Some notes to ponder as the Orioles play their last road game of the year today at Detroit. The Orioles are 67-91. If they can go 3-1 or better in the remaining games, they will have their first 70-win season since 2006, when they were 70-92. * The Orioles have been playing a lot of close games lately. Of their past 19 games, 13 have been decided by two runs or less and the Orioles are 9-4 in those games. Eight of the club's last 13 games have been decided by one run and they are 5-3 in those games. * The Orioles are now 13-11 in September. That is their most wins of any month this year and they have not had a winning month this season. They will have a winning September if they go 2-2 or better in the remaining games. * The Orioles have now had six consecutive games of 10 hits or more. The season-best mark is seven in a row from May 14-21. In the past six games, the Orioles are batting .306 as a team with 37 runs scored and a batting average of .395 (15-for-38) in that time with runners in scoring position. * The bullpen ERA over the past five games is 1.02 with two earned runs allowed over 17 2/3 innings. * Over the past 11 games, the Orioles have hit 17 homers and scored 65 runs. * Over his past six games, Nick Markakis is 12-for-23 for an average of .522. This, after he went 2-for-24 in the seven previous games. * The Orioles are 5-2 on this current road trip that ends today. They have a team ERA of 6.40 in the seven games, but are scoring 6.1 runs per game during the trip. Their five wins have come by seven total runs.