O's game blog: Orioles host Toronto in series opener

The Orioles are 3-0 this year when the opposing starter has been Jon Lester, Justin Verlander or Masahiro Tanaka. So how difficult can it be to beat Dustin McGowan? Actually, it doesn't work that way and the O's will have to earn a win tonight if they get one. But McGowan is 0-3 with a 6.99 career ERA against the Orioles in 13 games, six as a starter. Chris Tillman starts for the Orioles. He is 1-0 with a 1.35 ERA through two starts. Over his last 24 starts dating to June 4, Tillman is 13-5 with a 3.28 ERA and 16 quality starts. Here are some notes on the Toronto Blue Jays: The Blue Jays bring a 5-5 record to Camden Yards. Toronto went 2-2 at Tampa Bay to start the year, then went 1-2 against New York and 2-1 against Houston. Toronto is 5-0 when it scores first and 0-5 when the opponent plates the first run. The Blue Jays are 2-2 on the road and 3-4 against the American League East. The Toronto offense is off to a slow start with a team slash line of .223/.298/.394 and 38 runs scored. Toronto has hit 12 homers however, getting four each from Jose Bautista and Melky Cabrera, who along with Jose Abreu of the White Sox are tied for the league lead. Cabrera has hit safely in all 10 games to start the year, going 4-for-10 the last two games. He's batting .333 for the season. The club record hit streak to start a year is 12 straight by Vernon Wells in 2006. At this time last season, Toronto was a trendy pick to win the AL East after a busy winter, but the Blue Jays went 10-17 last April. The Orioles won the season series last year, going 10-9. They won the last three series, going 6-3. The last two seasons, the O's are 13-5 at home against Toronto. Since 2012, Chris Davis (16 homers) and Adam Jones (14 homers) rank No. 1 and 2 in the majors in homers against Toronto. Last Sept. 13, Davis hit his 50th against the Blue Jays' Steve Delabar and last Sept. 25, Jonathan Schoop his his first career homer off the Jays' Kyle Drabek. Still Berry, Berry good: Double-A Bowie lefty Tim Berry has given up four hits and one run tonight at Akron and the Baysox and RubberDucks are tied 1-1 in the fifth. The lefty that was added to the Orioles' 40-man roster in November went seven innings giving up one run that was unearned in his first Double-A start. Meanwhile here at the Yard, the O's defense was real shaky in the top of the fourth as Toronto took a 2-0 lead. Jonathan Schoop made two throwing errors in the inning and the O's failed to turn a potential 3-6-1 inning-ending double play when Ryan Flaherty's throw skipped past Tillman covering the bag. Tough inning for the infield and two unearned runs put Toronto in the lead.