Lose four, win four

The Orioles have now followed a four-game losing streak with a four-game winning streak. They were outscored 42-15 in the four losses and have outscored their opponents 24-9 in the four wins. The O's lost last Thursday by a 13-2 score to the Yankees and last Friday by a 17-5 score to Washington. At that point, the pitching staff was a bit of a mess. But during these last four games and wins, the team ERA is 1.75. O's starters have pitched to an ERA of 2.25 in this stretch and the much maligned bullpen has allowed just one run over 12 innings the last four games for an ERA of 0.75. With a win today, the Orioles would improve to 24-24 and be at .500 for the first time since they were 13-13 on May 1. The O's have not had a five-game win streak all year but would have one with a victory today. They are also now 9-5 over the last 14 games. The Orioles' offense continues to improve. The team batting average is .287 and they've scored 67 runs over the last 14 games. They have 11 double-digit hits games in this stretch. Mark Reynolds is starting to hit with more pop in his bat and his last five hits have gone for extra bases with four doubles and last night's solo homer. Finally, two Orioles are now working on 10-game batting streaks. Vlad Guerrero is batting .409 during his streak and Nick Markakis is hitting .381 during his 10-gamer.