masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgSingle-A Delmarva shortstop Manny Machado went 3-for-4 with a double, walk and run scored last night, leaving his average at .467 with two doubles, a triple, three RBIs and seven walks in five games. .

This just in: The kid is good.

He should be in the Carolina League no later than the midway point of the season.

The Orioles will play the 10th game of their season tonight in New York.

Do the first 10 really mean anything?

You decide.

Since baseball switched to a three-division alignment…Single-A Delmarva shortstop Manny Machado went 3-for-4 with a double, walk and run scored last night, leaving his average at .467 with two doubles, a triple, three RBIs and seven walks in five games. .

This just in: The kid is good.

He should be in the Carolina League no later than the midway point of the season.

The Orioles will play the 10th game of their season tonight in New York.

Do the first 10 really mean anything?

You decide.

Since baseball switched to a three-division alignment in 1995, 128 teams have made the playoffs. Of those teams, 103 went 5-5 or better in the first 10 games.

Only five teams reached the playoffs after starting 3-7 or worse:

2-8:
Cincinnati in 1995
Oakland in 2001
Philadelphia in 2007

3-7:
San Francisco in 2000
San Diego in 2006

The Orioles will be 7-3 or 6-4 after tonight.

Of the 61 teams that started 7-3, 27 reached the playoffs. Of the 100 teams that started 6-4, 33 reached the playoffs.

Special thanks to Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News for doing the research. He questioned his sanity every couple of minutes.

Chris Tillman makes tonight’s start for the Orioles. He’s 1-1 with a 5.52 ERA in three career starts against the Yankees, allowing 20 hits, walking 11 and striking out 10 in 14 2/3 innings.

Robinson Cano is 6-for-7 with a walk and two RBIs against Tillman. I’d walk him four times and take my chances with everyone else.

Unfortunately, Alex Rodriguez is 3-for-6 with a homer and three RBIs. Derek Jeter is 3-for-7 with an RBI.

I thought you might be interested to know that Cal Ripken Sr.’s book, “The Ripken way, a Manual For Baseball And Life” is being re-released by Diversion Books in electronic format as an e-book.

I’ll close this entry with words of wisdom from Cal Sr.:

“Baseball’s just a walk of life. Everything you do in this game, you do in life, and everything you do in life, you do in this game.”