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Tigers hope to extend Orioles' current slide

Aug 14, 2011 - 2:46 PM (Sports Network) - In the midst of their third three-game slide in the month of August, the Baltimore Orioles try to find the win column this afternoon in the finale of their three-game series with the Detroit Tigers at Camden Yards.

Detroit's Ryan Raburn played the villain against the Orioles on Saturday, capping a five-run sixth inning with a single that brought him two runs in a 6-5 victory.

Miguel Cabrera belted a two-run homer, Alex Avila had an RBI double and Victor Martinez finished with a pair of hits for the Tigers, who have taken the first two games of this series and leads the American League Central by three games over the Indians.

Martinez is hitting .322 against the American League East this season.

Max Scherzer (12-7) gave up five runs -- four earned -- on seven hits, but still got the win as he had a season-high 10 strikeouts and did not issue a walk. Jose Valverde worked a scoreless ninth to notch his 35th save of the year.

Vladimir Guerrero and Blake Davis accounted for all five runs with two-run and three-run home runs, respectively, for the Orioles, losers in 12 of their last 15.

Jeremy Guthrie (5-16) went 5 2/3 innings in defeat, giving up six runs on eight hits while walking two and striking out one.

Guthrie extended his scoreless inning streak against the Tigers to 18 before giving up a run in the fourth.

The Tigers roared in front in the sixth, plating all five runs with two outs in the inning. Magglio Ordonez began the rally with a double to center and Cabrera cracked his 23rd homer to right to make it a 5-3 game. Martinez and Peralta poked back-to-back singles and Avila smacked a ground-rule double to bring the Tigers within a run. Raburn capped the inning with his two-run single.

"He made a few mistakes and we were able to capitalize on them," Raburn said of his team's big inning against Guthrie. "A couple of at-bats we were able to get ahead and make him throw pitches over the plate."

Baltimore has been outscored 87-38 in the first inning this season, an obvious reason for the team's struggles. The club had won five of its previous seven versus Detroit before this series.

Doug Fister is set to make his 24th start of the season today and third since joining the Tigers in a trade with the Mariners. The righty is 4-12 with a 3.37 ERA and had his last start limited to just two innings because of an extended rain delay. Fister has pitched nine innings since joining the Tigers and has yet to register a strikeout for his new squad.

Fister beat the Orioles earlier this season and is 2-0 lifetime versus Baltimore with a 3.26 ERA.

Jo-Jo Reyes' first start as an Oriole was an unsuccessful one, as he permitted four runs to the White Sox in a loss at Camden Yards. The former Blue Jays hurler, who was claimed off waivers, hopes for better results today and is now 5-9 this season with a 5.49 ERA. He owns a staggering ERA of 12.00 in his last three outings and is 2-4 in home games this season with a 6.14 ERA.

The only previous career appearance for Reyes against Detroit came earlier this season, and he allowed five earned run on eight hits in seven innings en route to defeat.