Notes on the Orioles against the Jays and Hardy's homers

Checking in with some stats and notes as the Orioles and Blue Jays begin a three-game series here tonight at the Yard. * If the Orioles beat Toronto tonight, they will have more wins this season against the Jays than they had all of last year. That is not saying much, however, since the Orioles were just 3-15 against Toronto then and are 3-6 now. They are 1-2 in Baltimore and 2-4 against Toronto this season on the road. * J.J. Hardy's homer in the fifth last night was his 19th of this season and the 100th of his career. The next homer by Nick Markakis will be his 100th. Hardy now has 19 homers and 48 RBIs in, essentially, half of a season. Remember, he missed a month earlier. He has now played 81 games with 321 at-bats. When he hit a career-high 26 homers in 2007 with Milwaukee, he averaged a homer every 22.8 at-bats. This season, he is hitting one on average every 16.9 at-bats. * The Orioles are one of six teams in the majors on the year with six players with 10 or more homers. The list includes Mark Reynolds, Matt Wieters, Adam Jones, Derrek Lee, Markakis and Hardy. Yes, I know Lee is no longer here. The other teams are Atlanta, Boston, Cincinnati, Colorado, Texas and the New York Yankees. * In eight games against the Orioles in 2011, Adam Lind is batting .400 at 12-for-30 with six homers. He has an OBP of .500 and slugging percentage of 1.033 against the Orioles. As a team, Toronto has hit a homer in nine straight games and in 24 of their last 25 against Baltimore. They have hit 49 in that 25-game stretch.