Orioles Return Home, Look To End Four-Game Skid
(AP) -- The Baltimore Orioles haven't won since knocking around Boston Red Sox right-hander Rick Porcello last weekend.
The Orioles will try to right themselves at Porcello's expense Friday night to end their string of four consecutive defeats in the opener to a three-game series at Camden Yards.
Baltimore (7-9) tagged Porcello for eight runs and 12 hits in five-plus innings of an 8-3 victory Sunday but had to settle for a four-game split at Fenway Park the next day when its lineup produced four hits in a rain-shortened 7-1 loss.
The Orioles have been inconsistent at the plate and their rally from a seven-run deficit started a little too late in a 7-6 loss in Toronto on Thursday. Baltimore has scored six runs in two of its four defeats and a combined three in the other two.
Matt Wieters (elbow), J.J. Hardy (shoulder) and Jonathan Schoop (knee) are among the Orioles hitters who are on the disabled list. Ryan Flaherty, batting .300, has a sore right groin.
"We'll have somebody step up for us. We've just got to keep trusting," manager Buck Showalter said. "We'll see how Ryan is (Friday). We're already prepared if we need to do something. ... This too shall pass."
A second crack at Porcello could get the Orioles straightened out. The right-hander dropped to 1-2 with a 6.63 ERA in his first three starts with Sunday's defeat.
"You have to have a short memory and turn the page," Porcello told MLB's official website after that game. "I have these guys again in five days. I'll be ready to go."
Adam Jones had three of his four hits in that game off Porcello, including a three-run double that chased him in the sixth and a two-run home in the first inning. Jones leads the majors with a .424 average after going 2 for 4 on Thursday and is batting .400 in his last 20 games against Boston after an 8-for-16 performance last week.
The Orioles outfielder will try to provide some more support for Miguel Gonzalez (2-1, 2.55) in his second start against Boston (9-7) in six days. He gave up three runs and four walks in five innings while beating Porcello.
Gonzalez is 5-1 with a 2.89 ERA in seven career starts against the Red Sox, who have lost four of their last six overall.
The Red Sox dropped the final two of their three games in Tampa Bay this week, and the Rays took the series with Rene Rivera's ninth-inning single in a 2-1 victory Thursday. Boston was 5-2 on the road before those back-to-back defeats.
Manny Machado will try to send the Red Sox to another loss while adding to his seven hits in 17 at-bats in the last five games. Machado, who hit two homers and drove in four runs Thursday, is batting .130 (6 for 46) in his past 11 contests against the Red Sox but went 1 for 2 versus Porcello on Sunday.
Boston's David Ortiz is batting .363 with six homers in his last 22 games against Baltimore, but he's 1 for 14 in his last five overall contests and 0 for 7 lifetime versus Gonzalez.
