Davis on the first half, Duquette on the rotation, Brach on All-Star nod

The Orioles reach the All-Star break leading the American League East by two games. They are 51-36 and ahead of the pace of the 2014 Orioles that won 96 games and the American League East title.

"I think we've played well," first baseman Chris Davis said. "There have been times when we've really shown we're a complete team and there have been times we struggled. I think the last couple of games, they were good for us to bear down and get away with two wins going into the break."

The Orioles ended the first half with back-to-back wins over the Angels to improve to 33-14 at Camden Yards, where they are 7-1 in their past eight games and 16-4 in their last 20.

Duquette on the rotation: Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette was a guest on my radio show Sunday on 105.7 FM the Fan, the Orioles flagship radio station in Baltimore. We spent more than a few minutes on the Orioles starting rotation. I asked Duquette if the rotation's struggles threaten to derail what could be a very good season.

"We are going to have to get more consistent starting pitching to accomplish what we want to accomplish, there is no question about that," he said. "Having said that we have a couple of veteran pitchers on the staff that have pitched to a higher level in other years of their career. (Yovani) Gallardo is one and (Ubaldo) Jimenez is another. I expect them to pitch better the second half of the year. It's in the book, they've done that, just about every single year of their career."

Is there some help for the rotation on the farm?

"That is a possibility," Duquette said. "I was looking at Joe Gunkel's numbers the other day. He is a year younger than Tyler Wilson at the same development level in the minors and he performed better in the minors than Tyler Wilson has. I think there is a hope he can make a contribution similar to what Wilson has done.

"He has good control and he's come up with a good split-finger pitch. Very competitive kid, local kid from Hershey, Pennsylvania and some of our fans up there have followed him.

"Ariel Miranda has good stuff. A left-hander and another guy with a split-finger and looked good in his debut. Jayson Aquino came in and threw strikes. There are some pitchers there that may be able to help us. I think perhaps the most consistent starter out of that group could possibly be Gunkel.

"Beyond that, our scouts are out watching the other Major League clubs every day. There are about 15 clubs chasing a few pitchers, so that is going be tough for anybody to acquire some talent. But we've had some discussions with some teams and who knows, we may be able to add to the club by the trade route."

Brach is an All-Star: This is a special time for Orioles reliever Brad Brach. He is set to take part in his first All-Star Game after a brilliant first half where he went 6-1 with an ERA of 0.91 and a .155 batting average against. Over 49 1/3 innings he has walked 14 and fanned 58.

"It's crazy, just having some of the guys come up to me and say 'You can say you were an All-Star forever. It doesn't matter how you do the rest of your career, you'll be known as an All-Star,'" Brach said. "It is very humbling and I'm just really honored to be a part of the game."

Last July, it was Darren O'Day representing the Orioles in his first All-Star Game and now Brach is doing the same.

"Darren was talking about it the other day," Brach said. "When he got in the line for the first time, you stand there and you just hear all the names they are announcing. You're on the team with those guys and that is when it hit him. It's going to be an amazing experience and I'm just going to try and soak it all in."

The All-Star nod this year takes on even more meaning for Brach with the game in San Diego. That was the team that drafted him in the 42^nd round in 2008 and where he got his big league chance. That was also the team that traded him to the Orioles for minor league pitcher Devin Jones in November of 2013.

"It's awesome," Brach said. "Going back to where I had the start to my career it's extra special. Petco Park is a special place for my family because that is where it all started and that is where my first few years were."

Sisco homers in Futures Game: Orioles catching prospect Chance Sisco has hit one home run this year in 251 at-bats for the Double-A Bowie Baysox. But last night he homered in his second at-bat in the All-Star Futures Game at San Diego's Petco Park.

Sisco flied out to center in his first at-bat to end the second inning and then homered in the fourth against right-hander Francisco Rios of the Toronto Blue Jays. He was replaced defensively in the top of the sixth.

Sisco told MLB.com: "I just got a fastball up in the zone and tried to put the barrel on it. I didn't think it was going out. Maybe it would be a double. But when I saw it go over the wall, it was awesome."

The O's No. 3 prospect heading into this season according to Baseball America said he had about 50 family and friends in the stands. He grew up in Corona, Calif., which is just about 100 miles north of Petco Park.