O's game blog: Ubaldo Jimenez on mound as Orioles go for series win

Coming off an outing in which he got the win on the road against the Toronto Blue Jays, Ubaldo Jimenez will try to beat the team chasing Toronto in the American League East, the New York Yankees.

Jimenez (10-9, 4.24 ERA) makes his 28th start tonight. On Friday at Rogers Centre, he went 5 2/3 innings, allowing four hits and two runs (one earned). While he tied his career-high with six walks that night, Toronto batters went 0-for-6 against him with runners in scoring position.

That was a rare win for Jimenez since the All-Star break. In 10 second-half starts, he is 3-5 with a 6.88 ERA. He has allowed at least one run in the first inning of five of those 10 starts.

Jimenez has struggled against New York both this year and in his career. He is 1-1 with a 12.27 ERA in two starts this season. On July 23 at Yankee Stadium, he had his shortest outing of the season. He gave up seven runs and eight hits in 2 1/3 innings. In nine career starts versus New York, he is 3-5 with a 6.60 ERA.

Jimenez ranks 10th all-time among MLB pitchers born in the Dominican Republic with 1,426 career strikeouts, one strikeout shy of Ramon Martinez (1,427), who ranks ninth and also serves as special assignment instructor with the Orioles. Jimenez ranks third among active Dominican Republic-born pitchers in strikeouts behind Ervin Santana (1,563) and Bartolo Colon (2,228). Jimenez currently ranks 13th among AL starting pitchers and first among Orioles starting pitchers, averaging 8.12 strikeouts per nine innings.

Left-hander CC Sabathia (4-9, 5.27 ERA) comes off the disabled list tonight and makes his 25th start of the season. He was on the DL with right knee inflammation. In his most recent start on Aug. 23, he gave up two runs in 2 2/3 innings versus Cleveland. Sabathia is 2-3 with an ERA of 6.07 in 11 home starts. In two 2015 starts against the Orioles, he is 0-1 with an ERA of 6.00.

The Orioles (66-72) snapped a five-game losing streak at Yankee Stadium last night. They are 6-9 against the Yankees on the year and 2-7 at New York.

Since April 29, the Orioles bullpen leads the AL and ranks third in the majors with a 2.67 ERA. In that same time, Baltimore relievers have held opponents to a .230 clip, fifth in the majors. On the season, O's relievers rank fourth in the majors and second in the AL with a 2.94 ERA.

Manny Machado is the current active MLB leader in consecutive games played at 138. According to STATS, Kole Calhoun of the Los Angeles Angels ranks second at 129 consecutive games played.

The Orioles are 24-21 this season in the final game of a series and 12-7 when playing a rubber match game to decide a three-game series.