Baltimore @ Detroit preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 4, 2014 ) Baltimore 4, Detroit 10

Miguel Cabrera’s relatively slow start is already a thing of the past as the Detroit Tigers busted out offensively to run their season-opening winning streak to three straight. The Tigers will attempt to make it four in a row while clinching the three-game series when they host the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday. Cabrera went 1-for-7 through the first two games of the season before busting out with four hits, including a home run, in Friday’s series opener.

The offense was the issue in dropping two of three to the Boston Red Sox to begin the season but it was the pitching that let the Orioles down in Detroit. Baltimore’s staff allowed 17 hits while recording only three strikeouts in the 10-4 loss in the series opener against the Tigers, with Cabrera, Austin Jackson and Torii Hunter combining for 10 of those hits. Hunter, who added a solo home run among his three hits on Friday, had been 0-for-8 through the first two games.

TV: 1:08 p.m. ET, MASN (Baltimore), FSN Detroit

PITCHING MATCHUP: Orioles RH Bud Norris (2013: 10-12, 4.18 ERA) vs. Tigers RH Rick Porcello (2013: 13-8, 4.32)

Norris came over in a trade from the Houston Astros last season and posted a 4-3 record with a 4.80 ERA as a member of the Orioles, issuing 24 walks in 50 2/3 total innings. The 29-year-old fought off phenom Kevin Gausman for the fifth rotation spot in the spring by posting a 2.65 ERA over 17 innings. Norris made two starts against Detroit last season and was knocked around for a total of nine runs 12 innings.

Porcello posted the highest strikeout total of his career in 2013 and the lowest ERA since his rookie season. The 25-year-old posted a quality start in each of his last three turns last season before heading to the bullpen at the end of September and appearing twice in relief during the postseason. Porcello lost both of his starts against the Orioles in 2013, yielding nine runs in 12 total innings.

WALK-OFFS

1. Baltimore SS J.J. Hardy (back spasms) sat out the series opener and is questionable for Saturday.

2. Detroit rookie 3B Nick Castellanos enjoyed his second multi-hit outing in the first three games on Friday and recorded his first RBI.

3. Cabrera’s two-run homer in the eighth inning on Friday marked the 2,000th hit of his career.

PREDICTION: Orioles 5, Tigers 4