masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgThe Orioles have reached their last scheduled off-day of the regular season, which means there’s only a 50-50 chance that one of them gets drilled by a Blue Jays pitcher.
What’s next includes “Fan Appreciation Weekend,” with the announcement of the Most Valuable Oriole, and a road trip to New York and Toronto.
Nelson Cruz will be the MVO. I’m not going out on a limb here. The guy’s hit 39 home runs and driven in 103. He’s also batting a respectable .266.
The drama comes with the second-…

The Orioles have reached their last scheduled off-day of the regular season, which means there’s only a 50-50 chance that one of them gets drilled by a Blue Jays pitcher.

What’s next includes “Fan Appreciation Weekend,” with the announcement of the Most Valuable Oriole, and a road trip to New York and Toronto.

Nelson Cruz will be the MVO. I’m not going out on a limb here. The guy’s hit 39 home runs and driven in 103. He’s also batting a respectable .266.

The drama comes with the second- and third-place finishers. Adam Jones, Zach Britton, Darren O’Day, Steve Pearce, Nick Markakis, Wei-Yin Chen …

The ballots were turned in before Pearce hit three home runs in the past two games to give him 20 on the season. Maybe it doesn’t matter. Stay tuned.

Does anyone remember when the Orioles designated Pearce for assignment this year?

OK, same here.

Britton entered spring training with virtually no shot at making the rotation, which meant a transition to the bullpen. He had no real role in it, but credit the Orioles for using him in one-inning spurts rather than just stretching him out as a long man.

Along with the change came much better sink on his fastball and a hint that he might be able to close.

Britton confirmed it, recording 35 saves in 39 opportunities while deserving a huge chunk of credit for the division title.

Britton didn’t make an appearance in Tuesday night’s 8-2 clincher. Tommy Hunter, who began the season as the closer, notched the last three outs. I thought it was a nice touch, though Showalter said the choice was based largely on his preference to avoid using Britton and to not pitch O’Day and Andrew Miller for more than one inning.

I believe that Showalter had the bullpen set up in that manner, but I’m sure that he liked the idea of Hunter being the one to set off the wild celebration.

Britton has thrown the last pitch in plenty of wins this season.

“I had a couple of really tugging conversations with him (Tuesday) night during the postgame stuff,” Showalter said. “He comes off the field after a save and I say, ‘Nice going,’ and walk on to the next guy. But where would we be without him? To have that anchor at the end, it really brought everything kind of … It made it fit. It made it fit.

“Someone said he’s had three or four – I hate to say blown saves – saves not executed to potential. It didn’t feel like he had four saves he didn’t convert. The only one that kind of got away from him was in New York when (Carlos) Beltran hit the home run. The rest of them were ground balls where we didn’t quite make the plays, choppers that found some holes and it was like, ‘OK.’

“There’s a lot to be said for … they all have stress to them, but guys go out there and it’s strikeout, couple ground balls and you come off the field on the road in a one-run game, that’s nice. Runs matter, leads matter. That does a lot for a team’s karma, I guess.”

jimenez-high-knee-white-sidebar.jpgUbaldo Jimenez’s start Tuesday night, and his ensuing victory, had to do a lot for his psyche.

Jimenez threw 60 pitches and walked four batters in the first two innings, but he made it through the fifth and surrendered only two runs.

“We were trying to keep him 75-80 (pitches), especially in the short number of innings,” Showalter said. “Like I said, this is exactly what happened: I made the mistake of looking into his eyes. Some guys who have been going through what he has would have said, ‘OK, four or whatever. What good’s a W going to do?’ He’s assuming that he’s going to be able to hold onto a 4-2 lead. It wasn’t like he was going through the Little Sisters of the Poor part of the lineup, either. You know?

“I’d rather him do that than the other. I had already told Mac (T.J. McFarland) to get loose and he was probably going to be in the game. I think that’s the first time all year I’ve called down and told the guy that was coming in the game, ‘You’re not, but stay ready.’ I think he deserved it. And he was right. As a manager and a coach, you’ve got to every once in a while go, ‘You know, the player’s right.'”

One of the coolest off-the-field scenes of the 2014 season, at least in my opinion, occurred yesterday afternoon when players watched MASN’s re-airing of the Tuesday night celebration. Guys stood or sat at their lockers, eyes fixed on the televisions as the final out was recorded.

Caleb Joseph, sitting with arms crossed, smiled as the cameras recorded Showalter giving him a hug.

Showalter said he watched the replay before going to bed. His son, Nathan, stood next to him at the dugout railing during the celebration, and later walked on the field with him. His daughter, Allie, wasn’t able to attend the game.

“My son-in-law sent me a picture of Allie standing in front of the TV for the last three outs, like a running tape, like she was 4 years old again,” Showalter said.

Got to admit, that’s a precious image.

“I did watch the game again,” Showalter said. “A lot of stuff I missed. I got to kind of see it through everybody’s eyes. That was fun. I could actually replay it and listen to things being said on TV that I never do. They did a nice job with it.”

The Orioles have 199 home runs this season after hitting three more last night. Should we start a pool on which player gets No. 200?

The Orioles rotation is 9-1 with a 1.69 ERA in the last 16 games since Sept. 2, and 7-1 with a 1.48 ERA in the last 10.

The Orioles are 12-1 in Bud Norris’ last 13 starts against the AL East. Norris is 8-1 with a 2.72 ERA.

Left-hander Josh Hader, packaged with outfielder LJ Hoes to acquire Norris, was named the Astros’ minor league Pitcher of the Year and California League Pitcher of the Year.

Cruz has hit safely in 11 of his last 12 games, going 18-for-50 (.360) with eight extra-base hits and 10 RBIs. Cruz and Jones are tied for the team lead with 30 doubles.

Jimmy Paredes has hit safely in a career-high six straight games and 10 of 11.

Markakis didn’t play last night and gets more rest today before Friday night’s return to right field, where he’s dazzled Showalter.

“I can’t imagine anybody playing a better right field than he’s played this year,” Showalter said. “He’s made some catches this year that I’ve never seen him make before. He seems to be getting better out there. I know there’s some competition for Gold Glove, but if they pass by Nicky, I want to see who it is. If you just get involved in pure statistics, his post-up statistic means so much to our club.

“A lot of it goes back to Cal (Ripken), whether it’s Jonesy and whether it’s him. I hear them talk about it all the time.”

Markakis was hurting from Aaron Loup’s fastball Tuesday night that dug into the back of his right shoulder.

“He’s sore,” Showalter said. “That’s one thing I watched in slow motion. That thing got in there deep. Would he have played (last night)? He wouldn’t have told me what he told me. I walked in and said, ‘All right, you’re not playing tonight. How’s your shoulder,’ and he goes, ‘Man.’ Now, if I had asked him first, ‘How’s your shoulder two days ago,’ he would have said, ‘I’m fine.’ So I don’t ask him.

“Guys like him and Jonesy, you’ve got to do it. You ask them, they’re always going to tell you (they’re fine).”