The standings with Buck: O's lead the East by 3 1/2 games

If baseball passed a rule that stated the standings didn't count this year until beginning with the games of August 3rd, the Orioles would be okay with that. That is the day Buck Showalter managed his first O's game this year and since then the Orioles are the AL East division leaders - by 3 1/2 games and the Yankees are in fourth place. Team.......W....L.......Pct........GB Orioles.... 26-15.......634.........-- Bos/TB.... 22-18.......550........3.5 NYY.........22-19.......537.........4 Tor...........18-22.......450........7.5 The Orioles have now won three games in a row, five of six, nine of 11 and 13 of their last 18 games. Due to their success with Buck, they now have a record of .500, 29-29 since the All-Star game. That is quite a stat, since they started 3-14 out of the break. Under Buck the O's are 9-6 vs. the AL East and are 7-1 in their last eight games within the division. The O's are now 9-5 in September. They need seven more wins to secure their first winning September since 2004 (18-10). The team has already won more games in September than they did last year (6) and 2008 (5). In 2007 they were (10-17) Since winning eight in a row, the Yankees have now lost five of six and eight of their last 10 games. In their remaining 16 games: *If the O's go 5-11 or better they will avoid the third 100-loss season in team history. *If the O's go 7-9 or better they will top last year's 64-98 record. *If they go 3-13 or better they will finish with a winning record under Buck Showalter with a mark of at least 29-28 or better. O's leading hitters since Showalter took over: .303 - Roberts .296 - Wieters .291 - Pie .289 - Markakis .279 - Jones