Dialing long distance: O's get five early runs with the longball

The Orioles have once again put the longball to good use, getting a two-run homer from Vlad Guerrero and a three-run shot from Blake Davis to take a 5-0 lead on the Tigers tonight at Camden Yards. It's now a 5-1 O's lead in the fourth. Guerrero's homer was his 10th of the season and ended an 11-game homerless run for him. Davis' homer to left just made it into the seats and was reviewed by the umpires. Before the game, Davis had told me sometimes he has a tendency for his bat to drag a bit and he hits lazy fly balls to left. That was a fly to left but nothing lazy about his 352-foot homer. Coming into this game, the Orioles had hit 137 homers on the season, or four more than they hit all of last year. They are on a pace to hit 191, which would be their most since the 1997 squad hit 196 on its way to an American League East title. The Orioles have now hit 91 homers since June 1 to lead the majors. The Orioles have homered in 83 of 117 games and that is the third most in the big leagues. J.J Hardy, who has yet to homer tonight (slacker), does lead the AL with 21 homers since June 1. He has done that in 60 games and just 251 at-bats. The Orioles had been outscored on the year 76-54 in the second inning of games, but outscored Detroit 5-0 tonight in the second. Congrats to Mike Bordick and Richie Bancells for their induction tonight into the Orioles Hall of Fame. Two similar guys - hard-working, talented, unassuming, never seek the limelight, but could not be more respected by anyone that works at this ballpark. By the way, Guerrero is 2-for-2 tonight and that makes him 4-for-6 since being dropped one spot, to fifth, in the batting order. He has hits in four straight at-bats since starting Friday's game 0-for-2. One final note: The Youse's Orioles won another 20 and under national championship today in Johnstown, Penn. The team is coached by Tim Norris and has now won this championship in eight of the last nine years. Several players in the O's minors like LJ Hoes, Steve Johnson, Oliver Drake and Brandon Erbe have played on this team in the past.