Showalter speaks after 12-5 win

The Yankees are furious at the Orioles for not scheduling a doubleheader today. They didn't want to lose their Sept. 8 off-day. They can't be too happy about tonight's outcome, either. "The tack-on runs are always important regardless of who you're playing. But they have so much offense through their order, so it's doubly important," manager Buck Showalter said after his club's 12-5 victory. "I thought Nolan (Reimold) had a big hit - a couple big ones. A lot of them scattered around there, a lot of good at-bats, and we took advantage of a pitcher (A.J. Burnett) struggling somewhat. Sometimes, we kind of let them off the hook, but we gave ourselves some margin for error. It was a good offensive night for us. I thought (Ryan) Adams kind of set the tone a little bit, too. Made a couple nice defensive plays early." It all happened on a night when the Orioles paid tribute to Mike Flanagan, with his No. 46 displayed on the out-of-town scoreboard.

"I thought about it. I'm sure some of our guys did, too," Showalter said. "Winning, losing, with some of the things going on, ... you'd a lot rather win, obviously, but, kind of handicapping it. ... I know Mike would have certainly liked it. I can tell you that." Mark Reynolds homered in his third straight game, giving him 30 this season. "Mark's helped us a lot at first base with some of the problems we've had," Showalter said. "Mark, obviously he's made some improvements over last year and he's primed to have maybe a cut above his last couple of years, so that's good, especially when we talked about being in the American League for the first time. Try to keep in mind he's making some adjustments to some of the approaches to pitching over here, and there are some differences. And I was proud of him just saying, 'You need me to play first base? Let's go.' He had a big tack-on three-run homer yesterday and he got us going tonight." Tommy Hunter allowed four runs and five hits in seven innings. He gave up two homers, which accounted for three runs, in his last frame. He also spent a lot of time in the dugout during the Orioles' prolonged rallies. "Tommy kept pitching. That was a sign of maturity," Showalter said. "I thought he had a little more fastball tonight. He had an extra days' rest. I thought he started to tire a little bit. There were some long innings there in between. "Tommy's 25. He's younger than some of the guys we're hoping will take the next step. He's got a chance to be a horse. We'll see what develops." Asked about tomorrow's postponement and having to play two games Sunday, Showalter replied, "The attitude I've had and I think our players have is, they say play, we play. I know earlier in my career in the minor leagues, you'd get an early rainout and you're going, 'This is pretty good,' In the minors, you have seven-inning doubleheaders makeup. In the major leagues, you want to play those games in April and May. "We've really had a challenge with the weather. You just take it. You say, 'OK, when do you want us to play?' And you play. Our guys just want to know what time the game starts and when we're playing. "My gosh, we travel on great planes and buses and have traveling secretaries and great hotels. This isn't really that tough, OK? Let's try to keep reality in line here." Brian Matusz and Zach Britton will start Sunday's doubleheader. Alfredo Simon will start Monday unless he's needed in relief Sunday. Also, Troy Patton is leaving the club tomorrow to attend Monday's hearing in Houston. He can be placed on the restricted list Sunday, and the Orioles can bring up a replacement from the minors. It has Pedro Viola written all over it.