masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgA couple of notes as this game gets into the middle innings with Philadelphia leading the Orioles 4-1 in front of another huge crowd at Camden Yards:

* The first two games of this series drew a total of 87,070 fans, and last night produced the second sellout of the year with 46,611 on hand. Today looks to be another crowd of 40,000 plus, and of course there is once again a lot of red here, but we saw a lot of orange also when the Orioles took a 1-0 lead in the last of the first.

* Coming into…A couple of notes as this game gets into the middle innings with Philadelphia leading the Orioles 4-1 in front of another huge crowd at Camden Yards:

* The first two games of this series drew a total of 87,070 fans, and last night produced the second sellout of the year with 46,611 on hand. Today looks to be another crowd of 40,000 plus, and of course there is once again a lot of red here, but we saw a lot of orange also when the Orioles took a 1-0 lead in the last of the first.

* Coming into this outing, Jason Hammel was 3-0 on the year with an ERA of 1.73 in four home starts. He began the day ninth in the American League in ERA, and the Orioles are 8-3 in his 11 starts. But today, through four innings, he has walked four, hit a batter and uncorked a run-scoring wild pitch. He has already had to throw 88 pitches with just 50 strikes. They’ll have to come back to improve those numbers today.

* Today is the sixth time this year the Orioles are playing a third-and-deciding game after splitting the first two games in a three-game series. They are 2-3 in the first five, but have lost their last three in these situations to Boston, Kansas City and Tampa Bay.

* Through Saturday’s game, the Orioles have come up with just 14 extra-base hits (seven doubles, a triple and six homers) over their last nine games. They have struck out 77 times in those nine games and lead the majors with 497 strikeouts on the year.

* Adam Jones hit another extra-inning homer yesterday. According to Elias, Jones tied Frank Robinson (1969), Eddie Murray (1978) and Rafael Palmeiro (1998) for the most extra-inning home runs in one season in Orioles’ history. Of those other three players, none hit all three of his extra-inning homers in the 12th inning or later, as Jones has.