Orioles hope Tillman gets going vs. White Sox
CHICAGO -- Chris Tillman earned the win against the Chicago White Sox in his season debut after missing the first month of the season with a shoulder injury.
Since then, it has been a nightmare for Tillman, who hopes to get things turned around Thursday afternoon when the Orioles conclude a four-game series with the White Sox.
Tillman (1-4, 8.01 ERA) pitched five shutout innings on May 7 but his next six starts have been a struggle. He is 0-4 with a 9.59 ERA since his season debut.
The worst came on Saturday when he allowed a career-high nine runs and seven hits in 1 1/3 innings of a 16-3 loss to the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.
He allowed six first inning runs and admitted to "pitching stupid" as Baltimore gave up the most runs in a game since a 19-6 loss to Minnesota on July 16, 2012.
"Bad execution, real poor execution," Tillman said. "It felt like we got two quick outs and we were in such a hurry to get the breaking stuff going that it kind of snowballed real quick. It was bad execution."
Tillman is 4-2 with a 3.05 ERA in his career against the White Sox.
Tillman was the Orioles' Opening Day starter for the previous three seasons and posted a 40-23 record. But his 2017 struggles seem to echo Baltimore's woes.
Chicago will send left-hander David Holmberg (1-0, 2.74 ERA) to the mound
Holmberg, 25, started the season at Triple-A Charlotte and was called up to the White Sox on May 4. He moved into the starting rotation in place of Dylan Covey, who sustained an oblique injury, and will make his fourth start of the season after eight appearances out of the bullpen.
He earned a win on June 10 at Cleveland, allowing two runs on three hits in five innings to claim his first victory as a starter since July 30, 2015 while with the Cincinnati Reds. He's limiting opponents to a .178 batting average as a starter.
"We need to win some ballgames, so I'm happy," Holmberg told reporters after the start. "You want to get in, use all your pitches, and get out. The guys came out hitting for me, so I wanted to do my part."
Holmberg's only appearance against the Orioles came in relief as a member of the Reds on Sept. 3, 2014.
Baltimore snapped a six-game losing streak with Wednesday's 10-6 victory, getting the win after falling behind 5-1. Welington Castillo hit a grand slam and drove in a career-high five runs.
Trey Mancini added three hits and will get the bulk of the playing time at first base after Chris Davis was placed on the disabled list Wednesday with a strained right oblique.
Despite the win, the Orioles are 10-21 in their last 31 games since holding first place in the AL East on May 9.
The White Sox have also had a poor run of late. Wednesday's loss was Chicago's 11th in 16 games and the White Sox wasted a three-hit game by Avisail Garcia, who is hitting .339 and is 18-for-45 (.400) in his last 11 games.
