masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgFor the third time this season, Steve Pearce is starting back-to-back games for the Orioles. After going 1-for-3 last night with an RBI single that put the O’s ahead 2-1 in the eighth, Pearce is back in the lineup at DH today and batting ninth.

“Yeah, definitely (excited to start again),” Pearce said. “My goal is to get to the plate, I want to hit. It’s one of those things, where if you hit, you are playing.”

Pearce has been hitting. Over his last three starts he is 5-for-10 with a…For the third time this season, Steve Pearce is starting back-to-back games for the Orioles. After going 1-for-3 last night with an RBI single that put the O’s ahead 2-1 in the eighth, Pearce is back in the lineup at DH today and batting ninth.

“Yeah, definitely (excited to start again),” Pearce said. “My goal is to get to the plate, I want to hit. It’s one of those things, where if you hit, you are playing.”

Pearce has been hitting. Over his last three starts he is 5-for-10 with a double, homer and five RBIs. Since starting the year 0-for-13, he is 10-for-27 with two homers and seven RBIs.

“I was never pressing,” he said. “Everybody goes through it. I just happened to go through it in the very beginning of the year and when you do that it gets magnified a little bit.”

Give Pearce credit for heating up his bat even while not playing every day. He has those 10 hits over 27 at-bats over nine games, but the nine games came over a 25-game stretch where he did more sitting than playing.

“You just can’t press,” he said. “When you are not playing, you have no feel. If you add pressure to yourself, the results are not going to come. You just try to have a relaxed mindset and do what you can, don’t try to do too much.”

It is no secret that the Orioles’ bottom of the order has struggled often this year. If Pearce can add some punch to the end of the lineup, he might see his name in that lineup more often.

“You know, the bat speaks for itself. If you hit, they’ll find a spot for you, whether it is outfield, first base or DH. I’m versatile and can play a bunch of positions. If I’m hitting, Buck (Showalter) will find a spot for me to play,” Pearce said.