Orioles Kick Off West Coast Trip Vs. Athletics
(AP) -- Tyler Wilson returns to the majors trying to prove a capable replacement for one of the AL's most reliable starters of late.
The Orioles' prospect will also try to kick off his playoff-contending club's West Coast trip with a favorable result Monday night against the Oakland Athletics.
Wilson is being recalled for the fifth time this season because Chris Tillman injured his left ankle in a 2-0 win over Atlanta on Wednesday. Tillman, considered day to day, is 3-0 with a 1.09 ERA in his past six starts and only Scott Kazmir's 0.88 ERA is better since June 22 among AL qualifying starters.
Wilson (1-1, 2.12 ERA) has made five major league appearances - none since June 19 - and in his only start he yielded two runs in six innings of a 3-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox on May 28.
The right-hander's next opens a nine-game trek that includes three matchups this weekend against a Los Angeles team atop the AL wild-card standings. Baltimore (53-51) trails the Angels by two games and is one back of Minnesota for the second playoff berth.
The Orioles are also tied with AL East rival Toronto after splitting their four games against Detroit with a 6-1 defeat Sunday. They had won five in a row before that series and finished 5-2 on their homestand.
"We did some things well and there's some things we're going to have to be better at to stay engaged in (the playoff race)," manager Buck Showalter said. "We've got a challenging trip ahead of us."
The Orioles, losers in 10 of 15 on the road, are set to face Oakland (47-59) seven times in their next 13 games. The A's, who took four of six from the Orioles last season, will visit Baltimore from Aug. 14-17.
In this three-game set, Oakland will try to win three in a row for the first time since a season-high five-game run June 20-25. The A's had lost seven of eight before taking the final two matchups with Cleveland this weekend, including a 2-1 victory in 10 innings Sunday.
They're batting .198 and averaging 2.7 runs in their last 10 games, but their pitchers allowed a combined seven runs to the Indians.
That stretch began after Jesse Chavez gave up three runs in five innings in Wednesday's 10-7 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The right-hander is 2-4 with a 5.75 ERA in his last seven starts.
Chavez (5-10, 3.53), though, pitched six scoreless innings in his most recent game in Oakland, a 14-1 rout of Minnesota on July 19, and his 2.33 ERA at home is in the top 10 among AL qualifying pitchers.
This will be his first start against the Orioles.
Coco Crisp, batting .438 with three homers in his last nine games versus Baltimore, could return from an injured neck that's kept him out since May 19. The outfielder also missed the first month of the season following right elbow surgery and is batting .044 in 13 games.
Crisp is expected to move down to the No. 2 spot in the batting order behind Billy Burns.
"I do like the dynamic potentially of them two at the top," manager Bob Melvin told MLB's official website. "When Billy's on base, certainly there's a lot of attention on him, and Coco's a pretty good situational guy."
Josh Reddick might have to sit out after leaving Sunday with lower back tightness.
(Copyright 2015 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
