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Tigers-Orioles Preview

May 27, 2009 - 11:59 PM By MATT BEARDMORE STATS Writer

Detroit (25-19) at Baltimore (20-26), 7:05 p.m. EDT

With all the anticipation built up surrounding Friday's arrival of catching prospect Matt Wieters, the rest of the Baltimore Orioles' young talent could get overshadowed.

They won't if they keep playing at this high level.

Coming off their first three-game sweep of the season on a walk-off three-run homer by rookie Nolan Reimold, the Orioles go for their season-high fourth consecutive win Thursday night when they open a four-game set against the AL Central-leading Detroit Tigers at Camden Yards.

After losing its previous four games this season when going for a three-game sweep, Baltimore (21-26) rallied Wednesday with five runs in the eighth inning and four in the 11th to defeat struggling Toronto 12-10.

"We'll play until the game is over and make every at-bat count," said Reimold, who has four homers and nine RBIs in 13 games since being called up from Triple-A Norfolk on May 14.

In his first game since straining his left shoulder May 10 against the New York Yankees, designated hitter Luke Scott hit a two-run homer in his first at-bat and added an RBI single before Reimold's homer.

"We've had some guys come up ... that have really brought some energy to the field," said Scott, who batted .542 (13 for 24) with five home runs and 10 RBIs as Baltimore won four of seven versus Detroit last season.

Wieters, arguably the top prospect in baseball, is expected to be in Baltimore's lineup Friday. The 6-foot-5 catcher was batting .305 with five homers and 30 RBIs with Norfolk through Tuesday.

With the Orioles placing Koji Uehara on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday with a strained left hamstring, David Hernandez looks to become the latest Baltimore pitcher to win his major league debut. Brad Bergesen defeated the Chicago White Sox on April 21 and Jason Berken yielded two runs over five innings in Tuesday's 7-2 victory over Toronto.

Hernandez went 3-1 with a 2.91 ERA in eight starts at Norfolk this season with 60 strikeouts in 43 1-3 innings. In his last start, he struck out 14 against Rochester on Friday.

"I think it's a boost for the whole ball club," Orioles pitching coach Rick Kranitz said prior to Wednesday's game. "They're excited about these young kids coming up and attacking hitters."

Hernandez will face a Tigers club that won two of three in Kansas City to open its seven-game road trip. Led by Josh Anderson's 4 for 5 effort and homers from Placido Polanco and Miguel Cabrera, Detroit (26-19) pounded out 12 hits in Wednesday's 8-3 victory over the Royals.

Polanco is batting .338 (22 for 65) in 13 career games at Camden Yards. Cabrera, meanwhile, hit just .200 in four games in Baltimore last season.

Magglio Ordonez extended his hitting streak to 13 with a single in five at-bats. He is batting .331 (50 for 151) with six homers and 22 RBIs in 38 career road games against the Orioles.

The Tigers open this series with Armando Galarraga (3-4, 5.74) on the mound. The right-hander is looking to bounce back from a 4-3 loss to Colorado on Saturday, when he gave up four runs in 5 1-3 innings.

"(Galarraga) certainly wasn't terrible, but his stuff isn't crisp right now," Detroit manager Jim Leyland said.

Galarraga is 0-4 with a 9.93 ERA in five May starts after opening the season 3-0 with a 1.85 ERA.

Orioles center fielder Adam Jones went 3 for 6 and raised his batting average to .359 as Baltimore had a season-high 18 hits Wednesday.