Tillman on the mound as O's homestand begins, plus minor league scores and notes

The Orioles are in a stretch where they play 16 consecutive games against American League East opponents. Tonight is the fourth game of that stretch that will see them open the year with 19 of 22 against the AL East. They will face Toronto six times over the next 13 games, starting with tonight's homestand-opening contest at Camden Yards. One of the many reasons it was good to see the team break out of its seven-game offensive funk was simply the fact that the schedule is so division-heavy early on. The Orioles could not afford a real slow start and you want to establish early on that you can not only play with but beat the other division teams. The Orioles hit .400 with 32 hits and four homers over the last two games at New York, scoring 19 runs. They went 9-for-24 with runners in scoring position. Now they'll look to get some more production out of a starting rotation that has worked to an ERA of 6.06 so far. Take away Chris Tillman's two runs allowed over 13 1/3 innings and the O's starters have pitched to a 7.82 ERA in the other seven games. Miguel Gonzalez got it started with a decent outing Wednesday night and now let's see how soon the other O's starters get in the act. Fans are already wondering how quickly the O's brass would make rotation changes, but I don't see any coming anytime soon. The only reason that could change would be if the club continued to lose and started to lose touch with first place in the East. Tillman takes the mound tonight for the first time since Sunday at Detroit when he outdueled Justin Verlander in a 3-1 win. He went 8 1/3 innings, allowing five hits and one run on 113 pitches. Has Tillman taken the next step from top of rotation pitcher to ace? The Orioles have won 66 percent of his starts since 2012, going 10-5 in 2012 when he took the mound, 21-12 last season and 2-0 this year. That is 33-17, which is pretty solid. Tillman will try to keep his roll going and pitch the O's to a series-opening win tonight. In the minors: The Orioles' top pick in the 2013 First-Year Player Draft, right-hander Hunter Harvey, made the start in Single-A Delmarva's home opener last night. Harvey went five innings and gave up three hits and two runs with three walks, six strikeouts and a homer. The box score had him at 88 pitches, 51 strikes. He took a shutout into the fifth before giving up two runs. Over two starts now for the Shorebirds, Harvey, who did not get a decision, is 1-0 with a 1.64 ERA. In 11 innings, he has given up seven hits and two runs with three walks and 11 strikeouts. Delmarva, down 4-2, scored four in the last of the eighth to beat Greensboro 6-4. Jeff Kemp's three-run double highlighted that big inning. After scoring just 15 runs in its first six games, Triple-A Norfolk beat Gwinnett 7-4 yesterday at Harbor Park. Henry Urrutia went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and two RBIs as Norfolk hit five doubles and went 5-for-13 with RISP. Pitching while feeling somewhat under the weather, Kevin Gausman went four innings and gave up four hits and two earned runs. He has an ERA of 2.08 through two starts. He threw 71 pitches in his first start and 69 yesterday. Buck Britton homered twice as Double-A Bowie beat Akron 6-3 to improve to 6-2. In eight games, Britton is batting .424 with an OPS of 1.139. Tyler Wilson got the win with no walks and eight strikeouts in 6 2/3 frames. He is 2-0 with an ERA of 2.13. Single-A Frederick suffered its third blown save as Carolina scored three in the eighth to beat the Keys 4-3. Glynn Davis had two hits and is batting .433. Adrian Marin had his second two-hit game of the year and is batting .261. Keys lefty Matt Taylor went six innings and gave up just one unearned run. Over two starts, Taylor has not allowed an earned run in 11 innings.