Toronto @ Baltimore preview
Oriole Park at Camden Yards
Last Meeting ( May 30, 2010 ) Baltimore 1, Toronto 6
It will be hard for the Baltimore Orioles to open the second half as strongly as they closed out the first one.
The Orioles look for their fifth straight victory Friday as they open their post All-Star break schedule with a three-game weekend set against the division rival Toronto Blue Jays. Baltimore has lost five straight games against Toronto, including a three-game sweep May 28-30 at the Rogers Centre.
To say this is a different Orioles team may be premature. Baltimore (29-59) is still last in the major leagues despite riding a season-high win streak, and is well on its way to a fifth consecutive season of 90 or more losses.
Yet there's hope among Orioles fans following a stunning four-game sweep of the Texas Rangers in Baltimore's final series before the break. That the Orioles swept the American League West leaders was impressive enough, but they did so at Arlington Stadium - giving them their first four-game road sweep in 15 seasons.
Baltimore sends right-hander Brad Bergesen (3-6, 6.40 ERA) to the hill in tonight's series opener. The 24-year-old has been mired in a two-month slump that has seen him go 0-4 over his previous nine starts. That includes a loss in his last outing after he allowed four runs on 11 hits in six innings of a 4-2 defeat at the hands of the Detroit Tigers.
Bergesen has shown little of the talent that carried him to respectable numbers (7-5, 3.43 ERA) in his rookie season. The 2004 fourth-round pick has a gargantuan 6.40 ERA so far this season, the highest among AL pitchers with at least 13 starts.
Bergesen is 1-0 all-time against Toronto, with a 5.19 ERA over 17 1/3 innings. He made his first start of the season against the Jays back on April 9, allowing five runs on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings to earn a no-decision in Toronto's 7-6 victory.
He'll be opposed by Toronto left-hander Ricky Romero (6-6), who has seen an impressive start to the season give way to a mountain of recent struggles. Romero has lost his last three starts and has failed to get out of the third inning in his previous two outings. The 25-year-old has been torched for 17 runs over his past five innings, ballooning his ERA from 2.83 to 3.71.
Romero would love nothing more than to return to his June form. The Los Angeles native surrendered just eight earned runs over five starts last month, then promptly matched that total in 2 2/3 ugly innings against the New York Yankees in an 11-3 rout on July 3. Six days later, the Red Sox blitzed him for nine runs in 2 1/3 innings en route to a 14-3 win.
Romero has been so-so against Baltimore for his career, going 1-2 all-time with a 4.33 ERA over 35 1/3 innings. His previous meeting with the Orioles was a gem, as he went the distance on a five-hitter to lead the Blue Jays to a 6-1 win on May 30.
Tonight will mark the Blue Jays debut of shortstop Yunel Escobar, who was acquired over the break in a five-player deal that sent Alex Gonzalez to the Atlanta Braves. Escobar fell out of favor in Atlanta after hitting zero homers and driving in just 19 runs in 261 at-bats this season.