Blue Jays-Orioles: Series preview

ROGERS CENTRE

RH Tonight,Bud Norris7:07 p.m. (0-1, 12.38) vs. Tomorrow,LH Mark 7:07 Buehrle p.m. (2-0, 3.75) RH Ubaldo Jimenez (1-0, 0-0) vs. RH Aaron Sanchez (0-2, 6.23)

Thursday, 7:07 p.m. RH Chris Tillman (2-1, 5.52) vs. RH Drew Hutchison (1-0, 7.20) All Sportsnet games 590on SportsnetThe Fan One and Some things to know about the Baltimore Orioles:

RIDING HIGH

The O’s split a series with the Red Sox over the weekend and enter this series in second place in the American League East Division. They have injuries to key infielders Jonathan

Schoop and J.J. Hardy but continue to play well. Schoop underwent an MRI Saturday in Boston and the news wasn’t good; after taking a hard hit in a slide into second by Boston’s Pablo Sandoval, Schoop suffered a Grade 1 partial tear and MCL sprain. Typical recovery is six to eight weeks. PAREDES FILLS IN

Jimmy Paredes was activated off the DL and was batting second in the O’s lineup this weekend in place of Schoop. Paredes went 2-for-5 in Saturday’s win over Boston. He suffered back spasms late in spring training, which kept him off the season-opening roster. He was Baltimore’s best hitter in spring training, going .340 with 10 extra-base hits and 12 runs batted in. Paredes is part of the 2-5 hitters in the Baltimore batting order, and that foursome went 9-for-20 against Boston Saturday; the other three hitters include Adam Jones, Chris Davis and

Steve Pearce. But Pearce, prior to that game, had gone hitless in 14 previous at-bats. Another hot hitter is Caleb

Joseph, who had hits in eight of his first nine games. ONE TO WATCH Jones is among the hottest hitters in the major leagues. He entered the weekend on a nine-game hitting streak, hitting .571 with five homers, 14 RBIs and 11 runs scored over that span. Mark Zwolinski