Some Orioles-Mariners pregame notes

A couple of pregame notes as the Orioles begin a seven-game road trip with a three-game series tonight in Seattle. The road trip will take them to the All-Star break. * Steve Johnson was officially added to the roster this afternoon. He is 3-5 with an ERA of 2.73 in 14 games in nine starts at Triple-A Norfolk. His last four appearances came out of the bullpen. In those four games he pitched 12 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing just five hits while walking seven and striking out 20. Johnson has held opponents to a .194 batting average this year in the International League. That breaks down to .283 against left-handed batters and just .122 vs. right-handed batters. Johnson has fanned 24 over 17 innings out of the bullpen. * The Orioles have three players named to play in the All-Star game, and that is the second most in the AL East. The Yankees have four headed to the game, Tampa Bay has two, while Boston and Toronto have one each. * Chris Tillman, who was held out of his Triple-A start tonight in anticipation that he could possibly start Thursday for the Orioles, has an ERA of 2.89 over his last 11 games. In that time he has allowed two earned runs or less in eight of those 11 starts. * Zach Britton is another rotation candidate for later this week, possibly on Friday. In Britton's first three Triple-A starts, his ERA was 6.89 and opponent batters hit .338 off him. Over his past three starts, Britton's ERA is 3.18 and opponents are hitting .235 off of him. * Tonight's O's starter, Jason Hammel, enters with a record of 8-3 with an ERA of 3.29. He is coming off of Wednesday's outing where he gave up eight runs in 3 1/3 against the Angels. Hammel has allowed two earned runs or fewer in ten of his 15 starts. The Orioles are 11-4 when he gets the starting assignment. * The Mariners are 34-47 and have lost seven of their last 11 games. Seattle has scored just nine runs total over its last eight games and have been shutout three times in that span. The Orioles are 21-39 at SafeCo Field since it opened in 1999.