Manny Machado talks about home fans and home stretch

With the Orioles about to start a stretch where they will play 14 of the next 19 games at home, and 25 of their last 45 at Camden Yards, third baseman Manny Machado was asked about the Camden Yards fans today.

Clearly, the Orioles love playing at home and they have the best home record in the game at 39-17. But the club does rank 10th in the American League in average home attendance at 26,826. That ranks ahead of only the Twins, White Sox, Indians, A's and Rays in the AL.

Machado was certainly not critical of his own fans; in fact, the opposite was true. He praised the advantage they create at the Yard. But while the Orioles are first in their division, they rank down the board a bit in turnstile count.

"I mean, it has been a little down lately," Machado said. "Hopefully, with the pennant race coming up and us in first place and getting close to the playoffs, a little more fans should come and support us and come help us out.

"We have the greatest fans in the world. Whenever they come out here and we have a sold-out crowd, we feed off of that. That takes us to another level. Our fans are our biggest momentum. Hope we get more out here. I know school started now and it's going to be tough, but we're just looking forward to being back home and playing in front of them."

Machado was asked if it is disappointing for a first place team to rank so low in attendance.

"It is here and there," he said. "But the fans that come, they give it to us, they give it their all. That is why we have one of the best home records of all time. It's been down from years past, but whoever comes, they support us.

"They give us what we need and we give to them. We come out and hit homers, drive in runs and win big games. Our fans are awesome. They are the greatest in the world. They give us the energy that sometimes we don't have. We're just excited to be back home and hopefully more people come out and support us. We're here for them and they're going to be here for us like always."

It feels like an unofficial beginning of the home stretch tonight with Boston in town. The Orioles and Toronto are tied for first in the division with Boston a game back in the tightest race in the majors. The O's have 31 AL East games left in the 45 that remain in the regular season.

"We feel good and we feel confident and confident in each other," Machado said. "We're just trying to take it day by day. We're not looking at the standings or who is winning on the other side. We're just trying to play baseball here the Oriole way. We just have to play as a team as we have been playing and never take a game for granted."