O's game blog: Orioles look to extend win streak as Tigers come to town

Beginning play tonight one game out in the American League wild card race and six games behind the AL East leading Yankees, the Orioles host the Tigers at Camden Yards.

It is the start of a four-game series. The Orioles won two of three in Detroit to start the second half. The Tigers won the season series 5-1 last year and then got swept by the Orioles in the American League Division Series.

The Orioles can tie their season-high win streak which is six, should they win tonight. The Birds won six in a row from June 7-13. They have outscored their opponents 21-7 during the five-game streak. Over the last six games, O's starting pitchers are 4-0 with a 1.25 ERA, with five quality starts and five outings of seven innings or more.

A few more notes from Chris Tillman's great outing last night:

* Tillman allowed four hits and came within one out of a complete-game shutout in the 2-0 win over the Braves. In his previous two outings, Tillman allowed one hit in eight scoreless at Detroit and two hits and one run over seven at Tampa Bay. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the only other Orioles pitchers to go at least seven innings while allowing four or fewer hits and one or fewer runs in three straight starts since the team moved to Baltimore in 1954 are Steve Barber (August 1965), Jim Palmer (April 1977), and Erik Bedard (July 2007).

* Tillman has allowed just one run over those last three starts in 23 2/3 innings for an ERA of 0.38. He has also allowed just seven hits in 76 at-bats, for an average against of .092 in those games.

With their win last night, the Orioles notched their first sweep of the Braves since June 11-13, 1999 (at Atlanta) and first ever three-game sweep against the Braves at Oriole Park. It was the first three-game sweep for the Birds at Oriole Park since June 26-28 vs. Cleveland.

Detroit brings a record of 49-52 to Baltimore. The Tigers are 2-4 on their current 10-game road trip. They went 1-2 at both Boston and Tampa Bay.

In 67 career games against the Orioles, Detroit's Ian Kinsler has a .325 batting average with 51 runs scored, 15 doubles, one triple, 11 home runs and 44 RBIs. Kinsler has hit safely in 23 of his last 28 games against Baltimore and has 12 multi-hit games during that stretch.

On the mound tonight, the Orioles' Miguel Gonzalez (9-6, 3.99 ERA) pitches against former Oriole right-hander Alfredo Simon (9-6, 4.46 ERA).

After pitching to an ERA of 7.53 during a recent four-start stretch, Gonzalez has allowed just three runs over 12 2/3 in his past two starts for an ERA of 2.13. In eight home starts he is 3-2 with a 4.01 ERA.

Simon gave up just one run in six innings on Saturday against Boston. But, in his six previous starts he gave up five or more runs five times, going 1-3 with an ERA of 10.05. In 10 starts since June 1, Simon, an Oriole from 2008-11, is 4-4 with an ERA of 6.37.

The Orioles have promoted hard-throwing left-handed pitcher Tanner Scott from short-season Single-A Aberdeen to Single-A Delmarva. With the IronBirds, Scott went 4-0 with a 3.38 ERA and 31 strikeouts over 21 1/3 innings. In his last four games, he fanned 18 over 10 innings.