Hearing from Pearce, Wieters and Hunter

Steve Pearce is batting .320 with eight RBIs in seven games with the Orioles. He'd probably like a few more against the Pirates, who watched him homer and drive in five runs tonight after he went 2-for-3 with an RBI last night. "It's nice playing against the Pirates. It just feels good having a great game and helping contribute to this win," he said. "I'm just looking for the opportunity. The biggest thing with me over the years was I just wasn't able to stay healthy, I earned playing time over there with the Pirates organization. I just wasn't able to stay healthy. It's nice having a new opportunity somewhere else and if I can stay healthy, it's going to be a fun year. "It felt good, I'll tell you that. Everybody's hitting. It's contagious. Everybody just wants to get to the plate and tonight was one of those nights again. It's the way we've been playing the last couple days." Matt Wieters was mired in a 3-for-42 slump, but he has 18 hits in his last 49 at-bats. He went 4-for-5 tonight with two doubles, five RBIs and two runs scored. The Orioles have gone through the same highs and lows. They're peaking again. "I think the reason is you're going to have ups and downs in every season and you get good pitching and it's going to keep you in a lot of games," Wieters said. "It's just you're going to go through good times and bad times in a season. You have to look at it. That's all in the past. When you're playing well, you have to try and rack up as many wins as you can." Wieters understood the challenges that Tommy Hunter faced tonight while the Orioles worked over Pirates left-hander Erik Bedard. "It can be difficult to sit on the bench for that long, trying to get that focus and keep the mind right when you have that big lead," Wieters said. "He was able to get through six for us tonight. He gave us a chance to win." Hunter said he felt "really strong" tonight, but his final line didn't necessarily reflect it. "It sucks to say that's the best you felt and turn around and see five runs on the board, but that's the way it is going to go sometimes," he said. "Just take those first four innings and take them into your next start. And then go." Hunter had a perfect game through four innings. "I thought I was pretty (darn) good, too, but after that, it kind of sucks that it happened," he said. "But it is what it is. We won." Hunter won for the first time since April 24. "Oh man, it's been a frustrating run," he said. "I still have things to work on. I've got to get through the fifth and sixth and hopefully next time we'll go seven deep into a game and not give up any runs."