Post-game Notes: KC wins second straight

Seven of the Orioles last eight losses have been by one or two runs. The Royals improve to 4-1 in extra-innings while the O's fall to 4-4. O's Player of the Night - Catcher Matt Wieters. His single in the 6th gave Baltimore a 3-2 lead it could not hold. Wieters went 4 for 5 with four singles and an RBI. It's his first career four-hit game. Wieters is now 10 for 21 with 3 RBI during a five-game batting streak. He is hitting .273 on the season. Nolan Reimold went 2 for 4 with two singles, a walk and scored a run. It's his 5th straight multi-hit game. During that stretch he is 11 for 17 (.647) at bat. His average is up to .291. Reimold has now reached base safely in 15 of his last 21 and 24 of his last 43 plate appearances. But what of the vets - While Reimold and Wieters combined for six hits, the O's Aubrey Huff, Luke Scott, Nick Markakis and Melvin Mora combined to go 0 for 18 at bat. Huff is 10 for 70 (.143) with just 2 RBI over his last 17 games. Scott has just two hits his last 32 at bats. Markakis is 0 for 8 since his six-game hitting streak ended. The Orioles fall to 11-12 in one-run decisions. Adam Jones hit a long two-run homer in the last of the first. It was his 16th of the year and 4th in his last 11 games. Ten of Jones' 16 homers have either tied the game or given the O's the lead. Billy Butler's two-run homer in the first gave KC a 2-0 lead and he was 6 for 6 in the series at that point. He was retired his next four times to the plate tonight. Alberto Callaspo went 1 for 4 tonight extending his batting streak to ten games. The Royals had lost 11 of 12 games before taking the first two in this series. Jim Johnson allowed a homer to Willie Bloomquist in the 8th to tie the game at 3-3 and keep Jason Berken from getting a win. Johnson has allowed a homer in three of his last nine appearances. Jason Berken gave up just two runs over six innings for his second quality start of the season. He was seeking his first win since May 26th. The O's have lost seven of eight games and are just 2-9 since the All-Star break. They are 10-20 over the last 30 games. Minor League Note - Brandon Snyder's bat is slowly heating up at Triple-A Norfolk. He went 3 for 4 tonight with a triple vs. Indianapolis. Snyder is now 10 for 26 (.385) during a six-game batting streak, his longest since joining the Tides. He has raised his average from .200 to .235.