(Sports Network) - The Baltimore Orioles own the worst record in the American League, but they will attempt to win a second straight game over the LA Angels of Anaheim tonight.
Baltimore is expected to give the ball to Kevin Millwood tonight, and he is in search of just his third victory of the season. Millwood's 2-14 record looks like a misprint, but his 5.63 ERA is poor and he gets little run support from one of baseball's worst offenses. Millwood has been touched for 26 home runs this season, including two in Sunday's loss to Texas.
Millwood has thrown 100 2/3 innings against the Angels over the last 10 years and is 5-5 with a 4.29 ERA.
Meanwhile, the Angels will hand the ball to Scott Kazmir today. While he has certainly tasted victory much more frequently than Millwood this season, Kazmir (8-11) owns a worse ERA (6.33) than his counterpart. On Monday, the veteran lefty suffered a loss to Tampa Bay, surrendering three earned runs in 5 1/3 innings.
Kazmir is 5-4 lifetime against Baltimore with a 4.69 ERA.
Brad Bergesen tossed eight solid innings yesterday, helping the Orioles beat the Angels, 3-1, in the opener of this three-game set.
Bergesen (6-9) gave up one run on four hits to win his third straight decision. The right-hander also struck out four batters and walked zero. Koji Uehara recorded his third save.
"I've been battling all year long," Bergesen said. "I am trying to put my bad starts behind me. It's a great feeling to have an outing like this."
Nick Markakis, Corey Patterson and Luke Scott each had an RBI for the Orioles, who had lost three of four coming in. Baltimore was without outfielder Adam Jones (left shoulder).
Trevor Bell (1-4) was solid in seven innings, allowing two runs on six hits to suffer the hard-luck loss. He also fanned three batters and walked one for Los Angeles, which has dropped four of five.
"I thought Trevor pitched well. He gave us a chance to win," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.
Despite a sweep of the Halos earlier this month and Friday's victory, Baltimore has still lost nine of the past 15 games in this overall series and dropped three of four bouts to the Angels in Anaheim last season.