Thoughts on Markakis, Joseph and a six-man rotation

Last night's Orioles win clinched the series victory for the Orioles against Texas. They go for a three-game sweep tonight. A win would also give them a winning road trip at 6-4 after they started the trip 1-4.

This up-and-down season of the Orioles is back on the upswing. A win tonight would give the Orioles their second five-game win streak of the season.

The Orioles have won seven straight games against Texas dating to last season and have outscored the Rangers 37-17 in those games.

A few other observations and comments on the O's:

* He seldom seems to be the most talked about player after an O's victory, but Nick Markakis contributes in a positive way to a lot of wins. Maybe more than any player on the roster.

On Tuesday night, he had three hits and his single in the eighth gave the club a 4-2 lead. It was a real big hit at that point of the game. Last night, he came up with another big hit. His RBI single in the sixth provided the go-ahead run in the 6-5 win.

Markakis is 5-for-9 in this series and batting .395 during a nine-game hitting streak. Talk about consistency? Markakis hit .313 in April, .299 in May and is batting .462 in June.

He personifies the team's mentality of showing up and playing hard every day. No doubt he has tremendous respect throughout his own clubhouse, even if the rest of us overlook his play sometimes.

* Caleb Joseph made another big defensive play last night. It came on that bunt in the eighth inning where he pounced on the ball and got the force play with a strong throw to second base. He didn't hesitate and made an accurate throw to keep a runner out of scoring position in a one-run game. A night earlier, he gave the Orioles the lead in the eighth inning with an RBI double on an 0-2 pitch.

Joseph started out as a feel-good story: career minor leaguer finally gets his chance. Isn't that a neat story? His story is still a good one, but now you almost forget that as he makes winning plays. Joseph is now 4-for-13 over his last three games.

Joseph has made 12 O's starts. The Orioles are 8-4 in those games. Bet Buck knows that stat.

* Will the O's go to a six-man rotation when Johan Santana is ready to join the team?

I think there are a few reasons that may be possible, at least in the short term. One is that for four of the six pitchers, a six-man could make sense. Wei-Yin Chen and Miguel Gonzalez sometimes benefit from extra rest and they'd get it with a six-man.

Chris Tillman has had some issues with a groin injury and Santana himself is coming of two shoulder operations in the last couple of years. Maybe those four would work well in a six-man rotation.

On the downside, your best pitchers get fewer starts if they pitch just once every six days. But right now, no one starter is pitching so well where that is a concern.

A six-man? It's interesting and we'll see if the Orioles actually make that move or not fairly soon.

Scully on Zimmer: Baseball lost a beloved figure last night when Don Zimmer passed away at 83. Zimmer had been part of the game since 1949 as a player, coach, manager and advisor. He most recently was a senior advisor to the Tampa Bay Rays. Zimmer had undergone surgery to repair a leaky heart valve on April 16 and had been on a ventilator since.

Some heartfelt tributes were pouring in last night but could anyone tell Zimmer stories better than Vin Scully? Doubtful. Click here to hear the Dodgers broadcasting legend talk about his friend.