Tillman vs. Stroman today in series finale

One day after the Orioles welcomed back Yovani Gallardo, they're going for a series win by turning to their ace.

Chris Tillman may not be thinking about the All-Star Game, but he's in the running for his second berth with a 9-1 record and 2.87 ERA in 14 starts.

In his last two outings, Tillman has allowed one run and 13 hits over 14 1/3 innings. He's walked two batters and struck out 16.

The challenge comes in facing a team that's treated him unkindly in the past. He's 4-10 with a 5.65 ERA in 21 career starts against the Blue Jays.

Tillman will direct you to his last two starts against them. He's surrendered four runs in 13 1/3 innings, including an April 21 start when he held Toronto to two runs over six frames but didn't get the decision in a 3-2 win.

Ryan Goins is 9-for-25 with a home run against Tillman. Josh Donaldson is 8-for-26 with four doubles and a home run, Kevin Pillar is 6-for-18 with a double and three home runs, Michael Saunders is 5-for-14 with a double and two home runs, and Russell Martin is 4-for-9 with a double.

Marcus Stroman is making his third start against the Orioles this season. He's allowed seven runs and 14 hits in 12 1/3 innings.

In his career, Stroman is 2-1 with a 3.56 ERA in five games (four starts) against the Orioles and 2-1 with a 3.86 ERA in three starts at Camden Yards.

Adam Jones is 4-for-8 against Stroman. Manny Machado is 3-for-9 with a double and home run, Mark Trumbo is 3-for-5 with a double, Matt Wieters is 2-for-8 with a home run and Ryan Flaherty is 1-for-9 with a home run.

I wrote yesterday that manager Buck Showalter ordered his pitchers on the field before batting practice to do some drills geared toward reducing the number of errors and also allow them to better control the running game.

Mychal Givens must be an A student. He made a sliding stop of Ezequiel Carrera's sacrifice bunt in the seventh inning and fired to first base for the out.

"Some of the things we try to do holding runners has gotten little sloppy. We want to clean that up," Showalter said.

"We do it all the time. We do it about every other homestand. Some people don't see it. I know it's something Wally (Dave Wallace) and Dom (Chiti) want to reemphasize some things we need to do better. Some of our pitcher's situations they're putting themselves in have been self-inflicted. Some double play balls, stuff back at them, throw overs. Just little things like, you've got a swinging bunt and the guy's definitely safe and you throw the ball ill-advised. Some mental things.

"Unfortunately, some deliveries don't allow them to be in a good position to field. It's tough. That's probably not going to change with some of the guys."

Daniel Cabrera could have spent 18 hours a day performing drills and he still would have looked like a baby giraffe on roller skates.

I'm going to look like a guy flying to North Carolina this morning to attend Monday night's NSMA awards banquet in Salisbury. Too bad it's not the one on the Eastern Shore.

I'll miss a home game, which is as rare as Cabrera starting a 1-6-3 double play, but I'll still file a few more entries.