A look at the O's upcoming stretch of games

Starting tonight, the Orioles will play five of their next six series against teams that currently have losing records. Their next 11 games will be against clubs with losing records until they face Arizona starting Aug. 12. The Orioles begin a 17-game stretch tonight against (in order) Houston, Seattle, San Diego, San Francisco, Arizona and Colorado. That takes the Orioles into a grueling 15-game stretch beginning Aug. 19 against Tampa Bay, Oakland, Boston, New York and Cleveland. This stretch that begins tonight against Houston is certainly not a walk in the park for the O's, and eight of the games will be played on the west coast. This season, the Orioles actually have a better record against teams with a winning record. They are 37-28 (.569) versus teams that are currently at .500 or better. They are 21-20 (.512) versus teams that currently have a losing record. They are 12-10 against the three American League division leaders - and that would be 13-7 if Boston had won over Tampa last night. The Orioles have certainly held their own against some real good clubs, but they have not dominated the sub-.500 teams. Maybe now is the time. Houston went 3-12 heading into the All-Star break and is 2-8 coming out of the break for an overall 5-20 record the last 25 games. Still, you can't just throw the gloves on the field and win. You have to take care of business. Can the O's make a real run over these next 17 games?