O's game blog: Orioles look for series win today against Seattle

In the series and homestand finale today at Camden Yards, the Orioles host Seattle with Chris Tillman (7-5, 3.97 ERA) facing right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma (9-5, 3.06 ERA). Tillman is 5-0 with an ERA of 2.45 in five career starts against Seattle. Four of his five starts have been quality starts. He last faced the Mariners on Aug. 2, 2013 and got the win at Camden Yards. He went 5 1/3 innings, allowing eight hits and six earned runs. Tillman has now gone six straight starts without a win, getting five no-decisions and a loss. Tillman's career-high is seven consecutive starts without a win, spanning two seasons from Sept. 16, 2009 to June 14, 2010 when he went 0-5 with two no-decisions. On June 22 at New York, Tillman became the 28th player in O's history to make 100 or more starts. Iwakuma took a 4-0 loss against the Orioles on July 24 at Seattle when he gave up four runs and seven hits over seven innings. He is making his third career start against the Orioles and is 0-1 with a 5.25 in the first two. Delmon Young, who is batting cleanup today, is 4-for-8 with two career homers against the right-hander who made his first career start against the Orioles on July 2, 2012. A win today would give the O's four consecutive series wins for the first time this season. The Orioles have clinched the season series victory, and currently are 4-2 against Seattle this season, going 1-1 in Baltimore and 3-1 in Seattle. The Orioles lead the all-time series 213-178 and are 14-7 against the Mariners since the beginning of 2012. Manny Machado is batting .372/.390/.603 in his last 19 games since July 5, collecting nine multi-hit games and raising his season average from .239 to .275. Nick Markakis has 1,498 career hits, good for sixth on the club's all-time list. With two more hits, he will become the second outfielder in club history to collect 1,500 hits, joining Brady Anderson (1,589). Final note today comes from ESPN's Stats and Info Twitter account: In the American League East, the Yankees are currently third and Boston is fifth. The last time neither team finished in the top two of the division was 1992.