Sep 16, 2007, 14:42 GMT
- Shaun Marcum tries to bounce back from perhaps the worst outing of his career this afternoon when the Toronto Blue Jays play the rubber match of their three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles at Rogers Centre.
Marcum was hammered by the New York Yankees on Tuesday for eight runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings, as he fell to 12-6 on the season. Marcum also walked a season-high four batters and saw his earned run average balloon to 4.11.
The 25-year-old right-hander is 0-1 lifetime against the Orioles with a 7.91 ERA in five games, three of which have been starts.
Baltimore will counter with journeyman righty Victor Santos, who was charged with the loss in his Orioles' debut on Tuesday against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Santos gave up five runs and seven hits over just 2 2/3 innings of that one.
Santos, who has allowed one run in 1 2/3 innings of relief in two career appearances against the Blue Jays, was acquired in a trade from Cincinnati on September 7 after making 32 relief appearances for the Reds.
In the middle game of this set on Saturday, Frank Thomas hit a two-run home run and Roy Halladay pitched seven strong innings, leading the Blue Jays to an 8-3 win. Alex Rios and Gregg Zaun each knocked in a pair of runs while Halladay (15-7) gave up just one run on five hits for the Blue Jays, who won for only the second time in their last eight tries.
Toronto opened the game with seven consecutive hits to break the franchise's previous mark of five, set May 8, 1987 at Texas.
Aubrey Huff went 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles and an RBI for the Orioles, who saw their modest two-game winning streak come to an end.
Baltimore starter Kurt Birkins (1-2) had a forgettable outing in his second- career start. The left-hander gave up six hits and six runs without recording an out.
Toronto has won eight of its 14 matchups with the Orioles this season and is 29-23 in the series since the start of the 2005 campaign.
© 2007 The Sports Network
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