O's game blog: Tillman on mound in series finale (O's win 8-5)

After a 15-5 loss to the Rays on Friday followed by an 8-3 win on Saturday afternoon, the Orioles and Tampa Bay play the third and deciding game of their series this afternoon.

The Orioles are 36-38 overall, 12-24 on the road, 3-2 against Tampa Bay and 22-17 versus the American League East. Saturday's win was just the second road victory in the last 15 games for the Orioles. A victory today would give the Orioles their first road series win since April 18-20 at Cincinnati.

Tampa Bay is 40-37 and in third place in the AL East. The Rays are 8-3 in their last 11 home games and 24-15 at home for the season.

Tampa Bay's Corey Dickerson and Evan Longoria his back-to-back homers off Dylan Bundy in the third inning yesterday. It was the 10th time in 2017 the Rays hit back-to-back homers, which leads the majors and is a club record. The Rays have six straight multi-homer games. They have hit 120 homers on the year to rank second in the majors, one behind Houston. The Orioles rank seventh with 106.

Bundy got the win for Baltimore, allowing three runs over seven innings yesterday. O's starters had produced just one start of seven innings in the last 21 games before Bundy's outing.

The Orioles ended their streak of allowing five-or-more runs in 20 consecutive games. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the streak tied the modern major league record (since 1900) set by the 1924 Philadelphia Phillies, but it fell nine games shy of the all-time major league record for consecutive games allowing five or more runs. That is 29 by the Louisville Colonels of the National League in 1894.

Today, right-hander Chris Tillman (1-5, 8.39 ERA) makes his 10th start. Tillman has struggled badly in recent games, allowing 19 runs his last three starts for an ERA of 16.03. Over 10 2/3 innings, he has given up 26 hits, including five home runs.

Can he survive the first inning today? On the year, he has an ERA of 15.00 and batting average against of .419 in the opening inning. Tillman has allowed five runs or more in five straight starts.

He has not faced Tampa Bay this season. He went 3-1 with an ERA of 3.38 last season in five starts. In 25 career starts against the Rays, Tillman is 8-10 with a 4.11 ERA.

Right-hander Jake Odorizzi (4-3, 3.78 ERA) will make his 14th start for the Rays. He has allowed three earned runs or fewer 11 times and has six quality starts. Odorizzi has not faced the Orioles this year. In 14 career games (13 starts), he is 3-4 with an ERA of 5.15.

Trey Mancini hit his 13th homer in the seventh inning yesterday. His 13 home runs are the most by an Orioles rookie prior to the All-Star break since Eddie Murray hit 13 in 1977. Curt Blefary also had 13 home runs as a rookie in 1965 prior to the All-Star break.

At Double-A Bowie, outfielder/DH Adam Brett Walker has hit safely in nine of 10 games since joining the Baysox. Walker is batting .439 with five doubles, five homers and 11 RBIs. He has homered in three straight games and has an OPS of 1.392.