Pitching by numbers

The Orioles and Giants have split the first two games of this series, and they're sending pitchers to the mound today with sub-4.00 ERAs. Here's one difference: Tim Lincecum is 6-2. Jeremy Guthrie is 3-7. Lincecum also has won the last two NL Cy Young Awards. That's worth mentioning, as well. Lincecum had allowed 17 runs in his last four starts covering 22 1/3 innings before holding Oakland to two runs over eight innings last week. Guthrie has allowed three runs or fewer in six of his last 10 starts, and two or fewer in four of his last six. Lincecum is 6-2. Guthrie is 3-7. Guthrie has lost his last three starts, and the Orioles have totaled four runs in those games. Checking a few more numbers, Pat Burrell is 1-for-11 lifetime against Guthrie. Juan Uribe is 0-for-6, and former Oriole Aubrey Huff is 2-for-3. Lincecum's ERA is 2.44 in the day and 3.96 at night. Right-handers are batting .185 against him. Garrett Atkins is 3-for-16 against Lincecum. Don't look for him in today's lineup. Luke Scott is 1-for-6, Miguel Tejada is 0-for-5, and Ty Wigginton, Cesar Izturis and Mark Hendrickson are 0-for-2. Don't look for Hendrickson to pinch-hit today. Have you noticed that Adam Jones is batting .342 in his last 10 games, with two homers and eight RBIs? Good news that Jim Johnson could rejoin the bullpen by the end of the month. I wasn't sure if we'd see him before spring training. Assuming he's able to stay on that schedule and regains his effectiveness, which has been missing for a while, interim manger Juan Samuel would have plenty of late-inning options. And there would be no reason to rush Johnson back into his eighth-inning set-up role, though we still haven't seen Alfredo Simon pitch since May 23. Since a few readers inquired, I'll pass along that the Orioles have agreed to terms with 23 of their 49 draft picks: Riley Hornback (12), Jeremy Nowak (13), Michael Mosby (14), Joseph Oliveira (15), David Richardson (17), Scott Copeland (21), Tanner Murphy (22), Christopher Clinton (23), Timothy Adleman (24), Vincent Zazueta (25), Austin Goolsby (26), Michael Rooney (30), Adam Gaylord (31), Steven Mazur (33), Samuel Starr (34), Joseph Donaldson (35), Brad Decater (36), Austin Knight (37), Jeremy Shelby (38), Travis Strong (39), Jacob Petit (42), Preston Hale (44) and Cody Young (47).