Adam Jones on Orioles attendance, Donnie Hart on Trey Mancini

The topic of Orioles attendance seems to be one creating continued discussion. The Orioles rank 10th in the American League in attendance and the first two games of the Boston series drew crowds of 18,456 on Monday and 20,387 last night.

Orioles center fielder Adam Jones today gave his take on the club's attendance, thanking the fans that do come and wishing a few more would join them.

"The fans impact at Camden Yards is unbelievable," Jones said. "They know that and the players understand that. This homestand, the last 11 games, is arguably the most important of the season. We fought our tails off to put ourselves in a unique situation to play important September baseball.

"Part of September baseball is the fans. Every place you go, the fans are going to be there. We were in Detroit, the fans were there for them. Go to Boston, you see Boston is one of the most desirable places to be - at any way, they're there. When we go to Toronto, we know they'll be there. They've been there since basically the trade deadline last year.

"I'm not going to say I'm disappointed. I'd say it's a little, what is the right word to say, not sad, just eerie a little bit. We understand. There are a lot of factors that go into it. Ticket prices are higher, although you can bring in food and beverages.

"The city wanted a winner. The last five years, we've had a winner. I don't know if they've gotten complacent on us winning already. I hope they haven't. Winning is fun every single year and being in the race is very exciting every single year. To the ones that come every night, thank you with open arms.

"We appreciate it because you don't have to. We know what people go through to get here. Some people commute very far. Some live downtown, but some live in other cities. We appreciate the support that has come. That's really all I've got to say about that."

A reporter reminded Jones that fans are engaged with the team in terms of strong television ratings on MASN.

"We can't tell who is watching the game on TV. I know they are really good, they've been great. But we can't tell who is watching on TV," Jones said.

Making a quick switch to another topic, anyone checking Twitter can see that congratulations have been pouring in from Orioles minor leaguers for Trey Mancini, whose first major league hit was a home run last night. So many that have played with him congratulated him on both making the majors and then hitting his first homer.

O's bullpen lefty Donnie Hart has been a teammate of Mancini's on the farm and now on the big league roster.

"Last night was one of my coolest nights in baseball, seeing Trey hit that home run," Hart said. "I don't think I took the smile off my face until I came in the game and had to get into game mode.

"He's a great guy and he works his butt off day in and day out. He's a grinder. Throughout his career, he has proven that he's a big league hitter. It was cool. It was really cool."