A .500 record is respectable at this point

Well, I was hoping to begin this morning's blog with this stat: Since the start of last season the Orioles have played eight series at Boston and New York and won all eight. Make that 7-1 after last night's loss, but that is still a 16-8 record at Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium since last opening day. I think a 6-6 overall record at this point in the season is certainly respectable and acceptable. Of course, a .500 record won't get the Orioles a playoff berth several months from now. But considering this team has been at home for just three days since Feb. 11 and opened with three of its first four series on the road - all against the American League East - a .500 record is fine. They gave up just 11 runs against a New York team that had scored 32 runs total in the three games before this series. The Orioles' starters pitched to an ERA of 2.52 in the series and have allowed three earned runs or fewer in six consecutive games with an ERA of 3.89 in that time. The pitching is starting to come around. The offense has slowed with the Orioles scoring just seven runs in New York and 22 over the last seven games. The Orioles need to get some guys going on offense to help Adam Jones and Chris Davis. Matt Wieters is batting just .200 and the club has not been getting much production from second base or its designated hitters. Starting tomorrow, the Orioles play 20 games in 20 days, beginning with a nine-game homestand followed by an 11-game west coast trip. I actually think it will be good to get into an everyday routine for the players with hopefully better weather to settle into the grind of the season. It is a grind and we can't read too much into 12 games. They haven't had a great start or a terrible one. They have shown early on they can compete again in the tough AL East. Now bring on the rest of the season. Just 150 games to go.