Mancini is enjoying the ride (plus other notes)

TORONTO - When the Orioles made their initial callups in September, Triple-A Norfolk first baseman Trey Mancini was not among them. But he did get the call to Baltimore on Sept. 18 and then he hit a homer in each of first three major league starts.

Now he finds himself on the roster for a major league playoff game.

When I interviewed him in the clubhouse before yesterday's workout, he didn't know yet if had made the roster. I asked him how he would feel if he did make it for tonight's wild card game.

"It would be incredible," he said. "Something that I could not have really imagined a couple of weeks ago. That would be really cool."

Mancini joined the Orioles just in time for the home stretch and just in time to be part of Sunday's playoff-clinching celebration in Yankee Stadium.

"That was incredible," Mancini said. "Coming into the lockerroom and you see the plastic everywhere. That is what you play the game for. To be able to be a part of that was an incredible experience."

We hear often that young players benefit by being around a team during the pressures of a playoff run. Mancini said he can now say that is definitely true. When he wasn't hitting homers to help the Orioles he was observing his teammates, watching and learning.

"The thing about this team, ever since I've been here, there is no panic," Mancini said. "Everyone stays relax and is just really focused. It is a great atmosphere around here.

"These are the most pressure-packed games in the world. Being here throughout the whole playoff race and trying to get to this (wild card) game, you know going through that, you start to get more comfortable every day that you're here. And it definitely helps mold you as a player."

Schoop breaks slump: Second baseman Jonathan Schoop has gotten his bat going again at a good time. He ended the regular season 8-for-18 with a homer over his last five games. He drove in five runs Friday night at New York. But in the 24 games before this run, Schoop was batting just .149.

"You just have to maintain your focus and try to keep the downs less and the ups be more," Schoop said. "You have to be mentally tough and I am too, but I still have a long way to go."

During Sunday's celebration the MASN cameras caught Schoop putting his arm around J.J. Hardy and saying something like, "I would not be here if not for him."

"Since I was a rookie, J.J. has helped me a lot," Schoop said. "He taught me the right things and the right way. That is why he is a leader and I respect him a lot. When he talks to me it feels like everything will be fine."

Ready for a run?: Orioles center fielder Adam Jones was asked yesterday how he feels about the Orioles on the eve of this game. Are the Orioles ready to make a deep run in the postseason?

"I feel great," he said. "I think the best thing about right now is we're healthy. Obviously we all have little nicks and bruises but, for the most part we're healthy and not missing anybody big on our team."

The crowd factor: One thing we can say for certain about tonight's game with no idea of how it will turn out - it will be very, very loud at Rogers Centre. The roof will be open but it still will be rocking. At least the Orioles should be used to it. They've played 10 games here this year, going 4-6 and are 3-1 in their last four at Rogers Centre.

"It will be loud," catcher Matt Wieters said. "Hopefully we'll have few O's fans but we know it will be a majority of Blue Jays fans and this place can get loud. There is a bit of tin in the building that it kind of rings around. We just have to embrace it - take the us versus 50,000 (mentality) and run with it."