Pregame notes on Tyler Wilson and success at home

Orioles pitchers took batting practice this afternoon in preparation for their interleague series against the Giants in San Francisco.

Manager Buck Showalter hasn't announced his starters for the series. He didn't base his decisions on their batting averages.

"If you have that much in advance, but it's more about creating the best consistency in pitchers," he said. "We've done that some when we had the opportunity and there wasn't much separator, but now it's about the pitchers and keeping them in a routine, so it's pretty much kind of where they fell because we have so many days in a row without an off day. There's nothing there you can play with. All our guys are pitching pretty well now, so there's no separator."

Tyler Wilson threw five perfect innings last night for Triple-A Norfolk, coming out after only 57 pitches. The Orioles want to ease him back into a heavy workload after he seemed to tire in the first half.

Another benefit of a lower pitch count is how it makes him available sooner if the Orioles recall him.

Showalter said the reports on Wilson, who allowed six earned runs and 12 hits over 5 1/3 innings in his first two starts with Norfolk, were "real good."

"Pitched well," he said. "Actually, there's two. One's the pitching coach and then there's a narrative by the manager. It was good to see. Tyler's statistics, his ERA, are not indicative of the type of year he's having. It's another example of how numbers can fool you."

Wilson was 4-6 with a 4.98 ERA in 17 games (13 starts) with the Orioles. He retired all 12 Colorado batters in his last appearance before being optioned again on Tuesday.

Showalter considers him one of the unsung heroes of the Orioles' season..

"He seems to be able to dial up what we need," Showalter said. "He got a little wore down last time and it seems like he's back. You look at the velocities yesterday. He's got his second wind. He's going to be a contributor. Continue to be. He's already been a difference-maker for us this year."

Mike Wright is 2-2 with a 2.53 ERA in seven starts with Norfolk.

"He's doing fine," Showalter said. "Kind of the opposite. Statistically down there he's doing well."

Odrisamer Despaigne starts tonight for Norfolk after being sent down Tuesday.

"We have some good options down there now," Showalter said. "One thing about having Tyler and Mike and Despaigne down there, we're back to having some experienced depth down there, which we didn't have before.

"We hopefully have (Brian) Duensing and (T.J.) McFarland around the corner."

The Orioles begin tonight leading the majors with 39 home wins, two more than the Cubs. Showalter remains at a loss to explain it, mostly because he hasn't given it much thought.

"I've got to think about coming up with a theory," he said, knowing that the media will keep hammering him about it.

Maybe it's the fans, as some players have speculated, or perhaps just being in a routine.

"We had good fans last year and we've been in routines before," Showalter countered. "It's tough, because on the road it seems like you're playing different (times) -- 1 o'clock, 6 o'clock, 8 o'clock, 2 o'clock. But we had that in year's past when we didn't have as good a home record. I don't know."

The Orioles were 50-31 at home in 2014 when they won the division.

Is this team built for Camden Yards? Its 86 home runs at home also lead the majors.

"It would be a consideration for a reason," Showalter said. "I don't know. I guess it's a story, so I'd better come up with something.

"It better continue, unless we get something going on the road."

The Orioles are 22-29 away from Camden Yards. Meanwhile, they've lost only two home series this year.

The Orioles own the best record in the American League at 61-45, inching ahead of the Rangers (62-46). Having home field advantage in the playoffs would be important "on paper," Showalter said.

"But usually those things that everybody touts go away," he added. "It's usually about who's pitching for you and how he's pitching. There's always that potential, but I'm trying to figure out a way to get there.

"When we get off this trip, we'll have a lot more games at home than we will on the road."

Shameless plug alert: I'm appearing on "O's Xtra" tonight at 6:30 p.m. on MASN.