The Orioles' house of pain

The Orioles will try to avoid being swept by the Athletics today and remain one game behind the Yankees in the American League East. It's a tall order, given their surroundings. The Orioles have lost 16 of their last 18 games at Oakland Coliseum dating back to 2008, and they have been outscored, 90-55. Not all of these Oakland teams have been Grade A's, but the dominance continues. Orioles pitchers have posted a 4.93 ERA during that stretch, and the A's are batting .276. Meanwhile, according to O's PR, Oakland pitchers have posted a 2.69 ERA and held the Orioles to a .228 average. Since 2003, the Orioles have gone 8-29 in Oakland. Maybe it's all that foul territory. Or the yellow jerseys. The Orioles are 27-14 in day games, including 15-6 on the road, and 25-21 in series finales. In 14 road games, Manny Machado is batting .353 (18-for-51) with four RBIs, five extra-base hits and six runs scored. In 20 home games, he's batting .213 (16-for-75) with 11 RBIs, seven extra-base hits and 10 runs scored. Machado has played every inning at third base since the Orioles selected his contract on Aug. 9. He's committed two errors (one legit) for the third-best fielding percentage (.980) among American League third basemen. The Orioles have made just 13 errors in that span, for a .991 fielding percentage that ranks first in the AL. They haven't been charged with more than one error in a game after committing multiple errors in 24 of their first 111 games. The Orioles are 12-18 against the American League West and 69-46 against the rest of baseball. A big reason why Chris Tillman is starting Monday night in Seattle is his 3-0 record and 0.83 ERA in three career starts against the Mariners. He's 2-0 with an 0.57 ERA this season. Tillman is 4-1 with a 3.26 ERA in his six road outings in 2012.