O's on a four game winning streak, go for sweep at Texas tonight

The Baltimore Orioles offense is getting healthy at the expense of a depleted Texas Rangers pitching staff. The O's had base runners all night on Wednesday and despite stranding 12, they still scored six runs, just enough to beat Texas 6-5. The O's drew seven walks as virtually every hitter in their lineup demonstrated more patience at the plate.

Zac Britton

Nelson Cruz is now putting himself into triple crown territory with one of the hottest sustained hitting barrages in recent memory. He upped his batting average to .319 with a 3 for 5 night. Cruz scored two runs while both Nick Markakis and Adam Jones delivered a pair of RBI.

Chris Davis hit a towering homerun to right field when he got the barrel on an inside pitch. Davis showed a bit more patience at the plate last night but continues to swing through or foul off pitches he put the barrel on all of last year. When Davis returned to the dugout after his round tripper he got the silent treatment from his teammates. With a great sense of humor Davis gave imaginary fist taps and high fives to his invisible buddies until straight faces could no longer be kept in the O's dugout and he was hugged and thumped on the back by his laughing teammates. Even Buck Showalter couldn't hide his grin.

Right hander Bud Norris was pretty mediocre last night. He left the game after five innings with a contusion on his arm thanks to a batted ball. Ranger slugger Adrian Beltre hit a pair of homers off Norris including a two run blast in the first to erase a 1-0 O's lead and a three run shot in the 5th to wipe out a 5-2 O's lead.

The O's bullpen was spectacular again last night with McFarlane, O'Day, and Zac Britton shutting down the Ranger attack.

Matt Wieters continues to throw every other day. Hopes are high that the O's all-star catcher will return to the lineup soon.

Buck Showalter may be approaching decision-making time as Tommy Hunter is reportedly beginning to throw again. Seasoned observers believe that Zac Britton has by far the best arm in the bullpen and should remain the O's closer. If not for a lucky swinging bunt that resulted in his only blown save, Britton would be 6 for 6 in save chances. He has simply been a dominator. Hunter, on the other hand, was surrendering extra base hits by the bucket throughout his short tenure as closer.

One would think Hunter should have been on the new assignment watch going back to his old role as a set up man before making his trip to the D.L. The only remaining question is will Buck stick with Britton and his heavy sinking fastball or go back to Hunter.

Only Buck knows what he will do.