O's game blog: Orioles, Twins begin three-game series in Minnesota

The Orioles and Twins begin a three-game series tonight in Minnesota; the teams begin the series with identical 43-39 records, and both are in second place.

The Orioles and Twins are tied for the second American League wild card spot right now, one game behind the Angels and one game ahead of the Rays and Blue Jays.

Minnesota, which just split a four-game series against Kansas City, has the best record in its league against American League East opponents at 9-4. The Twins are 5-2 against Boston and 2-1 versus both Tampa Bay and New York. This is their first game against the Orioles.

After going 20-7 in May, the Twins are 13-20 since June first.

Minnesota's Joe Mauer is a career .343 hitter against the Orioles, with 15 doubles, five home runs, 36 RBIs and a .405 OBP in 56 games. Trevor Plouffe is hitting .325 in 22 career games against Baltimore, and Brian Dozier has hit safely in each of his last nine games against the Orioles.

The Twins have scored just 12 runs their last five games, losing three of the five. In that five-game stretch, Twins starting pitchers have worked to an ERA of 1.95.

Jonathan Schoop starts again at second base for the Orioles. Over his last seven games, with four at Double-A Bowie, two at Single-A Frederick and one with the Orioles, Schoop is batting .321 (9-for-28) with five homers and nine RBIs.

Matt Wieters is 0-for-15 his past four games and 4-for-36 (.111) his last 10 contests. Chris Parmelee has two hits his last 21 at-bats and Adam Jones is 6-for-34 his past nine games.

Left-hander Wei-Yin Chen (4-4, 2.84 ERA) makes his 16th start tonight. Chen ranks eighth in the AL in ERA, and over his last five starts, he is 3-0 with a 2.16 ERA. The Orioles are 5-0 in those games.

Chen has pitched eight innings to tie his career high in two of his last three starts, and the Orioles are 10-5 in his starts this year.

Chen has remarkable numbers when pitching with runners in scoring position. He gives up a batting average of just .095 and a slugging percentage of .159, allowing just one double and homer over 63 at-bats with RISP.

Phil Hughes (7-6, 4.27 ERA) makes his 17th start for Minnesota. The right-hander went 2-0 with a 1.26 ERA versus the Orioles in 2014. In 22 career games (19 starts) against Baltimore, he is 8-5 with a 4.67 ERA.

Congratulations to the four Orioles that have been selected to the AL All-Star team: Darren O'Day, Zach Britton, Adam Jones and Manny Machado.