The Orioles Take On Major League-Worst Phillies
(AP) -- The Baltimore Orioles couldn't keep their longest win streak of the season going but might have a prime chance to start another run this week.
The Orioles will play four consecutive games against the major league-worst Philadelphia Phillies beginning Monday night.
Baltimore (31-31) gave up three runs in the fifth inning in a 5-3 loss to the New York Yankees on Sunday while ending a six-game win streak and a five-game run at home. The Orioles produced six hits after batting .325 and averaging 6.5 runs in their streak.
"We made some headway over the last few games," manager Buck Showalter said. "We've just got to keep grinding through it."
Baltimore's attempt to get back in the win column will come against a Philadelphia team that's gone 0-6 on its eight-game road trip, lost 16 of 19 and has dropped 10 in a row away from home. They endured their second extra-inning shutout in three games Sunday with a 1-0 defeat in 10 innings in Pittsburgh.
"Today we couldn't get the big hit or couldn't scratch a run out across," manager Ryne Sandberg said. "It was a tough series as far as the offense has gone."
Philadelphia (22-42) also fell 1-0 in 13 innings Friday and has totaled seven runs in its last five games. The Phillies have gone 5 for 40 with runners in scoring position in that span and were 1 for 25 in the three matchups against the Pirates.
Wei-Yin Chen (2-4, 3.21 ERA) will try to keep the Phillies mired in their slump while building on his first win in six starts, a 5-2 victory over Boston on Wednesday. The left-hander allowed two runs in five-plus innings and limited an opponent to three earned runs or fewer for the 11th time in 12 starts.
The Orioles would like to get some innings out of Chen, with none of their starters completing seven innings since May 30.
Chen will face the Phillies for the first time while Aaron Harang (4-7, 3.04) will make his first start against Baltimore since an 11-8 loss at Camden Yards on Aug. 2, 2013, while with Seattle. The veteran right-hander is 1-2 with a 6.00 ERA in three career matchups against the Orioles but is 3-0 with a 1.85 ERA in his last four starts against AL teams, including a 4-2 win over Boston on April 8.
He'll try to help the Phillies avoid matching their 11-game road losing streak from July 20-Aug. 11, 2013. Philadelphia lost seven in a row overall to finish this past month.
Harang will also seek to avoid losing in five consecutive starts for just the second time in his career. He had his other such streak in 2009.
If he repeats his latest outings, it's doubtful that he can break his skid. Harang has allowed 13 runs in 11 2-3 innings in his two starts this month and gave up a season-high seven runs in six innings in an 11-2 drubbing in Cincinnati on Tuesday.
"The (two) first-inning walks killed me. That's what got me. I was too tentative, picking at the corners," Harang told MLB's official website.
J.J. Hardy has the most experience of any Orioles hitter against Harang, going 6 for 28 (.214) with three homers.
Baltimore's Manny Machado is batting .455 with three homers and seven RBIs during an eight-game hit streak. He's a career .339 hitter in interleague play, going 8 for 23 this season.
