Wieters on his 10-pitch at-bat and more, plus Matusz on pitching in Bowie

The Orioles have their first 4-0 start since 2011. They have now won four or more consecutive games to begin a season for the eighth time in franchise history. The club's best-ever start was 5-0 in 1970.

They have outscored their opponents 17-7, allowing two, two, two and one run in those games. Their team ERA is 1.50 and the starters' ERA is 1.42. They've out-homered their opponents 7-3 and outhit them 37-26.

The Orioles had just one homer in their first two games and then hit three in the fifth inning last night in the 6-1 win over Tampa Bay. They've hit six homers the past two games.

When batting with runners in scoring position in the 2016 season, O's batters are hitting .370 (10-for-27) while their opponents are batting just .083 (2-for-24).

Each Orioles homer so far has been a solo shot: two each by Chris Davis and Manny Machado, and one each by Joey Rickard, Jonathan Schoop and Nolan Reimold.

On offense, the Orioles have had some impressive at-bats already, including Matt Wieters' 10-pitch at-bat when he drove in a run in the fourth inning last night. I asked Wieters if the players are being more patient this year.

"I think it is just about grinding out at-bats," he said. "Especially against a guy like (Chris) Archer who is going to come at you. Those are guys you are going to have to battle and lay off some tough pitches.

"I think we made him work to throw some balls in the middle of the zone. His stuff is great, so you have to get some balls in the middle of plate. We have some guys that won't miss when they get one."

After a rain-shortened two-inning outing on opening day, Wieters remarked how good Chris Tillman looked. He gave up just one run in five innings last night.

"The stuff was there," Wieters said of Tillman. "Command probably wasn't quite as sharp. He battled for us and beared down after giving up that run in the first."

The Orioles have an unbeaten start through four games, but Wieters isn't getting carried away with that.

"We'll take this win and move on from here. Pretty early to worry about the record right now," he said.

Rickard has now hit safely in each of his first four major league games, going 7-for-15 (.467). According to Baseball-Reference.com, he becomes the fifth Oriole to record three multi-hit games over his first four career games. He joins Jeffrey Hammonds (1993), Curtis Goodwin (1995), Ken Gerhart (1986) and Rich Coggins (1972). Per STATS, LLC., with seven hits in his first four career games, Rickard ties Hammonds and Coggins for the most hits by an Oriole in his first four big league games.

Matusz in Bowie: Orioles left-handed reliever Brian Matusz pitched for the second night in a row at Double-A Bowie on a minor league rehab appearance. After giving up a solo homer Thursday night, Matusz pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning against Akron last night. He got two flyouts and a strikeout, throwing 10 pitches, six for strikes.

On the disabled list with a strained lower back, Matusz can be activated as soon as Sunday. He returned to the Camden Yards clubhouse last night after pitching in Bowie and said his outing went well.

"Felt good to throw back-to-back days," Matusz said. "Made some pitches and threw all four pitches. Feels good to be healthy. Breaking pitches feel sharp. Changeup feels good and fastball location has been good."

Minor leagues preview: I joined Tom Davis on "O's Xtra" on MASN last night to preview the Orioles' 2016 season on the farm. Click here to watch that segment.