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Britton, Francis square off in Kansas City

Aug 4, 2011 - 2:56 PM (Sports Network) - Starters Zach Britton and Jeff Francis couldn't be in further opposite places right now.

Francis hopes to pick up a second straight victory tonight for the Kansas City Royals, who will look to extend the recent struggles of Britton in the rubber match of a three-game series with the Baltimore Orioles at Kauffman Stadium.

Francis will look to build off his last start as he won for the first time since June 10 with an excellent outing against the Indians. The southpaw snapped a five-decision losing streak with eight scoreless innings, scattering four hits and a walk while striking out six.

"If I can just keep throwing strikes and let the defense do its job things will work out," said Francis, who threw a season-high 115 pitches and improved to 4-11 with a 4.38 earned run average this season. "I felt good out there tonight and this is something positive to build on."

Francis has had his issues over a pair of no-decisions versus the Orioles this year, allowing 10 runs over 11 2/3 innings. He has particularly struggled against Noland Reimold, who has a pair of homers and four RBI in three at-bats versus the 30-year-old in 2011.

On four career starts in this series, Francis is 0-2 with a 6.20 ERA.

The Orioles bullpen may have to be on its toes this evening given the length of Britton's last two outings.

The young lefty hasn't won since June 8, going 0-4 in six starts since, and has recorded just a total of three outs in his last two appearances. The first came in Boston back on July 8 and Britton allowed eight runs -- seven earned -- over just two-thirds of an inning.

Sent to the minors following that loss, Britton returned to start the second game of Baltimore's doubleheader with the Yankees on Saturday. However, the 23-year-old was charged with nine runs, all but three of them earned, while recording just one out in a blowout loss.

"I wasn't able to make adjustments," said Britton, who fell to 6-8 on the season and has seen his ERA rise from 3.47 to 4.56 over his past two outings.

Britton faced the Royals for the first time in his career on May 24 and did not factor into the decision of a 5-3 win. He gave up three runs over six innings of work.

Baltimore's bullpen did get a bit of a rest in Wednesday's meeting as starter Jeremy Guthrie went seven innings, but he took a 6-2 loss after yielding six runs on eight hits and three walks.

Royals starter Luke Hochevar, meanwhile, held the Orioles to only two runs -- one earned -- on four hits in 7 1/3 innings of action.

"Unfortunately, early on we had the momentum and I couldn't keep it on our side, so he (Hochevar) ran with it after that," said Guthrie.

The momentum changed when Kansas City's Billy Butler hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning, giving him four RBI on the night.

"It's not easy hitting them out in centerfield here, so I'm doing something to create some backspin and I'm just going to ride the hot wave and just try to keep putting the barrel on the ball," said Butler, who has six home runs in his past eight games. "I'm just happy I can contribute to the team, give us the lead and have an easy victory."

Alex Gordon went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two runs scored while Alcides Escobar finished 3-for-4 with a two-run triple for the Royals, who have won four of their last six. Catcher Manuel Pina had two hits and a run scored in his MLB debut.

J.J. Hardy and Vladimir Guerrero each drove in a run for the Orioles, who have lost four of five and fell to 3-6 on a 10-game road trip.

Despite the loss, Baltimore has won five of the eight games against Kansas City this season.