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Jimenez eyes first win as O's take on Royals

Apr 25, 2014 - 2:37 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - Veteran right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez makes his fifth start of the season while still in search of his first win when the Baltimore Orioles host the Kansas City Royals to begin a three-game series at Camden Yards.

Jimenez, a 30-year-old Dominican, is 4-2 in nine career starts against the Royals with a 3.53 earned run average across 51 innings of work.

He's been troubled significantly by the home run ball in 2014, allowing five in 21 1/3 innings - which places him among the American League's leaders in the category. He gave up just one home run in his last 12 starts last season.

Kansas City, however, has hit just nine home runs in its first 21 games.

Jimenez faced the Royals five times in 2013 while with the Cleveland Indians, winning two decisions and posting a 2.83 ERA in 28 2/3 innings.

The Royals counter with rookie right-hander Yordano Ventura, who walked four in four innings in his last start after walking only three in his first 13 innings.

Ventura took his first big-league loss against Minnesota in that game, also giving up four runs and six hits in an 8-3 defeat.

"He really struggled on repeating his mechanics. On days when he's going to be off, he's going to be off on his command," manager Ned Yost said. "When he is off and when he has trouble, he flies open and drops his arm slot a little bit which creates kind of an upward appearance of the ball. When he's good, he stays closed and is strong downhill."

On Thursday in Cleveland, Corey Kluber had a career day, tossing a four-hit complete game, as the Indians defeated the Royals, 5-1, in the finale of a four-game set at Progressive Field.

Kluber (2-2) yielded just one unearned run, struck out a career-high 11 and didn't walk a batter in tossing his first career complete game.

Jarrod Dyson ended with two of the four hits for the Royals, who have dropped four of five.

In Baltimore, Chris Davis' two-run single highlighted a five-run seventh inning and helped the Orioles rally to an 11-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in the rubber match of a three-game set from Rogers Centre.

Baltimore trailed, 3-2, heading into the seventh inning. With one away, David Lough started the surge with a double to right. Nick Markakis then walked, both runners stole a bag and Nelson Cruz was intentionally walked to load the bases for Davis, who made Brett Cecil (0-1) pay for the decision with an opposite field slap to left.

Adam Jones followed with an RBI double to center and Matt Wieters singled in two more runs. The Orioles tacked on four more runs in the eighth to turn it into a rout. Davis and Jones both drove in three runs for Baltimore, which capped its seven-game road trip with a 4-3 mark to move above .500 (11-10).

Jonathan Schoop homered, Cruz drove in a pair and scored twice and Lough had three hits, three runs scored and two steals batting in the nine hole.

Bud Norris (1-2) went six innings for Baltimore, allowing three runs on five hits to earn his first win of the season.

The Royals won four of seven versus the Orioles a season ago.