O's game blog: Series in Kansas City begins

KANSAS CITY - The Orioles (44-89) begin a weekend series in Kansas City tonight at Kauffman Stadium. The O's split two games in Washington on Tuesday and Wednesday to start this three-city, eight-game trip.

Lefty John Means (9-9, 3.61 ERA) was reinstated earlier today from the family medical emergency list and will start tonight's game. Means allowed one run and five hits over seven innings on Saturday against Tampa Bay in his last start. Over his past two starts, Means has allowed three earned runs over 12 innings.

This will be Means' seventh career appearance against an American League Central opponent and second appearance against Kansas City. He is 2-3 in six starts with a 3.19 ERA with opponents averaging .197 with eight walks and 25 strikeouts. His .197 average against is his lowest clip against any division and is the 10th-lowest in the majors (minimum 100 batters faced).

Kansas City will start lefty Eric Skoglund (0-0, 3.60 ERA). He made his first major league appearance of the year on Sunday at Cleveland, allowing two runs and two hits over five innings. In 22 career major league games (19 starts) he is 2-8 with a 5.90 ERA and 1.419 WHIP.

Orioles hitting notes

* Hanser Alberto is 6-for-11 during a four-game hitting streak and batting .337 in August with an OPS of .948.

* Trey Mancini is 4-for-9 his past three games, but is batting just .222 his last 13.

* Renato Nùñez is 9-for-20 (.450) over his last six games.

* Anthony Santander is 8-for-13 in his past three games with two doubles, a homer and four RBIs. He was 5-for-49 in the previous 12 games.

* DJ Stewart is batting .429 with an OPS of 1.087 over his past nine games.

On the farm: Double-A Bowie enters play today with a two-game lead in the Eastern League Western Division second-half standings. The Baysox's magic number to clinch a playoff spot is two. They close out the regular season with four games, starting tonight, at Richmond.

Short-season Single-A Aberdeen enters play today one game behind Hudson Valley in the New York-Penn League McNamara Division and is tied for the lead in the wild card standings. The IronBirds play their final regular season home game tonight against Brooklyn before traveling to Hudson Valley for three games to close out the regular season.

The Rookie-level Gulf Coast League Orioles wrapped up their season on Wednesday, as their remaining games were canceled due to Hurricane Dorian. The GCL Orioles finished as GCL South Division champions, with a league-best 38-15 record.

Single-A Delmarva wraps up its regular season with four games against Kannapolis at Perdue Stadium, starting tonight. The Shorebirds will start the South Atlantic League Playoffs on Sept. 4.

Earlier this week, the Arizona Fall League announced coaching staffs and roster assignments for the 2019 season that begins Sept. 18. Delmarva manager Kyle Moore and Single-A Frederick athletic trainer Marty Brinker were both named to the Surprise Saguaros staff. Five Orioles minor leaguers were added to the Saguaros roster: infielder Rylan Bannon, right-hander Dean Kremer, right-hander David Lebron, infielder Mason McCoy and left-hander Alex Wells. The Saguaros will play their home games at the Peoria Sports Complex. The O's may still add one pitcher and one outfielder to the roster.