O's in position to finish better than last season

Some O's stats and facts to consider as they now have a 21-13 record since Buck Showalter took over. That is the second best record in the AL in that time, best among AL East clubs and a winning percentage of .618. The O's last playoff team, the 1997 Orioles, went 98-64 for a .605 winning percentage. The last two games, the young guns of Brian Matusz and Jake Arrieta are a combined 2-0, 3.65 vs. NY while Burnett and Sabathia are 0-2, 6.08. Sabathia and Burnett have made 590 career starts to 53 for Matusz/Arrieta and the Yankees duo will earn an estimated 39.5 million this year to around a total of one million for Matusz/Arrieta. O's team ERA: 5.18: In the 105 games before Showalter. 3.57: In 34 games with Showalter. The O's have won four in a row vs. Tampa and New York, out-scoring those teams 26-16 in those games. The team ERA is 4.00 and starters ERA is 3.65 in that stretch. The O's have batted .314 as team in the four games with a batting average with runners in scoring position of .419 (18 for 43) over the four contests. O's vs. the AL East in 2010: Before Buck: 10-35 With Buck: 6-5 O's series record, 2010: Before Buck: 4-28-2 With Buck: 6-4-1 How about this one final stat. The Orioles, once the butt of late night TV jokes this year and threatening to post one of the worst records in the history of the game, now can better last year's record. That seemed un-reachable a few weeks ago. But if the O's go 12-11 over the final 23 games, their 65-97 record would be one more win than last year's team. The O's minor league department has named Ryan O'Shea and Ryan Adams as pitcher and player of the month for August. O'Shea, who is expected to start game two of the playoffs for Frederick tomorrow night, went 1-1, 1.93 in six starts in the month. Adams batted .333-3-16 with an OPS of .916 in 28 August games. The Frederick Keys host the Potomac Nationals tonight in game one of the Carolina League playoffs. I will be at Harry Grove Stadium later today and file some reports from there before, during and after game one.