Adam Jones and Darren O'Day on tonight's All-Star Game

Adam Jones is headed to the All-Star Game for the fifth time and Darren O'Day for the first. But both are thrilled to join Zach Britton and Manny Machado to represent the Orioles tonight in Cincinnati.

O'Day was a manager's selection after a first half where he went 5-0 with a 1.07 ERA in 35 games.

"The initial shock and excitement was pretty cool. I'm excited to represent the Orioles and excited to be an All-Star for sure," O'Day said at Camden Yards over the weekend.

"It is real challenging for a middle relief guy to make it. I don't care what situation they put me in, I do my best to get out of it. Consistency is what I strive for as a reliever, and the manager knows what he is going to get when he puts me in the game. I think a few years of consistency now has somehow gotten me into the All-Star Game as a middle reliever. Pretty exciting and doesn't happen that often, so I am going to cherish it."

O'Day has asked around about what the All-Star Game experience is all about.

"Been lucky enough to play with guys that were perennial All-Stars and they've given me the scouting report. Take a lot of pictures and enjoy it. You don't know if you'll ever go again. It will be cool to be a room with all those guys and maybe learn a thing or two from the guys I haven't had the pleasure of playing with," he said.

After three very good years with the Orioles, who would have thought O'Day could pitch even better. But he is putting up his best numbers as an Oriole this year:

2012: 2.28 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 6.6 hits per 9 innings, 9.3 strikeouts per 9 innings
2013: 2.18 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 6.8 hits per 9 innings, 8.6 strikeouts per 9 innings
2014: 1.70 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 5.5 hits per 9 innings, 9.6 strikeouts per 9 innings
2015: 1.07 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 5.1 hits per 9 innings, 12.0 strikeouts per 9 innings

Adding to that, O'Day has allowed just three of 14 inherited runners to score and batters are 0-for-11 against him with seven strikeouts with the bases loaded.

Not bad for a guy once cut from the team at the University of Florida, before re-inventing himself as a sidearm pitcher.

"I couldn't make the team in college throwing overhand, so I goofed around and started throwing sidearm in a summer league. There are times in your career you go through self-doubt. You wonder if you belong here and hit a rough streak and you really wonder. Then you have a self-realization moment that you do belong here.

"I've been lucky enough to stay healthy and put together some good years now. It is an incredible individual honor to get named an All-Star, but I don't know if I could do it without the other guys in this bullpen or on this pitching staff," O'Day said.

Jones has played with nine different Orioles teammates in his four previous All-Star games, as O'Day and Britton become numbers eight and nine tonight.

"It is cool to be able to share that kind of moment with your teammates, and we have played good baseball and the league recognizes that," Jones said. "We got two player votes, means the players paid attention to how myself, Manny and our teammates played. We got two coaches picks with our bullpen. O'Day has really come into his own over the last five years as one of the best set-up men in baseball. You don't hear much about him. Britton, since he took over the closer's role, has been lights out. Our peers see the hard work that we put into it. When I found out I got into the All-Star Game through a player's vote, I was truly humbled."