Taking a closer look at the offense

It's so interesting to watch certain Orioles producing at the plate and in the field as speculation mounts regarding their security on the roster.

Chris Parmelee, 1-for-10 in his last three games with an at-bat, tripled and doubled last night in his first two trips to the plate. David Lough hit a three-run homer - his third home run since June 13. Jimmy Paredes greeted Red Sox reliever Robbie Ross with an RBI single, and he singled again in the ninth. Travis Snider singled and walked in his first two trips after entering the game 9-for-22 with four doubles and four RBIs in his last six games.

Miguel Gonzalez comes off the disabled list to start Thursday afternoon's game at Fenway Park. Wei-Yin Chen will be recalled to start Friday night's game against the Indians at Camden Yards. Second baseman Jonathan Schoop is playing every day at Double-A Bowie and could be activated from the disabled list at any moment.

So why wasn't Chris Davis credited with a stolen base on the attempted double steal, with Chris Parmelee thrown out at the plate? I understand the rule states that if the lead runner is out, no stolen base is awarded to the other runner, but I disagree with it.

After I'm named commissioner ...

The Orioles scored in double digits in three of their last 10 games before last night's series opener against the Red Sox, winning by scores of 11-3 over the Yankees, 19-3 over the Phillies and 13-9 over the Blue Jays. They also scored nine runs against the Yankees during that span.

New hitting coach Scott Coolbaugh was catching lots of heat here on the blog, with a few fans suggesting he should be fired by the All-Star break. It wasn't going to happen, of course. The Orioles weren't going to make a drastic change four months into the season.

I decided to compare some of the offensive stats from 2014 and 2015 while still wondering how half the world could be staying in Boston hotels this week.

The Orioles were batting .259 before last night, eighth in the majors and fourth in the American League. They hit .256 last season, ninth in the majors and sixth in the AL.

Anyone want to help me with the math?

Here are a few more stats prior to last night's 6-4 win:

On-base percentage
2015: .316 (17th majors, ninth AL)
2014: .311 (17th majors, 11th AL)

Slugging percentage
2015: .422 (sixth majors, fourth AL)
2014: .422 (third majors, second AL)

Runs
2015: 317 (fourth majors and AL)
2014: 705 (eighth majors, sixth AL)

Hits
2015: 599 (17th majors, seventh AL)
2014: 1,434 (eighth majors, fifth AL)

Home runs
2015: 84 (fifth majors, fourth AL)
2014: 211 (first majors and AL)

Total bases
2015: 975 (eighth majors, sixth AL)
2014: 2,363 (third majors, second AL)

Walks
2015: 174 (22nd majors, 12th AL)
2014: 401 (26th majors, 13th AL)

Strikeouts
2015: 558 (eighth majors, fifth AL)
2014: 1,285 (11th majors, fifth AL)

The Orioles preach every winter how they want to improve their on-base percentage, a bigger challenge after failing to re-sign Nick Markakis. Well, it's slightly better this season, though they continue to rank 17th in the majors.

I expected the Orioles to be higher than eighth in strikeouts. Just facing Michael Pineda should have pushed them closer to the top.

The list of current Orioles before last night with an OPS higher than the team total reads as follows:

Chris Parmelee: .409 in six games
Nolan Reimold: .375 in 11 games
Manny Machado: .361 in 69 games
Travis Snider: .349 in 51 games
Adam Jones: .346 in 63 games
Matt Wieters: .341 in 13 games
Ryan Flaherty: .333 in 39 games
Jimmy Paredes: .329 in 51 games
Chris Davis: .320 in 68 games

Because you wanted to know, Markakis had a slash line of .293/.386/.354 in 69 games before last night. He had 16 doubles, but no home runs.

Machado has 13 multi-hit games this month, including five in a row and 12 in his last 16.