Post-game and minor league notes plus Matusz quotes

Not tonight - One night after producing 12 extra-base hits and 19 hits in a 16-6 romp over the Angels, the O's were held to one run on nine hits. They went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position after going 11 for 22 Friday. The O's have scored three runs or less in six of seven and eight of the last ten games. They have done that in 15 of 28 games in the second-half and are 1-14 in those contests. Melvin Mora went 3 for 4, it was his 6th three-hit game of the year. He is 9 for 18 over his last five games. In his third Major League start, Brian Matusz took his second loss as he gave up five runs and 11 hits over 5 2/3 innings. He walked three, fanned seven and threw 98 pitches. Matusz falls to 1-2, 6.75. He set season highs in innings, hits allowed and strikeouts. After the game, Matusz said: "I look back on that inning (the third) and I look back to the walk to Chone Figgins. I had him 3-2 and Matt put down a fastball. I stepped off the mound and thought I want to throw a changeup here. I did, but I babied it a little bit. From there I tried to nibble too much. "I felt like I had good command for the most part. But any time you walk three in an inning it's never going to turn out well. The thing I am most happy about is being able to come back from that. I didn't give up and still went after guys. "After the third inning, I was able to relax. I felt like this was the first time since I've been here that I really felt comfortable. Some of the hits they had were on good pitches. I battled and finished off strong. I can take a lot of positives from this game. I learned a lot from today." Not lacking vs. the O's - Winning pitcher John Lackey is now 8-5, 3.73. He gave up just one run over seven innings and is 2-0, 1.80 on the year vs. the Orioles and 8-3, 3.16 in 12 career starts vs. Baltimore. Nick Markakis had two hits. He has now reached base safely in 35 consecutive games - the longest streak currently in the Majors and a new career best for Markakis. He has reached base safely in 101 of 115 starts in 2009. Markakis is now 13 for 35 (.371) during an eight-game hitting streak. Brian Roberts went 1 for 5 and hit his league-leading 44th double. Roberts is now 10 for 23 with six doubles during his five-game batting streak. He has 16 doubles over his last 27 games. Roberts is six doubles shy of 50 for the year and now has 95 since the start of 2008 to lead the Majors. The O's fall to 4-10 in August. They are 4-0 on Tuesdays and Fridays and 0-10 all other days. LA improves to 26-11 vs. lefty starters, 18-6 in their last 24 games and 20-8 since the All-Star break. The Angels now have ten hits or more in 19 of the last 24 and 32 of their last 45 games. Today's attendance was 28,770 and the season total for 59 dates is 1,465,092. Minor League Notes - Tyler Stampone had a huge game today as the O's Gulf Coast League team beat Tampa, 6-2. He went 3 for 4 with a double, two triples and 5 RBI. Stampone is batting .344 on the year. O's third-round draft pick Tyler Townsend, out since mid July with a wrist injury, returned to the Aberdeen lineup tonight. He went 1 for 4 with a double and an RBI in the Birds' loss at Jamestown. Frederick's Zach Britton pitched a strong game in a 1-0 loss to Winston-Salem. Over seven innings, he gave up four hits and one run with seven strikeouts. The 21-year-old lefty is now 8-6, 2.71 on the season. He has allowed 2ER or less in 13 of 21 Frederick starts.