O's game blog: Tillman faces Severino (O's crushed 16-3)

As they have fallen 4 1/2 games out in the American League East to tie a season high, the Orioles (31-28) play the Yankees tonight for the second game of three this weekend in the Bronx.

New York is 35-23 and leading Boston by three games for first place. New York is 20-9 at home, 5-3 in June and 14-14 since moving a season-best 12 games over .500 at 21-9 on May 8. They have now tied that mark.

O's right-hander Chris Tillman (1-3, 5.59 ERA) will make his seventh start. He has two quality starts, but has made four others in which he pitched five innings or less.

On Sunday at Oriole Park, Tillman recorded a quality start, allowing five runs (three earned) over six innings against Boston. Tillman threw 103 pitches and issued a season-high four walks. He did feel he made some strides forward in that outing.

"Little off in the first, but got better as I went and made some better pitches as the game got going," Tillman said after that game. "Today was much better. I am glad I was able to take that step. But early on, (I need to) make a few better pitches. Especially with the off-speed stuff. It was out of the zone and it forces you to use the fastball more in counts you normally wouldn't. So have to be a little better with the off-speed stuff early on."

Tillman has now been scored on in the first inning of three straight starts. He pitched scoreless ball in the first inning of his first three starts. Overall, he has an ERA of 10.50 in that inning, allowing two homers and a .370 batting average.

Two starts ago he allowed first-inning homers to the Yankees' Brett Gardner and Matt Holliday. He gave up seven hits and five runs over 2 2/3 innings, his shortest start of the season. In 20 career starts versus New York, he is 8-7 with a 4.93 ERA and 1.568 WHIP.

Right-hander Luis Severino (4-2, 2.90 ERA) will make his 12th start. His last few have been real good and he now ranks sixth in the American League in ERA.

Over his last four games, Severino is 2-0 with a 1.37 ERA, allowing five runs in 26 1/3 innings. He has walked six with 29 strikeouts in that stretch.

Severino has made two starts versus the Orioles this year, allowing four runs in five innings in April but one run in 6 1/3 innings two starts ago, on May 30. The Orioles are likely going to have to hit his slider tonight. He throws it 38 percent of the time. And, in that last start against Baltimore, he threw it a season-high 50 percent.

Lefty batters are hitting .211 against Severino, who yields a batting average against of .233 to right-handers. He is 2-2 with a 3.77 ERA in five home starts.

Orioles batters recently:

* Chris Davis is 0-for-10 his past three games, after batting .333 (9-for-27) with three homers during a seven-game hitting streak.

* J.J. Hardy is 3-for-29 (.103) his past eight games.

* Jonathan Schoop is batting .340 (16-for-47) his last 12 games with five homers and 14 RBIs.

* Mark Trumbo is 4-for-26 (.154) his past seven games.

After scoring 15 runs in two games against Pittsburgh, the Orioles scored just three the last two games at Washington and New York. They have had 28 games this season in which they scored three runs or fewer, going 8-20.

The Yankees are 3-1 at home against the Orioles. In the four games they are batting .320 as a team with 38 runs and 13 homers.

The Orioles are trying to snap a seven-game road losing streak tonight. Their last road victory was on May 16 at Detroit.

O's bashed in the Bronx: Chris Tillman gave up a career high nine runs, along with seven hits and three homers in 1 1/3 innings tonight as New York crushed the Orioles 16-3 at Yankee Stadium.

The Orioles fall to 31-29 overall and to 10-19 on the road. They have now lost eight straight road games and 12 of their last 13. They fall 5 1/2 games back of first place.

New York bashed six doubles and five homers among its 18 hits and went 6-for-14 with runners in scoring position. The Orioles were held to four hits and shut out until the seventh, when Chris Davis hit a solo homer. Joey Rickard added another in the eighth. Caleb Joseph singled in a run in the ninth.

In five home games against the Orioles in 2017, New York has scored 54 runs and hit 18 homers in going 4-1.