Did O's offense heat up just in time for matchup with Tanaka?

Of the many positive things that happened for the Orioles offense yesterday, the best development may have been Ryan Flaherty and Jonathan Schoop both having big days. Flaherty had three hits after starting the year 1-for-21 and that has to take some of the pressure off him. Schoop had two hits and is now 3-for-8 with two doubles the past two games after starting the season 2-for-18. He may be starting to settle in. We know that players in the middle of the order like Chris Davis and Adam Jones will hit, but seeing the batters at the bottom of the order come through was a good sign for the Orioles. The Orioles did the Bronx bombing yesterday and now we'll see if that is the breakout game the offense needed. Some notes from Tuesday's 14-5 win: * The Orioles doubled their homer output for the season from three to six. Only two O's had homered at first pitch Tuesday and now four have. * The Orioles batted nearly .500 in the game, going 20-for-42. They raised the team average from .231 to .268. * The Orioles had scored a total of 15 runs in the previous four games and 22 on the year in seven games before getting 14. The O's had scored three or fewer runs in five of seven games to start the season and Tuesday they scored three or more runs in four different innings. * The Orioles scored 14 for the first time since Aug. 10, 2010. They hadn't produced 20 or more hits since May 10, 2011. But Wei-Yin Chen, staked to a fourth-inning 7-1 lead, could only cover five innings yesterday. He has allowed eight runs and 21 hits in 10 2/3 innings. The two teams he faced - Boston and New York - have batted .412 (21-for-51) against him. Here is the batting average against for the other O's starters: .231 - Chris Tillman .310 - Ubaldo Jimenez .391 - Bud Norris .529 - Miguel Gonzalez The Orioles are still looking for someone other than Tillman to provide a solid start. In the six games this year when others got the ball, the starters ERA is 8.49 and the starters have given up at least four earned runs in each game. After all the offense of Tuesday, tonight the Orioles face Yankees right-hander Masahiro Tanaka, the pitcher the Yankees signed from Rakuten of Japan to a seven-year deal worth $155 million in January. Tanaka went 24-0 with a 1.27 ERA and 183 strikeouts in 28 games for Rakuten in 2013 with eight complete games. He spent seven seasons in Japan, going 99-35 with a 2.30 ERA. Tanaka set a Japanese league record by winning 28 consecutive decisions, spanning the 2012 and 2013 seasons. He has not taken a loss in a regular-season game since Aug. 19, 2012 when the Seibu Lions defeated Rakuten. In his first major league start last Friday, Tanaka allowed three runs in the first two innings at Toronto, but nothing after that and got the win. Over seven innings, he gave up six hits with no walks and eight strikeouts. Will the Orioles be the first team to pin a loss on Tanaka in over 19 months?