Roberts the RBI machine

Brian Roberts is off to quite a start driving in runs. After his three RBI night in the 11-0 win Tuesday over Minnesota, Roberts now has a team-leading 14 RBI. Contrast that to the 2010 season, when Roberts had 15 RBI all season. He had 15 RBI in 59 games and 230 at bats a year ago and now has 14 RBI in 16 games and 69 at bats. Roberts delivered two clutch hits in the win with a two-run single in the 2nd for a 3-0 lead and an RBI double two innings later for a 4-0 lead which helped the O's get an early edge on the Twins. Roberts went 2-for-2 batting with runners in scoring position in the game and is now batting .462 this year with RISP at 6-for-13. In fact, the Orioles went 2-for-20 with RISP in the previous three games and then went 6-for-11 in this win with RISP. Getting the clutch hits is so big. The Twins had chances but went 0-for-9 with RISP. Here's one last pretty remarkable Roberts' stat note. Last season, he had just two multi-RBI games in 59 contests. This year he already has five multiple-RBI games. He has two games with 2 RBI and three games with 3 RBI already. In 16 games on the season, Roberts is batting .275 with three homers and 14 RBI. Coming Thursday: A feature on Twins pitcher Jim Hoey, who has battled his way back to the majors after two surgeries. Hoey spent most of his career with the Orioles until he was traded for J.J. Hardy in December.