All things considered, 12-11 is not bad for the Orioles (plus more Hardy and Flaherty in Bowie)

As the Orioles embark on a six-game road trip in New York that starts tonight with a two-game series against the Mets, they do so with a record of 12-11.

How should we judge that?

I think it is just fine when you consider a few things. For one, the Orioles have been playing without shortstop J.J. Hardy and catcher Matt Wieters all year. They've also sent Jonathan Schoop, Ryan Flaherty and Wesley Wright to the disabled list.

Consider also the slow start of the pitching staff. Through the first 17 games, O's starters produced just four quality starts and had an ERA of 5.83. The Orioles bullpen allowed runs in the first 10 games of the season, pitching to an ERA of 5.30. Not the start they wanted. That included a home game April 13 when the O's let a 4-2 lead get away and fell behind when the Yankees' Stephen Drew hit a pinch-hit grand slam off Tommy Hunter.

Consider also the Orioles are 1-5 against the Toronto Blue Jays, who have scored 47 runs in those games versus Baltimore pitching.

So they've dealt with injuries, a slow start by the pitching staff, some postponed games, a game played with no fans and home games on the road.

When you consider all that, 12-11 sounds really good to me.

Is that a respectable record for the Orioles right now?

O's duo at Bowie: Night one of what is expected to be at least a three-night stay for J.J. Hardy and Ryan Flaherty at Double-A Bowie went well.

As both took the next key step in working their way back to the Orioles, the duo played well and most importantly felt fine after the game as Bowie beat Akron 8-0 last night. Hardy has been out with a strained left shoulder and Flaherty with a right groin strain.

Hardy went 2-for-4 with an RBI double that drove in Flaherty, who went 1-for-4 with a double in the seventh just ahead of Hardy's two-bagger. Hardy at short and Flaherty at second base handled a few routine chances in the field fine as both played seven innings.

Flaherty thought Hardy did well.

"He looked really good," Flaherty said. "First time playing since spring training. You just watch him play and you get better. Good to see him out there."

Hardy batted against two Akron pitchers. The RubberDucks starter was left-hander Ryan Merritt and then a right-handed reliever Trey Haley came on. After the game, a reporter asked him about facing Merritt, a pitcher with a good pitch mix but one that doesn't throw very hard.

"Well that next guy was (a hard thrower)," Hardy said. "He was 97 (mph), at least when Flash (Flaherty) was hitting, I saw 97. But you have to face them all. That first guy was a nice pitcher. He was spotting the ball away with a decent changeup and curveball. It was a good test today."

Hardy received a cortisone injection on his left shoulder on April 25, and the improvement from that has led him to this point where he now may be days away from rejoining the Orioles.

"I was having some trouble before that and I haven't felt the pain that I was feeling since the cortisone, so the cortisone definitely worked," Hardy said.