the orioles last week completed a 5-2 home stand and ended on the road optimistic. rich hill got a win on the hill on monday but since then they've lost four consecutive games, including back to back losses here in oakland. today they return to win the finale of the road trip. it's the orioles and the a's up here next on masn. 

>> on a beautiful sunday afternoon in oakland, california.  it's baseball on masn. the final game of the three- game weekend series. and hi, i'm jim hunter, the orioles looking to snap what has become a four-game losing streak and they'll turn to the starting pitcher who got this road trip off to a good start. rich hill is on the mound for the birds. on monday in seattle he was fabulous. he pitched seven strong innings. five base runners in all and struck out 7, his numbers on the year 2-0 over his four starts with an e.r.a. of 4.15 which is improving. and buck martinez, it's nice to have the confidence in the mound. they're looking for him to win the closing after the opener. >> he retired the last 14

batters that he face and he used a four-seam fastball affectively. you can see in his major league career he has a good e.r.a. and a 20-17 recordment he got away from that two starts ago in that he used the two seam fastball too much but the four seam sets up a very affective curveball. >> the orioles are turning to younger player as this transition continues. rimed old will be in the number two spot as dave tremly has shuffled things up. and he knows how to hit the long ball. >> reimold has power. he hit this three run home run against ziegler last night and he's been consistent with the power production. three-run homers we mentioned and leads the american league rookies in rbis. he's not hitting the average you would like to see but the power can't be questioned. he has a lot of confidence hitting in the big leagues.

>> weiters is back in the lineup. -- weiters and hill worked well before. >> and he was so decisive with the pitch selection and works quickly and flashed the signs quickly and gave a very good target. i think he's shown already in his short major league career that he has the leadership skills behind the plate to give the starting pitcher an awful lot of confidence, hopefully he'll do that again today with rich hill. >> now the breaking ball was fantastic on monday. the athletics haven't seen a lot him. is that an advantage for hill. >> it is. but he has to throw the fastball, and then that's when the curveball is most affective. >> so looking to close out this road trip on a positive note as they take on the oath lackage -- the oakland athletics. and this is your movies on demand screen.

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airlines. book your next trip at southwest.com. and by ge. imagination at work. >> well the band outside the stadium as the athletics and the orioles close out this three game weekend series. birds trying to get a win to snap a four-game losing streak. it is a beautiful day and let's look at the starting lineups. pay attention because this is a much different lineup for the orioles in the lineup today as adam jones is about to lead off. adam jones, reimold and markakis. reimold a three run home run last night is 6th on the year. luke scott, mora and salazar who is back with the team, at first. weiters, wigginton, and so rogers and huff get the day off. >> and mazzaro, fastball, slider and change-up. a moving fastball. a lot of tailing movement on the fastball. as we saw with trevor cahill but he has a compact delivery and it's different to find the

baseball out of his release point. >> mazzaro pitching to adam jones. and did not allow a run into the 7th inning last up. >> and the two seam fastballs inside, pounding them inside. he had a couple of strikeouts in the game last night. sinker ball in the first inning got him. that was against trevor cahill. and it's a different sinking fastball that we'll see today from mazzaro. >> just 22 years old and that is foul behind samuel. and made a debut against the white sox that was very impressive. the athletics are turning over their roster as well with the young players. adam jones batting in the leadoff spot. and he fouls off that breaking

ball. >> dave trembley trying to ignite the offense in whatever fashion he can, putting adam jones in the leadoff spot. he was hitting third last night. and as a manager, all you can try to do is juggle the players you have and see if you can get something going. >> a chopper toward the middle and back to the bag and a single for adam jones and the orioles have the leadoff man on here in the first. >> and behind mazzaro it is davis and jack cust. gregoria petit at third base. third start of the season at third. cabrera, kevin -- kennedy, crosby and suzuki has caught all three games in this weekend series. >> well jones on it first. he does have four steals. here is reimold. and that's a fastball there for a strike and it's 0-1. reimold did not start in the game last night but after felix pie left after one at bat when he fouled

the ball off his adam's apple and he eventually came in and hit a three run home run. a bouncer toward short. kennedy back to first. and beyond the first baseman and that goes into the orioles dugout and reimold will head down to second base. good job by adam jones at the bag at second base to upset the throw of adam kennedy. >> what a great slide by adam jones. you can see he is all over adam kennedy. good, clean slide. it is no problem whatsoever, sliding on top of the bag. the umpire at second base has a good look, gary darling and that's how you turn things around and that's how you snap four game losing streaks. >> now you have a runner in scoring position and maybe the teammates now will be sparked by that hard slide by adam jones as markakis has a chance to get the orioles on the board. the orioles have not led in

either game in this series and losing both. markakis takes it to 1-0. >> that's a good sign early on. and a little bit of a wakeup call for oakland to send the message saying we're not going to roll over for you here and adam jones set the tone early. >> 2-0 on markakis. who is tied for 9th in the american league in rbis. he has 40. even though he's gone seven con tech sieve games without driving in a run, he's still in the top ten in rbis. >> a bloop to shallow left centerfield and two men are down. reimold holds at second base. markakis is retired for the second out. vin mazzaro, 22 years old old,

drafted in 2005, a third round pick and now getting set to go to work on luke scott. in the cleanup spot. he's been on some kind of tear since coming off the d.l. tied for 8th in the log for -- in the league for home runs. and inside. 1-0. >> one thing the orioles haven't done recently is score early in a ballgame and when you don't score many, you just take them whenever you get them, but early in the season that was the real trademark. first inning runs, it would be huge to cash in here and give rich hill an early lead. >> fall ball off the mask of kurt suzuki. luke scott, the current hitting streak, 3 in a row. the way he's been going, when he doesn't get a base hit, that's news. >> it's a big surprise. he's been swinging so well since he's come off the

disabled list with the injured shoulder. >> a ball and a strike with reimold at second base and it's just outside, good take by luke scott. 2-1. >> and this is the kind of guy that you don't need an awful lot of information on, he's a hard thrower. he throws a hard sinker and a hard slider and this is the first look they've seen at vin mazzaro. because it's hard, you don't need a whole lot of information. >> high, flyball to rightfield. cust backs up, glasses down now and he makes the catch and has it for the out. so the orioles cannot score a hit. one left. bottom of the first, no score in oakland. knit, delicate, permanent press... the ocean doesn't care. so grab your bag.

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mccafé at mcdonald's. i'm lovin' it. ♪ ba da ba ba ba a couple of fans he southwest airlines starting lineup for the athletics who have won a season high five in a row. cabrera, kennedy and cust. and holiday in the clean up spot. giambi, d.l. and suzuki, davis and petit. >> the up tempo is important and needs to have his game face early. come out throwing strikes and pitch aggressively. they've been concerned it takes him a couple of pitches and maybe an inning or two before he gets into the flow of the game. >> there is a strike on the outside corner. 1-1 on orlando cabrera. signed as a free agent this

past off season by the athletics. and that ball is lined. a base hit to centerfield. orlando cabrera who had been struggling at the plate had a good series and he's leading off here in the first. >> look at the defense behind rich hill. reimold, make arc is and rimed old, and wigginton gets a start at second. salazar started ten times last year and he's been recalled from the mineers and matt weiters is back behind the plate tonight. salazar, as i mentioned, played ten games at first base last year when he was with the orioles. >> and here is the number two batter, adam kennedy and he takes ball one. kennedy, the veteran, has bounced around and found a home now here with the athletics, playing at second base every

day. and that was a little high. 2-0 the count. we'll see possibly here, buck, in the first inning as rich hill battles kennedy, how well wigginton will handle the pivot at second base, playing there in place of brian roberts. a lot of foul ground here at the coliseum. mora battling the sun and he has it for the out, one down. this is a high sky here today. and the fielders really have to stick with the pop-ups. >> this is one of the worst fields in all of baseball for afternoon dealing with the sun. can you see melvin mora using his glove to shade his eyes and he still has the sunglasses on, but it's always a challenge here. >> so melvin sticks with it and gets the out. one down. and jack cust is coming up. the orioles go to a overshift with the left handed power bat of jack cust at the plate. and matt will strike out, but

he can hit it a long ways. and there is a curveball that cut the plate in half. 1-0 the count on jack cust. rich hill making his 5th start for the orioles. his 5th season overall in the big leagues. there is a strike on the inside corner. staying with the curveball and he's got it in there. >> and he's got a lot of confidence with the curveball. he got his knees weak and that's a good sign for rich hill. >> and cabrera is -- has just one steal on the year. athletics have more stolen bases than i thought. they don't like to run into outs. they rarely will sacrifice. but they do have 28 steals as a club. and have been caught 14 times. so bob geren style, maybe a shade different or a little bit different from the overall money ball style. >> i think that the product of

the fact they're not hitting, makes you run more. you start to try to open up a hole. some of the stolen bases are probably hit-and-runs that didn't work out. but they have to create some motions on the bases. >> curveball is high. 2-1 the count on jack cust. cust has one hit in the series and yes, it was a home run. he is in a 12 for 71 drought, but he is dangerous because of that long ball ability. fastball swung on a miss. good pitch. and the count evens up 2-2 on jack cust. rich hill has been very consistent in his four starts. when you look at his lines, he's allowed two runs, two runs. then he allows 7 runs six earned in the start you were talking about and no runs in seattle. so three of the four starts he's been very, very good. runner goes. 2-2 pitch is high. throw to second base is not in

time. good jump by cabrera and he steals its bag. >> weiters made a strong throw. cabrera got a good jump. he had seen a couple of moves from rich hill and the throw was just to the shortstop side of the bag but weiters didn't have much of a chance. he has to wait for the curveball with a strong arm but not in time to get cabrera. >> full countful a runner at second and that is outside, ball four. so jack cust will look him over. 27th walk for cust already on the year. and the athletics have 2 on and 1 down. >> now here is one of the guys in the lineup that has seen rich hill in the past. matt holliday has seen him and has a couple of hits against him and he's been red hot. very tough hitter. has the ability to knock the ball out of the ballpark as he did on friday night against mark hendrickson.

but with runners in scoring position, he's a dangerous hitter. >> fastball is over but low. 1-0. matt holliday has three consecutive multi hit games and his last seven games he has six multi hit games. he was traded to the athletics in the off season, final year of his contract. curveball, there's a strike. 1-16789 it's uncertain whether or not thible lettics will have the -- the athletics will have the ability to resign him and there is speculation as they are 24-30 that he might be dealt at the trading deadline. the thing about billy bean, he does not mind turning his roster over. >> the one thing we've seen with billy bean in the past is he doesn't trade his pending free agents, tejada, giambi they kept here until the end and then utilized the draft picks. they don't make midyear changes

even though they might lose someone to free agency. >> curveball to a strike. evens the count, 2-2. >> matt holliday didn't think so. he took a good look at it and is talking to bruce directman about it. >> that's inside. ball three. so back to back hiters, he's gone 3-2. and the athletics try to get on the board. cabrera at 2nd, cust at 1st and only one down. runners are moving and the pitch is low, ball four. so hill has walked back to back hitters, bases loaded now and still only one man down. >> this has been a problem for the orioles in this series, giving up first inning runsch they gave up 6 on friday night and one last night and here a 3- 2 pitch is low, just out of the

strike zone. and then the curveball inside misses. once again up with the changeup, the curveball catches the top part of the strike and the fastball missed inside. and finally another fastball down and in for the walk. second walk of the inning. >> drummond bringing you the pitch tracks. norfolk drummond the information power house. and there they are. cust at 2nd, holiday at 1st and giambi in the box to face hill. and it's low, ball one. well hill, he has been a strikeout pitcher. he has averaged a strikeout person inning in his four start this is year, however he's also averaged five walks per nine innings. giambi who is very patient, get as head green bay gets -- gets

ahead, two balls and no strikes. that was a vicious cut. giambi came through the athletic system and left as a free agent, went to the yankees in this seven year deal expired and then came back. rich hill has loaded the bases after back to back walks. 2-1 on giambi. inside, ball three. >> and after a bases clearing double in the third against berken yesterday. and a high, fastball down into the corner, with two outs. >> nowhere to put him. bases loaded, one down. and 3-1, it's high. ball four. he's walked three in a row and he forces in a run. and as cabrera comes to the

plate, jogging to the mount for a first inning visit. >> this is the concern that they had, was it takes a while for rich hill to get into the flow of the game. he gave off a leadoff double in his last start to ichiro and then was able to avoid the damage and had a great first inning when he got a pop-up, strikeout, and a pop-out to get out ichiro. but it hasn't been the same today. >> what hill could use here is a double play to get out of it. here is the catcher, kurt suzuki, the 6th batter to come up in the 1st. three consecutive walks and th -- the athletics have a 1-0 lead. and a curveball well off the plate. the athletics have dead last in the american league in team batting. you wouldn't know it by this series. the 9 runs on 10 hits, 9 runs

on 12 hits in the first two games and that curveball. rich hill really having trouble with his command in the first inning. >> boy, he sure is. and again the curveball has been a bread and butter pitch for him, one that he could almost throw at hill. and dave trembley struggling to figure out where he goes next. and the bullpen is going to start to work. and it hit him. suzuki hit by a pitch. that will force in a run. jack cust will come in. so three consecutive walks and a hit batter and thisinning is really beginning to deteriorate for rich hill. a based loaded walk and a bases loaded hit. this is bobby crosby coming up.

the 7th batter in this inning. and that one is low. >> now it's really difficult for rich hill because the umpire, he's not seeing too many strikes and he's not going to get the borderline calls. >> and there is a strike. 1-1. the athletics in the game on friday night against jeremy guthrie scored 6 in the bottom of the 1st. guthrie lasted two-thirds of an inning. and last night it was one run in the first against berken but then four in the third and four in the fourth. and so the athletics a team that has not hit much on the year. last in the league in average, really have found their strokes against the orioles starting pitching in this series. and that ball is lined foul down the leftfield line. it was out over the plate and crosby pulled it. >> i have to tell you, this road trip is a surprise after the 5-2 home stand. you go out to seattle, they won

the first game, albeit 1-0, but pitching has been inconsistent and caused some problems for dave trembley. >> curveball toward third. mora diving stop and long throw across and out at first base. salazar somehow kept his foot on the bag. bob geren is going to come out and argue. sterson, the first base coach thought the foot came off. it is 3-0 oakland but a big out. >> geren is going to argue that salazar lost contact with the bag. and paul ham ill is matter of fact listening to the manager. and what a play by melvin mora to knock it down initially. and that saves one run for sure. and salazar goes across the bag. >> and it looks like the orioles got a call as salazar's foot was not in contact with the bag as he received that throw from melvin mora.

>> and obviously the first base coach had a very good look at it. todd steverson saw it and that's why he protested and that brought the manager out of the dugout. >> and it cost bobby crosby a base hit. so good footwork by salazar because he got the call. his foot was not on the bag, whatever he did, he sold it. so it's a 3-0 game and the orioles get a huge break because there still should only be one out and the bases still should be loaded. and here is rajai davis, the 8th batter to come up in the 1st inning. foul down the first baseline. a hanging curveball. >> well they send 10 batters to

the base on friday night. and a different approach, but still three runs in here as they've been able to get just one hit and that was the leadoff hit. and there is a strike. >> rich hill get as head of davis. no balls and two strikes. two of the three walks in this inning have scored. the other walk drove in a run and the hit batter drove in a run. and late on the swing and foul ball to the right side. rich hill making his fourth start on the road this year. strange how his turn has fallen. in his prior four starts, three on the road, only one at