Could Beckham move up the order?

Tim Beckham's streak of getting a hit in consecutive at-bats ended last night at seven after he struck out in the second inning against Tigers starter Drew VerHagen.

The fun came later.

Ken Singleton holds the Orioles record with 10 in 1981. He went 4-for-4 on April 26 and 27 and singled and homered in his first two trips to the plate the following night. The White Sox's Richard Dotson induced a double play grounder in the fifth inning to prevent Singleton from making it to 11.

Paid attendance at Memorial Stadium was 9,883. The streak must not have captured the nation's imagination.

If only another streak would have come along later.

Doug DeCinces committed his second error, and I'm sure at least one fan yelled, "Brooks would have had it!"

Singleton ended the night batting .511/.560/1.044, which qualified as a really good start to the season. Beckham's start with the Orioles doesn't require any apologies, with 13 hits in his first 20 at-bats, including three doubles, a triple and three home runs.

Beckham batted sixth again last night while going 2-for-4 with the Orioles' 10,000th regular season home run. Most of his starts in the majors have come while hitting seventh (80). He's made 37 starts batting eighth, 31 batting sixth and 19 while batting ninth.

With his speed and early knack for getting on base with the Orioles, Beckham could present himself as a candidate to move atop the order if manager Buck Showalter decides to lower Adam Jones again. The career .307 on-base percentage before last night doesn't fit a prototypical leadoff hitter, and he's only 10-for-16 in stolen base attempts, but the Orioles aren't obsessed with prototypical.

It doesn't hurt to check with Showalter.

Would batting Beckham first, as he's done in only seven games, ever be a consideration?

"Yes," Showalter replied.

"If people knew how many considerations we go through in the course of a night. That's a big spot for us and he's doing real well there, which is higher for the most part than where he hit in Tampa. It's something that you always consider, but he's doing real well there and I'm inclined to leave him there for the time being, but it does open up some interesting possibilities in the future."

Beckham singled with two outs in the sixth last night, and reliever Chad Bell kept throwing over to first base as if Rickey Henderson had reached. Beckham never took off, and Seth Smith flied out to end the inning.

It was more fun to watch Beckham circle the bases in the eighth.

Ubaldo Jiménez gets the start this afternoon to close out the series. He's registered back-to-back quality starts while allowing three runs and striking out 15 batters in 13 innings.

Jiménez pitched in Detroit on May 17 and allowed five runs and eight hits in five innings. Tyler Collins homered twice in the Orioles' 5-4 loss.

No team had faced Jiménez more than the Tigers. He's 6-12 with a 5.63 ERA and 1.545 WHIP in 22 career starts against them.

Victor Martinez is 12-for-37 (.324) with two doubles, four home runs and 12 RBIs. Miguel Cabrera is 15-for-47 (.319) with four doubles and a home run. Ian Kinsler is 10-for-31 (.323) with three doubles. José Iglesias is 4-for-11 with a triple and home run.

Justin Upton has homered in three straight games. He's 9-for-33 (.273) with four doubles, a triple and two home runs against Jiménez.