We all know by now that the Baltimore Orioles got killed by the Washington Nationals last night, 9-3.

After a lengthy rain delay, the game featured two starters that were in Double-A only about two weeks ago. One guy – Kevin Gausman – was making his second start in the majors for Baltimore; meanwhile, Nathan Karn for Washington was making his major league debut.

The game itself was not pretty to watch, as you got the feeling, “ok, at any point, no lead is safe”, based on what both teams were doing at the plate in the first half; however, for Gausman, the results were not good at all.

The 22-year-old only lasted four innings and gave up seven runs – all earned. He allowed three long balls and is now 0-2 with an 11.00 ERA in two starts.

The youngster left his pitches up in the zone. They were fastballs and were crushed by major league hitters. Gausman may get away with those pitches in the minors, but not in the majors, nor against a team that was christened as World Series bound in the spring.

At this point, most front offices would send a pitcher like Gausman back to the minors. However, that will not be the case as manager Buck Showalter announced he would make his next start on Sunday.

Um, against the out-of-this-word Miguel Cabrera and the Detroit Tigers.

Gausman can pitch based on his minor league numbers; however, can he get hitters out and be consistent from one inning to the next.

That is the question.

If any good news came from this game, it’s this: Chris Davis is having a year for the ages – so far. He hit his 17^th home run last night off of Karn in the 4^th inning and now has 17 homers with 47 runs driven in.

Even more amazing, Davis is batting .344.

I was worried about him racking up the strikeouts in the offseason, but he’s hitting everything in sight and has greatly improved his batting eye.

He right now may probably be the best hitter in the majors outside the aforementioned Miguel Cabrera.

I would have never guessed Davis would have done this before the season.

Then again, I would also add Manny Machado to the mix. He and Davis are setting themselves up to have watershed seasons with the Baltimore franchise.

Machado is currently batting .335 and went 1-for-3 last night in Washington.

J.J. Hardy is hot as well, as he homered last night – his 10^th on the year – and had three hits. He is currently batting .250, which is a marked improvement from last month.

It has been fun to watch the offense this season, but ugh, the pitching has to get better.

We all know that Jason Hammel has struggled this season on the mound despite a 6-2 record.

For much of the first two months of the season, the tall righty has been unable to go deep into games. More often than not, the bullpen, along with the offense has to bail him out.

On Monday, the Hammel that we as fans saw for much of the first half in 2012 re-emerged in Washington, D.C..

He went eight strong innings, only allowed two runs and struck out in Baltimore’s 6-2 win over Washington. Monday's game is the first in a two-game set in the Nation's Capital. The two teams play in Baltimore on Wednesday and Thursday.

The Washington Nationals have been injury riddled and were without young phenom Bryce Harper in the starting lineup. The Orioles took advantage of it.

The tall righty was aggressive against the Nationals and just seemed to be a very complete pitcher yesterday. He mixed up his pitches and kept the opposing team at bay all afternoon. Of course, the offense came through for him with a three-run fourth inning and they kept going from there.

Manny Machado had three hits; Nick Markakis and Yamaico Navarro drove in two runs and had two hits. Adam Jones and Steve Pearce also drove in runs. Baltimore was able to pound 15 hits, and got Washington starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez out the game after 5 2/3 innings.

Again, the story of the game was pretty much Hammel. The Orioles, considering how much their bullpen has been relied upon on all season, need a start like this from one of their pitchers. It could be the beginning of something, or just a very good start during a very long season.

Baltimore’s main problem despite their 28-23 record as of this morning has been their starting rotation. In order to still stay in the hunt for the division – or a playoff spot – they’ll need more outings like this from Hammel and the rest of the staff.

If you want to look up the odds of the Orioles winning tonight, learn about the Bookmaker bonus here.

Finally, I was listening to the radio driving into work and there was a debate on whether Jim Johnson should be the closer for Baltimore.

As we know, Johnson blew another save on Sunday – this time against the Blue Jays that turned a 5-2 lead by the Orioles in the ninth inning into a 6-5 loss.

At this point, Johnson needs to figure it out on the mound. Whether his mechanics are messed up, the pitches he throws aren’t sinking, the league has figured him out, or not hitting his spots, the Orioles will have to live or die with him.

He saved 51 games for Baltimore last year; however, let’s hope what we are seeing with Johnson is an aberration and not the beginning of a trend.

We've all seen time and time again that the closing out of games can be a volatile business.

How do the Yankees do it? Seriously, year after year the seemingly ageless New York Yankees continue to be at the top of the division. This year has been the worst of it. The lineup is essentially spare parts and Robinson Cano. Lyle Overbay routinely bats clean-up. The rusted behemoth Travis Hafner sits behind him and then it is a collection of backups and stopgaps as the normal travelling all-stars nurse various and sundry injuries. This was supposed to be the year that the Yankees’ age and dollars catch up to them. It was not a n uncommon belief to think that the Yankees might even finish at the bottom of the AL East. And, yet again, here we all are looking at the Yankees with 30 wins before June.

As a Baltimore fan watching the Yankees do this year after year causes me a special kind of pain. My first game of the year was the contest against the Yankees this past Monday. I was given a remarkable ticket by a colleague of mine. Sitting in section 42, which is a grandly significant number for those of us who always know where our towel is at, I noticed immediately that I was, of course, surrounded by fans of the hated pinstripes.

Maybe it is something about the uniform that makes the Yankees just be. I know that there are only a few things that I see that cause me such a visceral reaction of disgust: seeing those symbols elicits a physical reaction of dread and revulsion. The point of that little meander is this: the Yankee uniform carries with it the game’s greatest histories and the souls of its greatest players. The interlocking NY, as much as it makes me want to wretch every time I see it, carries with it a certain power. And the players know that. How else do you explain a guy like Vernon Wells?

Wells was left for dead in Los Angeles. He comes to New York and suddenly he is playing like he did five years ago. Same can be said for Hafner. Or how about players like Francisco Cervelli, who should never be as good as he is, or Lance Nyx, or Melky Cabrera for that matter? Players that on any other team you know would be also-rans and benchwarmers come to New York, are thrust into the spotlight while wearing that uniform and they suddenly succeed.  I know for a fact that I am not the only non-Yankee fan in the world that is repulsed by the sight of the team when they come to town. And the team knows it to, I am sure the hatred fuels this team on some level. Why else would they be called the Evil Empire?

Still as much as I absolutely loathe the Yankees, they are the Yankees. They are the standard bearer of the great American game. And with that comes power and a certain mysticism that cannot simply be ignored.

However, that is a bunch of malarkey. There has to be a rational, scientific explanation for the Yankees continuing success. The real heroes seem to be the aforementioned Overbay and Hafner. Overbay is having his best start to a year since 2010, his last year with the Blue Jays. His SLG is the highest it has ever been right now at .484. Now logic states that he will not be able to sustain that all season, he never has been able to, but right now he is literally playing his best baseball ever at 36. Hafner too is seeing his career revitalized in the Bronx.  He is OPS’ing right now at .917, he hasn’t put up numbers like that since 2006. Hafner already has eight homers in 119 at bats, he hit 12 all last season with only 100 more AB’s. So , like Overbay it is simply not logical that he would continue this but then again it is the Yankees and this is what they do.

The rest of the Yankee lineup outside of Cano is brutally bad, I mean bad. They are routinely throwing sub 90 OPS+ players in the starting lineup. Austin Romine, their backup catcher, has an OPS+ right now of -14, let that sink in for a moment. Only Cano has a batting average over .280 and only three players in the regular lineup have OBP’s over .330. Their pitching and Mariano Rivera have saved the Yankees and kept them in games allowing for what you are seeing.

One more piece of the puzzle: The schedule. The Yankees have played the Blue Jays and the Astros a total of 12 times, they are 11-1 against them meaning the Bronx Bombers are 19-18 against the rest of baseball. It is still very early and math and logic dictate that the Yankees simply cannot keep doing what they are doing.  Vernon Wells has already begun to cool off after his hot start and Curtis Granderson is back on the DL. But, being an Orioles fan and witnessing what I witnessed last year I know that every so often logic and math can be jettisoned for a great story. The Yankees have finished in last place only twice since 1965. They haven’t had a losing record since 1992. They are 12 games over .500 right now and unless they go into complete free fall they will likely be there at the end, once again.

The Orioles will have to deal with them if they wish to get back to playoffs in 2013.

Over the weekend, the Orioles placed reliever Pedro Strop on the disabled list (15 days) due to a lower back strain.

In turn, the Orioles have recalled Steve Johnson.

However, the timing of this injury is all kinds of weird. I’m mostly sure that Strop is indeed injured, but he’s also been all kinds of bad since last September.

Strop has always lived on edge as an Oriole. Sadly, this year he’s been walking batters right and left, has been very ineffective and seemingly shows little command of his pitches.

He has a 6.11 ERA this season and has resembled nothing like the guy we saw last year.

Not that I am a conspiracy theorist, but I think he Orioles didn’t want to expose Strop to waivers (he has no options left). Most experts think that the right-handed would be claimed, so I guess it would make sense for Strop to chill out and work out kinks in ‘rehab starts’ at the lower level.

In other news, the Orioles did beat R.A. Dickey and the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-5.

The offense came through again as both Adam Jones and Danny Valencia both hit home runs. Nate McLouth and J.J. Hardy – who also drove in two runs – had two hits.

Freddy Garcia pitched a typical Freddy Garcia start, but he did enough to help Baltimore win their 27^th game of the season. He went five innings and gave up three runs – two earned. He now has his first victory as a member of the Baltimore Orioles.

Jim Johnson earned his 15^th save of the season with an uneventful ninth inning. That’s good to see.

Have a nice long weekend if you are lucky enough to have gotten a reprieve from work until Tuesday.

From the good folks at the Baltimore Orioles...

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Orioles announce 2013 military appreciation efforts

With Memorial Day Weekend approaching, the Orioles are proud to announce their efforts to honor members of our armed forces. The club is fortunate to be surrounded by dedicated military personnel throughout the region, and grateful for all of those who risk their lives each day for our country. Again this season, the club is offering a variety of season-long programs and special days that offer support for and recognition of military members and their families.

ORIOLES MILITARY APPRECIATION PROGRAM

 • TICKET DISCOUNTS AT EVERY GAME - The Orioles extend a $3 discount off all tickets for all military (active, retired and reserve) and their families, available at the Oriole Park Box Office. Even more significant discounts for military members can be arranged by contacting their ITT/Leisure Travel office.

 • MILITARY SUNDAYS - For every non-prime Sunday home game, members of the military (active, retired and reserve) can purchase Buy One, Get One Free tickets in select seating sections through their ITT/Leisure Travel office.

 • ACTIVE DUTY SPECIAL OFFER - All Active Duty Personnel are encouraged to show their active duty ID badge to receive a complimentary Orioles cap, featuring a camouflage “O”, at the Fan Assistance Center in the Warehouse at any home game.

 • SUNDAY SUITE PROGRAM presented by GEICO - Every Sunday home game, the Orioles, in partnership with GEICO, will donate a catered private suite to wounded soldiers and other active duty and veteran military groups and their families. Guests will also be treated to a special player meet and greet before the game, recognition after the playing of "God Bless America" during the 7^th inning stretch and will receive Orioles player t-shirts courtesy of Under Armour. Participating players include JAKE ARRIETA, TOMMY HUNTER, JIM JOHNSON, NICK MARKAKIS, BRIAN MATUSZ, DARREN O’DAY, CHRIS TILLMAN and MATT WIETERS.  Participating groups in 2013 include United Services Organizations, Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, Department of Veteran Affairs, Fort Meade, Luke’s Wings, and the Wounded Warrior Project.

 • WELCOME HOME SCOREBOARD MESSAGES - The Orioles are proud to offer free "Welcome Home" messages on Oriole Park's centerfield video board for all active military personnel returning home from duty. To find out more information, or to reserve a message for an upcoming game, call 888-848-BIRD.

 • NEW in 2013! MILITARY REENLISTMENTS – The Orioles welcome members of the military who wish to hold their reenlistment ceremony at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.  Interested parties should contact Orioles Tours at 888-848-BIRD or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for information on scheduling a military reenlistment ceremony.

WELCOMEBACKVETERANS.ORG

Welcomebackveterans.org was created to help our brave servicemen and servicewomen successfully transition back to civilian life. On Memorial Day, Independence Day and September 11, the Orioles and other Major League Baseball clubs will support this campaign through various promotional efforts.  To date, with support from all 30 clubs, MLB has donated more than $10 million to welcomebackveterans.org, including funds raised from auctions of licensed products and the donation of sales from Stars and Stripes logoed caps.

On Memorial Day, May 27, when the Orioles take on the Nationals in Washington, all Orioles uniformed personnel will wear digicamo patterned caps featuring the cartoon bird.  Fans can also purchase these caps at www.orioles.com/shop or in the Orioles Official Team Stores at Oriole Park or at the York Galleria, with a portion of the proceeds going to welcomebackveterans.org.

MEMORIAL DAY JERSEYS

Also on Memorial Day, all Orioles uniformed personnel will wear a special road jersey that features the digicamo pattern designed into the twill (Baltimore script, name, number).  These jerseys, which will be autographed and authenticated, will be auctioned on www.orioles.com beginning May 27 at 1:00 p.m. through June 2 at midnight, with proceeds going to the Yellow Ribbon Fund to benefit patients at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.  Information on the Yellow Ribbon Fund is available at www.yellowribbonfund.org. 

WALTER REED NATIONAL MILITARY MEDICAL CENTER VISIT ON MAY 28

On May 28, Orioles players, coaches and their wives will visit with injured soldiers at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Walter Reed is the Nation’s Medical Center, proudly serving military beneficiaries in the Washington, D.C. area as well as those from across the country and around the globe.

ARMY BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION ON JUNE 14

The Orioles will help celebrate Flag Day and the Army’s Birthday on Friday, June 14. Pre-game ceremonies will include a swearing-in ceremony for future Army members; a first pitch that includes veterans from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the current conflict in Afghanistan; color presentation by the U.S. Army, 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) and a vocalist from the US Army Field Band performing the National Anthem. In addition, nine soldiers from Fort Meade, the Nation's Preeminent Center for information, intelligence and cyber security will take the field with Orioles players for the National Anthem. 

Orioles uniformed personnel will wear a special home jersey that will have the digicamo pattern designed into the twill (Orioles script, name, number). These jerseys, which will be autographed and authenticated, will be auctioned online at www.orioles.com beginning June 14 at 7:00 pm through June 21 at midnight, with proceeds to benefit the Fort Meade Alliance Resiliency Center Fund.  The Fort Meade Alliance is an independent community organization designed to promote the well-being of the region.  The Alliance's foundation is undertaking a fundraising effort to support resiliency programs for military, civilians, and their families at Ft. Meade

The Orioles will donate 100 tickets to Fort Meade to bring military members to that night’s game. And the first 10,000 fans 15 and over attending the game will receive an Orioles Military Appreciation Shirt, presented by GEICO. The shirt features the cartoon bird in the same digicamo print that the team will wear on their jerseys.

TRIBUTE FOR HEROES

In conjunction with Major League Baseball and PEOPLE Magazine, one veteran will be selected to represent the Orioles at the 2013 MLB All-Star Game as part of the PEOPLE Magazine Tribute for Heroes program. The veteran will be selected from entries received online. Those selected have achieved extraordinary military, community service, personal and professional accomplishments.

PLAYERS GIVE BACK TICKET PROGRAM

The Orioles will donate 500 tickets (6,500 total) to every Sunday home game to military members in conjunction with Fort Meade as part of the Players Give Back program. In addition, more than 200 tickets have been donated to the following military groups so far in 2013: Navy Veteran Affairs, The Air Force, The American Flag Foundation, The US Army Reserve, MCVETS, and numerous military families.

DARREN O'DAY & CHRIS DAVIS PARTNER WITH LUKE'S WINGS

New this season, DARREN O'DAY and CHRIS DAVIS will make a donation based on their on-field performance to Luke's Wings, a non-profit military organization dedicated to the support of current and former service members who have been wounded in battle. O'Day will donate $40 for every batter he strikes out, and Davis will donate $100 for every home run he hits to the cause.

Luke's Wings provides families with the means to visit injured service members during their hospitalization and rehabilitation. By purchasing travel agency services and travel tickets for loved ones, Luke's Wings provides an immediate and invaluable service to the families of our men and women at arms while also helping to encourage and motivate the service member's recovery or provide comfort during the final stages of life. Luke's Wings also partners with other non-profits who can provide other free or discounted services, including accommodations, meals and local entertainment.

The baseball season has reached a sort of weird, uninteresting part of the calendar. It’s not early, it certainly isn’t late. Nothing is being won right now, but there is lot that seems likely lost. And unless you are more than 20 games removed from .500, in either direction, there is nothing that can be spoken of with any certainty going forward.

Mid May is the interminable Tuesday of the baseball season.

What do we know about the Orioles? Chris Davis and Manny Machado are situated to have near legendary seasons. Adam Jones seems to have not slowed down one step. JJ Hardy seems to have found his bat again, while Matt Wieters is not the second coming of Johnny Bench and we all need to accept the fact that he will continue to be very very good and not the once-in-a-generation type player he was billed as. The pitching has been struggling and while it is still sitting comfortably in the middle of the AL, it will likely need to get better.

But none of these things that I just said are necessarily going to continue throughout this year. That is the problem about this part of the season. We really want to believe that the season is old enough to start making predictions or assumptions about the rest of the season, but it really isn’t. One really good or bad two-three week stretch in the next month could drastically change the narrative of this team. Sure it certainly seems like the die has been cast in Houston and Miami; the Cubs and Minnesota aren’t looking good either, but in most other baseball cities all we can do is sit and watch.

The Orioles came off their worst losing streak of the year taking the final two games of the Yankee series and losing the first game of the Toronto campaign. Last night the Orioles bombed their way to a 10-6 win over the Jays and look to be getting their groove back in a way.  Before the six losses the team seemed to be winning so easily. That is not to mean that they were winning everything nor were they  blowing teams away, but the wins that the Orioles were piling up were following a definite repeatable script. Starting pitching is serviceable, but not great; the offense would be more than solid; great defense; superb bullpen; win. The script was so solid, and it was working so well that you could see it in how the team carried themselves. They simply expected to win every game. It seems like the idea of losing, a concept that was so ingrained in this team’s psyche not too long ago, was now an alien concept. Six losses in a row and questions popped up, mostly surrounding Jim Johnson but now they seem to be mostly gone, it is amazing the wound beating the Yankees twice will do.

The season rolls along and right now the Orioles continue to be in a very advantageous position. They are playing solid, competitive ball. They are winning more than they are losing and if they can find a way to stabilize the starting rotation they will be in better shape. There is no reason that the Orioles can’t keep winning with the script they have been employing so far, but it is only May and nothing is won in May.

This season, Chris Davis is straight up crushing at the plate.

I was not sure if he could replicate what he did last season at the plate, especially towards end of the season; however, he is proving me – and a lot of the baseball world wrong.

His nickname amongst fans and the media is “crush”, based on his size and physique, and since Opening Day, he’s been doing just that.

So he went through a lull in the middle of April-May and looked, well, normal.

Now he’s on a tear. He hit his 16^th home run of the season and helped his team defeat the Blue Jays, 10-6, in a game which saw Baltimore score nine runs in the first three innings.

Along with Davis, the offense has been ridiculous. Along with Davis, J.J. Hardy, Danny Valencia and Adam Jones homered. Manny Machado has been racking up the hits all season, and added three more in the victory. Nick Markakis had three hits as well, plus drove in three runs.

Looking at the box score, the Orioles have four guys – who were on the roster since Opening Day – batting .300 as of today.

Nick Markakis is at .300; Manny Machado is at .335; Adam Jones is at .317 and Davis is at .337.

Unbelievable.

The beautiful thing is that all these guys are here for a few more years at minimum. It looks to be – with the exception of Machado – they are all hitting their prime now, and who is to say that things can’t get better?

As for Machado, remember, he is only 20 years old. It’s scary how good he is looking. He looks like a young Alex Rodriguez (with the Mariners) out there, although he is at third base and not shortstop. I can see him carrying the Orioles in the next two or three years and be the ‘man’.

The sky is the limit for Machado – offensively and defensively – and the next few years will be awesome for us fans out there. I can only imagine how much better his power numbers will look if he decides to put on size and muscle on his tall frame.

Bryce Harper and Mike Trout got all the national attention this year as the young, upcoming superstars in the game. However, based on what I have seen in the first two months, I’d now take Machado over both of them at the moment.

If he puts up crazy numbers this year, the Orioles should get his John Hancock on a contract this winter or next. The better he gets, the more it will cost to sign him. I know his agent is Scott Boras, but take the risk. If the Baltimore brass can pull off an early deal, Machado could be a legend in the same sphere as Brooks Robinson barring an injury or a collapse.

The offense carried the night and helped Chris Tillman to his 4^th win. Ok, so, he didn’t pitch all that well and threw 109 pitches in five innings, but did enough to win and didn’t put the Orioles in serious trouble.

The Orioles look a lot better now than they did earlier this week. The offense is clicking, but that’s a day-to-day thing, and I’m more worried about the pitching staff.

With that being said, would you all take a gamble on Cliff Lee if the Philadelphia Phillies decide to become sellers in the next month or so?

We need the pitching, and he’ll be VERY, VERY expensive; however, imagine him at the top of the rotation in the black and orange. He's been healthy, durable, throws strikes and has been a winner.

Not that the Orioles would do it – but, it is just an idea.

Last night, the Baltimore Orioles got shell-shocked and clipped by the Toronto Blue Jays, 12-6; however, the story of the night was centered on one guy: Kevin Gausman.

The offense did all it could, but the pitching was not there. Chris Davis hit his 15th homer, and Adam Jones and Nick Markakis hit back-to-back homers in the 8th. Nate McLouth had two hits, and Manny Machado had another multi-hit game, tallying three doubles.

Machado now has 21 doubles on the season – a ridiculous number this early. And for a guy who is only 20.

Now back, to Thursday’s starting pitcher for Baltimore…

Although Gausman ended up taking the loss; however, he clearly showed the fans a glimpse of why the Orioles selected him in last year’s draft --- and the possibility of a bright future.

Looking at pitching line that Gausman put up, it was not that great and in a word – average. Then again, if you compare him to most of the Orioles starters out there, you saw one intangible that is god-given: velocity.

I was at a restaurant watching the game and saw Gausman uncork a 99-mph pitch. It was a ‘no way’ moment, but the radar gun caught it, and unlike most young pitchers, he had control of it. That is a positive note there.

He cruised through the first three innings, but gave up two runs in the fourth; however, he was able to work out a stick situation. His night ended in the fifth inning as he gave up a homer to J.P. Arencibia that gave the Blue Jays a 4-3 lead.

The Jays must have figured Gausman out the second time around the order. He was surely in a groove for the first three innings, but the Toronto batting lineup is pretty good, and they touched up the youngster thereafter.

Gausman will hopefully learn from last night’s experience and will build on it into his next start.

Then the game became a laugher from there. The Oriole bullpen got shelled, and that was it for them.

Yes, the Orioles have struggled in the past two weeks.

They will probably struggle again at some point in 2013; however, they have shown themselves to be incredibly resilient. Until Buck Showalter arrived, this team would have been stymied by it all and gone into a swoon that they could not have dug out of.

Times are different, and this squad can pull it all together and get out of a rut.

After sending the Oriole fanbase into a collective panic, the Birds have won two in a row and took the two out of three games from the New York Yankees this week at home. They won last night, 6-3.

They have salvaged a nine-game homestand that could have easily gone to hell.

Again, the Orioles got another strong start from a pitcher – this time from Jason Hammel, who has been struggling all year, despite winning his sixth game. He went 6 2/3 innings and gave up only two runs.

The Orioles started the crush early as they scored three runs in the first innings and three in the third. They were pretty much in control from start to finish as they knocked out Hiroki Kuroda early (he left early after being hit on the shin), and they used defense, and the long ball to down the Bronx Bombers. Kuroda has owned Baltimore in the past, but however, that was not the case on Wednesday.

Chris Davis hit his 14^th homer; Nick Markakis and Matt Wieters also went deep. Speaking of crushing, David had four hits on the night and is batting .329 for the season now and has driven in 43 runs.

Folks, can we just pencil him in for the All-Star Game already? I don’t know if he makes it as a starter, but barring a major collapse at the plate – he’s most likely on the team. He may not be Miguel Cabrera at the plate, but man, has he been all kinds of good … or what? When hot, this man can carry the Baltimore offense like no other.

According to NBC Sports, Davis is batting .341 with four long balls and 11 RBIs over his last 10 games.

And to think … no one knew if he could repeat last year’s performance (especially in September), or even play first base.

Those questions have been answered – for now.

Tonight will be a must-see game as Kevin Gausman makes his major league debut for the Orioles against the Toronto Blue Jays in Canada.

Finally, as an ode to Chris Davis, here’s to one of my favorite rap songs ever … courtesy of the late ‘Big Punisher”…