 at home against Toronto since the 2012 season. Chris Tillman (5-3, 4.91 ERA) faces lefty J.A. Happ (5-3, 4.37 ERA) in today's series and homestand finale. Tillman gave up just one run over six innings on Tuesday against Boston. That was after he allowed 20 earned runs in 14 1/3 innings over his previous four starts. He is 4-4 with a 3.99 ERA in 12 career starts against Toronto and is 2-1 with a 1.82 ERA in five home starts against the Jays. Over the last six games, the O's pitching staff has given up nine runs. O's starters have now recorded six consecutive quality starts, pitching to an ERA of 1.13 in that time, allowing five earned runs over 39 2/3 innings. The O's offense has not put big numbers on this homestand. The Orioles have scored just 13 runs over their last five games and 27 during the first nine games of the homestand.