On day that drew no fans, but plenty of attention, Orioles took care of business

Usually when Orioles first baseman Chris Davis hits a homer at Camden Yards, he gets to enjoy the roar of the crowd. Yesterday, when he hit one, all he heard was the echo of the bat striking the ball coming off empty seats. He said it sounded like batting practice.

But Davis hit a big three-run homer during the Orioles' six-run first inning on Wednesday as they beat the White Sox 8-2 in the game that had no fans in the stands.

But for a city that and for the team's fans who could use something positive, the Orioles supplied it for a few brief hours yesterday. Several players said they hoped in some small way that the win helped and was important for area residents.

"No doubt," Davis said. "The last couple of days when we knew the game was going to be closed to the public, people tweeted to me or commented to me that they are still going to be behind us. That means a lot and hopefully this was something good and it will help us move forward. I hope people today saw the positive things about Baltimore with people helping to clean up and rebuild and get the city back on its feet."

Before yesterday's game catcher Caleb Joseph signed imaginery autographs and during the game, after the third out of several innings when he was running off the field, Davis threw a few balls into the stands toward fans that were not there. Just like he might normally do.

No fans? No problem! @McGrattan17 still signs autographs and waves to the stands! #IBackTheBirds pic.twitter.com/BlwX1jFFtF

-- Orioles on MASN (@masnOrioles) April 29, 2015

"Yes several," Davis said. "Just did it as a fun thing to help everyone relax. I threw three or four. The first few were in the lower section and then I gave some love to the fans in the upper deck."

Gotta stick to routine. #IBackTheBirds pic.twitter.com/F1E88GL0qe

-- Orioles on MASN (@masnOrioles) April 30, 2015

The Orioles offense continued its recent tear in the win. The six-run first inning was the third six-run inning over a seven at-bat stretch for the team, dating to Sunday.

The Orioles have 10 or more hits for four straight games, batting .351 in that time to raise the team batting average from .268 to .286. The Orioles have scored 59 runs the last nine games.

They are doing this without three regulars - catcher Matt Wieters, shortstop J.J. Hardy and second baseman Jonathan Schoop.

"We pick up each other's backs," Manny Machado said of the potent offense even while three key players are missing. "That is something we've learned here in this organization and this clubhouse. When someone goes down, we have to pick them up. We are continuing to do that."

Joseph was asked about the strangest part of the day for him.

"For me it was being right in the middle of catching a pitch and hearing the press box announcer (with an update that Davis' homer made it to Eutaw Street). I thought that was interesting," he said. "You don't normally hear that.

"Each hit you cheer your teammates on, but when there are people here, you can only hear that in the dugout. Today there was this weird balance, you didn't want to come across being too rah-rah and showing up the other team or to disrespect the game. Definitely different."

Now, after today's off-day, the Orioles will play three games against Tampa Bay at Tropicana Field where they will be the home team.

"It is unfortunate that the city is going through this. But safety is the biggest thing. If it means we have to go play in Tampa for the safety of fans and police, that is what we need to do. We love our fans, but this is just the cards we've been dealt," Joseph said.

The Orioles are now 10-10 with their first three-game winning streak of the 2015 season.

While yesterday was a novelty, a curiousity, a rare event and also a national story, it was also another baseball game, one the Orioles were out to win.

They got to a real good pitcher with a six-run first inning and took care of business.

It was a game that drew a lot of attention but no fans, but it also was a game that will count as much as one they might win in the heat of the September pennant chase in front of a sellout crowd.

They took care of business indeed.