Orioles at Rockies
The Baltimore Orioles are in a position to snap their eight-series winless streak when they visit the Colorado Rockies on Sunday for the rubber match of their three-game interleague set. Baltimore, which owns the worst record in baseball at 16-36 and is 0-7-1 in series since winning two of three against the Chicago White Sox last month, halted its seven-game losing streak with Saturday's 9-6 victory.
Colorado is spinning its wheels by going 7-7 in the last 10 contests and finds itself 10 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West. Nolan Arenado continues to wield a hot bat, though, as he is 12-for-21 in his last five games after going 3-for-5 with his 200th career home run - a three-run blast - and five RBIs on Saturday. Arenado, who signed an eight-year, $260 million contract in spring training, leads the club with 14 home runs and 42 RBIs, and has struck out only 22 times in 201 at-bats. Rockies ace German Marquez will try to lower his 5.34 home ERA when he takes the mound Sunday opposite David Hess, who makes his Coors Field debut having allowed a major league-high 17 home runs this season.
TV: 3:10 p.m. ET, MASN2 (Baltimore), AT&T SportsNet-Rocky Mountain (Colorado)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Orioles RH David Hess (1-6, 6.75 ERA) vs. Rockies RH German Marquez (5-2, 3.38)
Hess is coming off back-to-back losses to the New York Yankees in which he allowed 14 runs (13 earned), 14 hits (seven homers) and five walks over 11 innings. "You have the ability to learn from the last outing - what you did well, what you want to improve on," the 25-year-old Tennessean told reporters. "There's a little bit of an adjustment factor, just as there is with any team going into a new start." Hess is 0-7 with an 8.20 ERA since flirting with a no-hitter in his first start of the season.
Marquez yielded three hits and one walk while registering seven strikeouts in eight innings of a 5-0 victory at Pittsburgh on Tuesday, lowering his road ERA this season to 2.08. The 24-year-old Venezuelan is 2-1 in five starts at Coors Field after defeating San Diego in his last home turn on May 10, when he permitted two runs and 10 hits in 5 2/3 frames. Marquez, who never has faced Baltimore, is 15-10 with a 4.62 ERA in 37 career games (36 starts) at Coors Field.
WALK-OFFS
1. Colorado RF Charlie Blackmon (calf) missed his second straight game Saturday, with MGR Bud Black telling reporters: "He went through some activity in the training room and weight room, and our trainers are encouraged."
2. Baltimore has allowed an American League-least 14 stolen bases.
3. Rockies SS Trevor Story (.277, 13 home runs, 35 RBIs, 58 strikeouts in 206 at-bats) is riding a seven-game hitting streak after going 2-for-4 on Saturday and is 7-for-16 in his last four contests.