Simon taking care of business tonight (Reynolds, Davis homer)

LJ Hoes has homered in both ends of Double-A Bowie's doubleheader tonight, giving him six in the last eight days. Hoes hit a three-run shot in Game 2, giving him 41 RBIs. Cesar Izturis had the game-winning RBI in Game 1. Maybe they'll have a bobblehead night for him at Prince George's Stadium.

Now let's go to Kansas City, where the Orioles are holding a 4-1 lead in the top of the seventh inning. Alfredo Simon has held the Royals to one run and four hits in six innings, with one walk and three strikeouts. He's thrown 95 pitches, so it's time to get the bullpen in motion. Simon must have heard about all the issues attached to the rotation, and he was nice enough to give the Orioles a quality start. Sort of like handing a glass of ice water to Tom Hanks in Cast Away. Simon retired 11 in a row before J.J. Hardy's error in the sixth inning. Another Hardy error? What the H? The Orioles have errors in six consecutive games. They don't have Koji Uehara to provide a bridge to closer Kevin Gregg. We'll see how they cover the last three innings. Mark Reynolds drove in two runs with a double and Chris Davis collected his first RBI as an Oriole. I don't think they retrieved the ball. Update: Simon went seven innings, allowing one run and four hits, walking one and striking out three. He threw 106 pitches, 70 for strikes. Tommy Hunter replaced him and allowed a run in the eighth. His first pitch as an Oriole was 96 mph. His second pitch was 95 mph. He also hit 97 mph while facing Billy Butler, whose sacrifice fly reduced the Orioles' lead to 4-2. Reynolds hit a three-run homer in the top of the ninth, and Davis homered for the first time with his new team. Orioles 8, Royals 2. And that's your final score.