O's game blog: The series in Detroit begins

After losing two of three at home to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Orioles (47-99) begin a four-game series in Detroit tonight at Comerica Park. The Birds lost 4-2 to the Dodgers on Thursday and were held to two hits. They went 1-6 on the homestand. They finished the season going 7-13 in interleague play.

The Orioles' next loss will be No. 100 and they will have back-to-back years of 100 or more losses for the first time in team history. The 1954 Orioles lost 100, the 1988 club lost 107 and they lost 115 games last season.

Tonight is a matchup of the clubs with the worst records in Major League Baseball. Detroit is 43-102 and the Orioles are 3 1/2 games better as this series begins. The team with the worst record at the end of the year gets the No. 1 draft pick in June of 2020.

Detroit won a wild 12-11 game over the Yankees on Tuesday night and the clubs were rained out Wednesday. In a doubleheader yesterday, New York won both games by 10-4 and 6-4 scores.

The Tigers have lost four of its last five, nine of 11 and 20 of the last 26. The Tigers are 19-52 at home and 12-17 versus the American League East.

On the mound tonight for the Orioles is right-hander Aaron Brooks (4-8, 6.21 ERA). Brooks will be making his 27th appearance and 18th start between Oakland and the Orioles. In his last game versus Texas he allowed seven runs (six earned) in 2 2/3 innings.

In games with the Orioles only, Brooks is 2-5 with a 7.54 ERA and 1.676 WHIP in 11 starts. He averages 3.0 walks per nine and 6.8 strikeouts and the Orioles are 5-6 in those games.

Right-hander Jordan Zimmermann (1-10, 6.27 ERA), former Washington Nationals starter, will make his 21st start of the year for Detroit. He gave up seven hits and six runs in his last outing against Oakland. The Tigers are 4-16 when Zimmermann starts, losing the last six such games.

In 99 innings for the year he has allowed 119 hits with a WHIP of 1.434, yielding 10.8 hits per nine, 1.5 homers, 2.1 walks and 6.5 strikeouts. In nine home starts, he is 0-6 with an ERA of 6.80 and WHIP of 1.756.

In nine career games versus Baltimore, Zimmermann is 4-4 with a 5.94 ERA and has allowed 17 homers in 50 innings. He has not faced the O's since April 19, 2018. Chris Davis is 6-for-11 in his career versus Zimmermann with four homers and seven RBIs.

The Orioles are 1-2 this year against Detroit. In a series in late May, they won Game 1 in Baltimore 5-3 before losing to the Tigers by 3-0 and 4-2.