O's game blog: Adam Jones on O's AL East lead and other notes

No one is calculating magic numbers in the Orioles clubhouse these days but O's center fielder Adam Jones talked about the club holding the largest division lead of any team in baseball. As they open a three-game series at home against the Yankees tonight they lead Toronto by five games and New York by six games. "Well, we are in a unique position," Jones said. "A position that most of us haven't been in. We're just grinding it out. We're expecting to go out there and play good baseball. That is what all 25 guys expect out of each other." He was asked about the Orioles' chance in this series to push the Yankees further out of touch with first in the AL East. "We need to win. Doesn't matter about the opponent. We need to win. If we can control us, we'll be fine. If we don't we'll be fighting for more than we bargained for," Jones said. MLB's best records since the All-Star break: .682 - Kansas City (15-7) .652 - Orioles (15-8) .650 - Tampa Bay (13-7) .619 - San Diego (13-8) .609 - New York Yankees & Toronto (14-9) The Yankees had won six of seven before they lost the last two days to Cleveland 3-0 and 4-1. They ended a 19-inning scoreless streak with a run in the ninth inning Sunday. New York avoided back-to-back shutouts for the first time since May 12-13, 1999. They've played 2,512 games since then and that is the longest streak of not being shutout in consecutive games in major league history. The Orioles have won seven consecutive series openers dating back to July 21 at the Angels. That has led to seven consecutive series victories. The Birds are now 24-15 in series openers this season, going 12-7 at home and 12-8 on the road. The Orioles are 6-3 against the Yankees this season, winning all three series. With 10 games left in the season series, the Orioles need to go 4-6 or better to win the season series for the first time since 1997. On the mound tonight, Bud Norris (9-7, 3.68 ERA) pitches against left-hander Chris Capuano (1-2, 3.91 ERA). Capuano gave up two runs in 3 2/3 innings earlier this year against the Orioles while pitching for Boston. In three starts since joining New York he is 0-1 with a 2.84 ERA. Norris has allowed two earned runs or less in six of his last eight starts, going 5-2 with a 2.64 ERA in that stretch. Orioles fourth-round draft pick, right-handed pitcher Pat Connaughton out of Notre Dame, has moved from short-season Single-A Aberdeen to Single-A Frederick. With the IronBirds he went 0-1 with an ERA of 2.45 in six games.