Guardians 3 - 6 Orioles
Final
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O's battle Indians seeking to end slide behind Tillman

Jun 25, 2013 - 2:46 PM (Sports Network) - The Baltimore Orioles have a good shot at ending their four-game losing streak with Chris Tillman set to take the mound Tuesday in the second test of a four-game series versus the Cleveland Indians.

The Orioles have won each of Tillman's last six starts and he is 5-0 in that time. He received plenty of run support in Wednesday's 13-3 pounding of the Detroit Tigers and allowed three runs in five innings to push his record to 8-2 in 15 starts with a 3.71 earned run average.

Tillman has made three career starts against Cleveland and the right-hander is 1-1 with a 5.27 ERA.

Baltimore dropped Monday's opener of this series by a 5-2 score, as Zach Britton was touched for three runs over five innings to suffer the loss.

"(He) just elevated some balls, lost his command," O's manager Buck Showalter said of Britton. "He had pretty good movement, late life. He got out of some potential sticky situations, but I thought he pitched well for five innings."

Matt Wieters and Nick Markakis both homered for the Orioles, who are now tied with the New York Yankees at 2 1/2 games off the AL East lead.

The Orioles will also host the Yankees on this homestand.

Cleveland opened its 11-game road trip with Monday's win thanks to strong pitching from Ubaldo Jimenez and a three-run sixth inning. Michael Brantley had a two-run single in the frame and later added a two-run homer in the eighth for the Indians, winners in nine of the past 12 games.

"We beat a very good team," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "It's one of the best lineups we've seen yet this year. Ubaldo navigated his way through. Our bullpen was phenomenal."

Jimenez held the Orioles to two runs in 5 1/3 innings, struck out six and issued a pair of walks. Vinnie Pestano was the fourth reliever used and picked up his fourth save in the ninth.

Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis was hit by a pitch and has now reached base in each of the last 26 games.

Justin Masterson draws the start for Francona's club and got back into the win column his last time out, a 6-3 triumph over Kansas City last Wednesday. He gave up two runs in 6 1/3 innings and struck out eight batters. Masterson has 18 K's in his previous two starts.

Masterson, a right-hander, was 0-2 in his previous three outings and owns a 9-5 record in 16 starts with a 3.48 ERA. In 12 career games (8 starts) against Baltimore, Masterson is 6-3 with a 4.29 ERA.

The Orioles and Indians split eight matchups a season ago.






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