The Indians (52-64) capped a 5-4 road trip with a three-game sweep in Toronto, winning 4-0 on Sunday. Cliff Lee threw eight innings to earn his AL-best 16th victory and lower his ERA to a major league-best 2.45.

His was the latest in a string of strong outings by Indians starters. Cleveland allowed four runs in the three-game set, with its starters throwing all but 3 2-3 of the 27 innings and giving up three runs.

"I felt it was a solid all-around series for our ballclub," manager Eric Wedge told the Indians' official Web site. "It starts with those starting pitchers giving us a chance to win the ballgame."

Anthony Reyes earned a 5-2 win Friday and Paul Byrd threw a six-hitter in a 4-2 victory Saturday. That's good news for an Indians team that has relied heavily on Lee, who's responsible for 31 percent of his team's wins - the highest percentage of any major league pitcher.

Now, Cleveland is hoping to get a strong performance from struggling Fausto Carmona (5-4, 4.46 ERA), who's making his fourth start since spending more than two months on the disabled list with a left hip strain. He hasn't been sharp since his return, going 1-2 with a 10.66 ERA in the three starts.

Carmona gave up four runs in four innings of Tuesday's 8-4 loss in Tampa Bay.

"It's been a little difficult to get in a good groove, especially today," he said through a translator. "I was trying to get back into the strike zone, but I was unable."

Carmona is 2-2 with a 3.52 ERA in five career appearances - three starts - versus the Orioles (56-60). He won both his starts against Baltimore last season, allowing one earned run in 15 1-3 innings, but hasn't faced the team in 2008.

The Orioles took two of three from Texas over the weekend, but lost 15-7 in Sunday's finale. Baltimore yielded a season-worst 20 hits after outscoring the Rangers 18-1 in the first two games.

"They were ready to break it out," manager Dave Trembley said. "They score an awful lot of runs, and if you make a mistake, they don't foul it off. They hit it."

Baltimore's Aubrey Huff homered to extend his hitting streak to a career-best 18 games, Brian Roberts went 4-for-4 and Melvin Mora had a homer and four RBIs. Mora went 7-for-14 with eight RBIs in the three-game series.

Baltimore will hand the ball to Dennis Sarfate (4-2, 4.58), who's making his third career start since being converted from a reliever, for the series opener. The right-hander lasted only three innings last Monday, giving up five runs but escaping without a decision in the Orioles' 6-5 loss to the Los Angeles Angels.

Sarfate was lifted after four innings in his first start, a 13-3 loss at Yankee Stadium on July 30.

"I'm just trying to make the adjustment from the bullpen to the starting rotation and getting a different mentality. But I need to take a little bit of the pressure off myself and the way I think, and just go after guys," he said. "My wife text-messaged me after I got back in here and said: 'You're trying too hard.' But that's always been my thing."

Sarfate has never faced the Indians.