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Reds open set in Baltimore

Jun 24, 2011 - 2:54 PM (Sports Network) - Journeyman right-hander Chris Jakubauskas can pull above .500 for his career and win his third straight decision tonight when the Baltimore Orioles begin a three-game interleague series with the Cincinnati Reds at Camden Yards.

A 32-year-old from Anaheim, Jakubauskas reached the majors in 2009 with the Seattle Mariners in 2009 and won six games in 13 decisions across 35 appearances.

He spent 2010 with Pittsburgh and lost his lone start, then came to the Orioles this season and made five straight relief appearances before a 4-0 blanking of Oakland in a June 7 start in Baltimore.

Subsequent starts against Toronto and Washington have yielded a win and a no- decision while he gave up seven runs on 13 hits in 10 1/3 innings.

Jakubauskas, who's 8-8 with a 5.40 earned run average over 44 big-league games, has never faced the Reds.

Cincinnati counters with 27-year-old Dominican Edinson Volquez, whose tumultuous 2011 has already featured an Opening Day start and a demotion to the minors for ineffectiveness.

A 17-game winner in 2008 after coming in a trade from Texas, Volquez was sent down after lasting just 2 2/3 innings in a 12-4 loss at Cleveland on May 22.

He's pitched in the majors three times since, winning once, losing once and getting a no-decision while allowing 19 hits and seven runs in 18 innings.

Volquez is 0-1 in two career starts against the Orioles with a 5.59 ERA in 9 2/3 innings.

On Wednesday in Pittsburgh, an error by Blake Davis in the fifth inning allowed the tying and go-ahead runs to score, as the Pirates topped Baltimore, 5-4, in the rubber match of a three-game series at PNC Park.

Nick Markakis went 3-for-5 with an RBI and J.J. Hardy was 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI for the Orioles, who have lost four of their last six.

Zach Britton (6-5) was tagged with the loss for Baltimore, giving up five runs -- three of which were earned -- on seven hits over six frames.

In Cincinnati, Chris Heisey turned in his first career three-homer game and Johnny Cueto tossed seven strong innings, as the Reds downed the New York Yankees, 10-2, in the back end of a doubleheader at Great American Ball Park.

Heisey finished 3-for-4 with five RBI and scored four times for the Reds, who dropped a 4-2 decision in the twinbill opener.

Scott Rolen added two hits, two RBI and two runs scored for Cincinnati, which won for the second time in its last six games.

Cueto (5-2) allowed just two hits and one run, while fanning six and walking three.