De Aza on being an Oriole: "I feel young again, I feel 20 again"

Alejandro De Aza has now been an Oriole for one day shy of two weeks. But he is sure fitting in well with his new club. After he had two triples tonight, driving in two runs as the Orioles beat the Yankees 5-0 to complete a doubleheader sweep, De Aza talked about what his first few days as an Oriole have been like. "I feel young again, I feel 20 again," he said. "Just having fun with these guys. I came here and it's like I was here forever. Since Day 1, they all treated me well and it's a great clubhouse." He has hit safely in all eight games he's played in with the Orioles, batting .394 (13-for-33) with a double, two triples, two homers and six RBIs. Nice start with his new team. "Yes, yes, but I am not going to sleep on that," he said. "We have to keep winning and try to stay in first place, you know." De Aza's eight-game hitting streak to start his O's career is the longest since Eric Byrnes hit in 11 in a row from July 30-Aug. 10, 2005. Tonight, he produced the 16th two-triple game in club history and first since Jay Payton on Sept. 28, 2007. "Feels great. I guess I hit it in a good spot," De Aza said. "The second one I thought was a home run but I kept running and it hit the wall. When it kicked away, I knew for sure it would be a triple. "It's a great feeling and I love to contribute for the team. It's all about winning." On the other side of the clubhouse, Bud Norris talked about his seven scoreless innings as the Orioles recorded their 12th shutout of 2014. "Doubleheader, (Kevin) Gausman threw a big game for us. That was a big win. Just wanted to do my part," Norris said. "Went seven with zeroes on the board against a good lineup. They'll still in it for the most part." "I had pretty much everything kind of going from about the third inning on. Caleb (Joseph) called a great game. Had a good rapport. Biggest thing was just trying to hit the glove and get outs and compete." Norris is 7-1 with an ERA of 2.92 in 12 starts against the American League East and the Orioles are 11-1 in those games. The Orioles starters pitched 14 scoreless innings today, allowing 10 hits with four walks and 17 strikeouts. Norris was asked about the Orioles trying to move on for now without Chris Davis, who was suspended for 25 games. "We just want to focus on baseball. It's a tough situation and we were saddened by all of it unfortunately," Norris said. "He's taking ownership for it. "Like I said, we have to focus on baseball and get back to work. That is what we've done all year. That one is out of our hands. We have to come together as a unit and group and and just keep winning ballgames and on into the playoffs. "A lot of people woke up this morning and got some bad news. We still love him, he's still part of our group. We are not going to forget that." The Orioles are now a season-high 29 games over the .500 mark. They have a season-high six-game win streak and are 33-14 (.702) since July 24. "We have played such good baseball through the course of the year and especially the second half," Norris said. "We are firing on a lot of cylinders. Just want to keep the momentum on our side."