The Oakland Athletics hope a return trip home is the cure to what has been ailing them. After picking up just one win on a seven-game road trip, the A's head back to O.co Coliseum for the start a four-game series with the Baltimore Orioles.
Oakland started its trek in disappointing fashion, as it was swept in a three- game set by the Tampa Bay Rays. The A's then dropped two of three to the Boston Red Sox, culminating with a 6-5 loss on Wednesday.
Chris Young hit two home runs and drove in four of the team's five runs, while Jed Lowrie went 3-for-5 with a run scored.
"On a personal note I'm happy about the game," said Young. "But when you don't win you don't get the chance to enjoy it as much."
Brett Anderson (1-4) lasted just four-plus innings for the A's, yielding six runs and eight hits while striking out five.
Hoping to reverse their fortunes on Thursday, the A's will rely on righty Jarrod Parker, who is 0-3 with a 7.50 ERA. Parker pitched well his last time out against Tampa Bay on Saturday, but still absorbed the loss, despite surrendering just a run in 6 1/3 innings.
"That's what we're used to seeing out of him," Oakland manager Bob Melvin said of Parker. "This is the first game he's pitched really well for us."
Parker is 1-0 in two starts versus the O's with a 6.00 ERA.
Baltimore, meanwhile, saw its rally come up short versus Toronto on Wednesday, as it fell, 6-5, in 11 innings. The O's had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the 10th, but Manny Machado was thrown out at home by Rajai Davis. Baltimore closer Jim Johnson then walked in the winning run in the top of the 11th.
Still, the Orioles took two of three from the Blue Jays and enter Thursday's opener having won five of seven. They begin an 11-game road trip on Thursday and are 5-4 away from home on the year.
Heading to the hill for Baltimore will be righty Jason Hammel, who is 2-1 with a 4.74 ERA. Hammel did not get a decision on Saturday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, as he allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings of a 7-5 win. Hammel didn't give up a run over his last four innings.
"That's why Ham kind of graduated a little bit as a starter, because what you see in the first inning isn't necessarily what you're going to be seeing in the fifth or sixth inning," O's manager Buck Showalter said. "It's not, 'Woe is me and the sky is falling.' It's, 'OK, let's make an adjustment and let's get our team through this.'"
Hammel has faced the A's six times (2 starts) and is 3-1 with a 5.00 ERA.
Oakland, which will be home for the next seven games, won five of its nine meetings with the Orioles last season and has beaten them in 16 of the last 19 matchups at home.
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