O's game blog: Tillman on the mound in series finale

When Chris Tillman gave up just one run in five innings at Boston in his last start, he added to his streak of consecutive starts allowing three or fewer earned runs. He is now at 18 straight such starts which ties him with Steve Barber for the fourth longest streak in club history: * Dave McNally, 25 straight from May 19-Sept. 8, 1968. * Steve Barber, 20 straight from Aug. 17, 1965 to June 4, 1966. * Milt Pappas, 19 straight from April 14-July 21, 1965. * Steve Barber, 18 straight from June 12, 1966 to May 14, 1967. Since June 10, when this streak began, Tillman is 7-3 with a 2.24 ERA to lower his season ERA from 5.20 to 3.36. Tillman has 14 quality starts during this run, and 13 times has allowed two earned runs or less. Over his last 11 starts, Tillman is 5-0 since his last loss July 12 against the same Yankee team he faces tonight. Tillman is 5-5 with a 5.32 ERA in 13 career starts against New York. He is 1-1 with a 2.18 ERA in three starts against the Yankees this season. Over the last 12 games, Orioles starting pitchers are 6-1 with a 1.61 ERA and 10 quality starts. The Birds are 9-3 in those 12 games. The Orioles are a major league-best 26-8 (.765) at home since June 30 after going 19-21 in their first 40 home games. They have not lost consecutive home games since June 28-29. Nelson Cruz is batting .339 with 10 extra-base hits over his last 14 games. He is 19-for-56 in that stretch with four doubles, a triple, five homers and 14 RBIs. Steve Pearce is batting .310 with 14 extra-base hits his last 20 games. He is 22-for-71 with eight doubles, six homers and nine RBIs. The Orioles are 10-4 against New York, including a 6-2 mark at home. Baltimore's current .714 winning percentage is their seventh-best mark against the Yankees in a single season. A win tonight would improve it to third place (11- 4 at .733).