Game Preview Oakland (49-62) at Orioles (46-65) Home after a seven-game road trip where they went only 2 and 5, the Orioles look for more victories as they begin a seven-game homestand tonight vs. Oakland. The Orioles are 28-26 at home this year. After they play three with Oakland, the stand continues with a four-game series vs. the Los Angeles Angels. Here are the pitching matchups for the Oakland series: Mon, 7:05p - Jeremy Guthrie (7-11, 5.28) v. Gio Gonzalez (3-2, 6.31) Tues, 7:05p - David Hernandez (3-4, 3.96) v. Trevor Cahill (6-11, 5.13) Wed, 1:35p - Jason Berken (2-9, 6.72) v. Vin Mazzaro (2-8, 5.73) The O's offense has been inconsistent since the All-Star break. The Orioles have scored three runs or fewer 11 times in the second-half and they are 0-11 in those games. Meanwhile, the pitching has had its shaky moments lately and the team ERA is 6.34 over the last ten games. Overall, the Orioles have lost four of five, eight of ten, 15 of 20 and 28 of 42 games. The Birds are just 2-7 in August and 6-17 since the All-Star break.

Over his last 12 games, Aubrey Huff is batting .313-1-11. Over his last 13 games, Adam Jones is hitting .296-5-12 while Nick Markakis is hitting .326-5-21 since the All-Star break. The Oakland A's have won back-to-back series, winning five of their past seven and seven of their last 12 games. The A's are 12-13 in the second half. Oakland used four homers and four stolen bases to beat Kansas City, 6-3 Sunday and is 2-1 on a six-game road trip. Over the last 31 games, Oakland starting pitchers are 9-13, 6.16. The A's have used a rookie starting pitcher in 78 of 111 games on the year. The O's were swept three straight June 5-7 at Oakland by scores of 9-1, 9-4 and 3-0. Two O's starters, Jeremy Guthrie and Rich Hill were knocked out in the first inning in that series as O's starters allowed 18ER to Oakland in a combined 4 2/3 frames. The O's bullpen worked often and threw well vs. the A's with an ERA of 1.40 in the series (3ER over 19 1/3IP). The O's were 0-5 vs. Oakland last year and have lost eight in a row vs. the A's. They are 10-29 vs. Oakland since 2004. O's hitters, 2009 vs. Oakland: Andino: 2-10 Huff: 1-8 Jones: 4-11 Markakis: 2-12, 2B Mora: 2-9 Pie: 0-2 Reimold: 2-7, HR, 3 RBI Roberts: 2-10 Scott: 3-11, HR, RBI Wieters: 1-7 Wigginton: 0-5 In that earlier three-game series, the O's scored just five runs vs. A's pitching with a team average of .200 (20 for 100). The O's had just two doubles and two homers in that series. Baltimore's staff had an ERA of 7.88 in the series while Oakland's ERA was 1.67.