With or without big league help, Bowie Baysox are playing well

Two players on major league rehab assignments will play again tonight with the Double-A Bowie Baysox. Since J.J. Hardy and Ryan Flaherty showed up, the Baysox are 2-0, but they were playing good baseball even before they arrived.

With last night's win, Bowie is now 15-10 and has moved to within one game of first place in its division of the Eastern League. The Baysox have won four in a row, seven of their last eight and 11 of the past 15 games after a 4-6 start.

Under manager Gary Kendall, the Baysox always seem to be in the playoff hunt. Bowie has played .500 or better baseball the last four years he has managed there, making the playoffs in 2012.

"We're playing pretty good," Kendall said. "Our pitching has started to come around and our bullpen has been consistent. We went to Erie and won three straight. Came home and Harrisburg played us tough. We won a 2-1 game and lost a 2-1 game. Both were well pitched. Then Sunday we were down by six and we got back in it and then won on a homer in the ninth. That was fun to watch.

"(Mychal) Givens is throwing the ball well out of the bullpen. We are getting good performances from a lot of guys there. (Andrew) Triggs, (Terry) Doyle has been a long guy for us who has been outstanding, plus (Kenn) Kasparek and (Ben) Rowan.

"Yaz (Mike Yastrzemski) about a week ago was hitting .190 and now is about at .290. Glynn Davis is one of the league's leading hitters at .318."

Meanwhile, Hardy is playing in games for the first time since he suffered a left shoulder strain late in spring training. He is 3-for-8 with a double and an RBI in two games. Flaherty, who has been on the DL with a right groin strain, is 2-for-7 with a double in two Baysox games.

Bowie catcher Chris O'Brien drove in two runs in last night's 3-1 win. He has hit safely in 14 straight, batting .353 (18-for-51) with three homers and 13 RBIs. On Sunday, O'Brien hit a pinch-hit walk-off grand slam in the last of the ninth to end the game.

Yastrzemski, the Orioles' No. 9 prospect according to Baseball America, has seen his average take a jump during his current 10-game hitting streak. Yaz is 19-for-46 (.413) with five doubles, a triple and six RBIs during his streak as his average increased from .194 to .287. Davis is 12-for-25 (.480) during a six-game hitting streak with three doubles and a triple. Davis is batting .315 in 22 games, just outside the league's top 10.

Left-hander Tim Berry, the O's No. 7 prospect, is tonight's starter. He is 0-3 with a 7.27 ERA in five starts after he finished eighth in the Eastern League last year in ERA at 3.51 when he made the All-Star team.

But he got off to a slow start this year with an ERA of 9.50 through four starts before his best outing of 2015 last Friday, when he went eight innings against Harrisburg allowing five hits and two runs.

Fans attending tonight's game at Prince George's Stadium have the chance to save a few dollars on their tickets. It's the Baysox's first Wear Orange Wednesday of the year. Fans wearing Orioles or Baysox gear save $5 on a box seat at the box office.

O's minor league batting leaders:

.337 - Chris Parmalee, Triple-A Norfolk
.327 - Drew Dosch, Single-A Frederick
.315 - Glynn Davis, Bowie
.310 - Alex Murphy, Single-A Delmarva