Preview: Orioles At Toronto
By JEFF BARTL
STATS Senior Writer
(AP) -- The Baltimore Orioles' starting rotation isn't exactly littered with household names, but it certainly has gotten the job done for the AL East champs.
Chris Tillman has been the staff's workhorse, which is one reason why manager Buck Showalter will give him the nod when the postseason begins.
Tillman makes his final tuneup start before the playoffs as Baltimore visits the Toronto Blue Jays in the opener of a three-game set Friday night.
Baltimore (95-64) has wrapped up its first division title since 1997, and Tillman (13-5, 3.26 ERA) has played a huge role by pitching consistently well after a rocky first 13 starts.
The Orioles have won Tillman's last 11, with Tillman going 6-0 with a 1.79 ERA over the last 10. He gave up two runs in seven innings of a 7-2 victory over Boston on Saturday and has allowed two runs or fewer nine times during his hot stretch.
Showalter has named the right-hander the starter for Game 1 of the Division Series on Thursday at Camden Yards.
"It means a lot," Tillman, who has pitched a team-high 201 1-3 innings, told MLB's official website. "I'm excited about it. I've still got one more start to go, so I'm pretty focused on that, but at the same time I know it means a lot to the team and means a lot to me."
Tillman, though, is 1-2 with a 4.35 ERA in three starts against the Blue Jays this season, including one of his worst outings of the year. After giving up two unearned runs in eight innings of a 2-0 loss April 11, he allowed seven runs and three homers over 5 2-3 innings of a 10-8 win April 23 in his only start in Toronto.
Tillman is 8-0 despite a 4.19 ERA in 15 road starts, and he'll look to help the Orioles bounce back after Thursday's 6-5 loss to the New York Yankees.
Adam Jones hit a two-run homer and Steve Pearce followed two batters later with a solo shot in the ninth inning to tie the score. But Baltimore became the victim of a storybook ending, as Derek Jeter singled home the winning run in the bottom half in his final game at Yankee Stadium.
As the Orioles enter this final series with eyes on the postseason, Toronto (81-78) had its playoff hopes dashed as it struggled down the stretch. The Blue Jays had a three-game winning streak snapped with Thursday's 7-5 loss to Seattle as Jose Bautista and Jose Reyes received the day off.
It's unclear if either will play in this contest. Bautista has reached base in 57 of 61 games since the All-Star break.
Drew Hutchison takes the mound after dropping back-to-back starts. Hutchison (10-13, 4.51 ERA) gave up six runs in 6 1-3 innings of an 8-2 loss to the Orioles on Sept. 16 before allowing two runs and throwing 94 pitches in just four innings of a 5-2 loss to the Yankees on Sunday.
"Just a little bit off, got into a lot of deep counts," Hutchison said. "My fastball command was a little off, which led to those deep counts, and I made a couple of mistakes."
Both of those defeats came on the road, but the right-hander could feel more comfortable back at Rogers Centre, where he's 3-0 with a 0.96 ERA over his last four starts.
That stretch began when Hutchison gave up a second-inning homer to the now-suspended Chris Davis for the only hit he allowed in 8 2-3 innings of a 5-1 win over the Orioles on Aug. 6.
Updated September 25, 2014
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