Danny Valencia talks about his red-hot bat

To say the least, Danny Valencia is a hot hitter. Valencia will bat fifth as the DH tonight for the Orioles against CC Sabathia and the Yankees in the opener of a four-game series. On the year, Valencia is batting .314 with seven homers, 15 RBIs and a .973 OPS in 33 games. But in his last nine games, he has eight multi-hit games. Even being optioned to the minors couldn't slow him down. His hot hitting began when he went 2-for-4 with a homer Aug. 4 against the Mariners. Two days later he returned to Triple-A Norfolk, only to come back to the Orioles on Aug. 19 and resume the hitting. Over those nine games, Valencia is batting .563 at 18-for-32 with six doubles, three homers and seven RBIs. The .563 average, according to STATS, is the second highest in a nine-game span in the majors this year behind Robinson Cano's .571 mark (20-for-35) from Aug. 12-20. Is Valencia just locked in right now? "I think every hitter goes through points where they are hot and cold and you just want to try and balance it out and be as consistent as possible," he said. "It's definitely one of the better streaks I've been on in my career and hopefully I keep it going." He is known as a player that can hit left-handed pitching and this year for the Orioles is batting .375 in 75 at-bats against southpaws and .167 in 30 at-bats vs. right-handed pitching. He'd eventually like to be known as someone that could play every day against all pitchers. "Absolutely, that is my goal," Valencia said. "I don't think anyone is content being a guy that just faces a lefty or a righty. Everybody's goal is to play every day and that is certainly my goal. I believe in myself that, if given the chance, could contribute off right-handed pitching."