Reimold taking advantage of chances (plus farm notes)

ANAHEIM, Calif. - It might be one of the hardest things to do in Major League Baseball. That is not play regularly, but then come through with hits in the times when you are called on.

So far this year, Orioles outfielder Nolan Reimold is handling that task well. He doesn't start every night and has just 62 at-bats and that ranks 10th on the team. But when given the opportunities, he has come through.

"It's tough, you just have to stay ready," Reimold said. "The more you do it, the better you get at it. The more comfortable you get with it. Every at-bat seems a little more magnified. You want to take advantage of the chances when you get them. The role that I'm in right now, I am just trying to excel at whatever I can when I'm in there."

In 26 games, Reimold is batting .323 with three homers, eight RBIs, a .516 slugging percentage and a .874 OPS. He drove in two runs in Friday's win over the Angels. Reimold is 6-for-12 (.500) when batting with runners in scoring position and has an average of .391 (9-for-23) when he hits with runners on base.

Reimold admits he looks ahead at pitching matchups to see how many left-handers the Orioles will face. He seems to get more starts against the southpaws. How far ahead does he look?

"However (far ahead) they have it posted up there," he said with a laugh.

It is worth noting, though, that Reimold has 31 at-bats so far against left-handers but also 31 against right-handers. He has an OPS of .805 versus lefties and .944 against right-handed pitching. Maybe some more chances will be coming his way.

Farm notes: Right-hander Joe Gunkel earned his first win at the Triple-A level, tossing seven scoreless innings on three hits Sunday against Syracuse. That lowered his ERA to 4.67, which became inflated when he had a start allowing nine runs.

Tides outfielder Mike Yastrzemski is batting .370/.438/.704 (10-for-27) in his first seven Triple-A games. He has four doubles, a triple, a home run and six RBIs.

Double-A Bowie left-hander Donnie Hart threw two scoreless yesterday with three strikeouts. Hart has a 1.42 ERA with 22 strikeouts and 13 scoreless appearances in 16 games this season.

Single-A Frederick was rained out Sunday and will play a doubleheader today against Potomac. The Keys starters are left-handers John Means (4-0, 2.09 ERA) and Max Schuh (0-2, 10.80 ERA).

Single-A Delmarva beat Lakewood Sunday as right-hander Ofelky Peralta tossed a season-high six innings allowing two hits and one run. He is 2-1 with a 2.11 ERA over eight starts with 40 strikeouts over 38 1/3 innings. Reliever Jake Bray improved to 1-0 with a 1.13 ERA in six games. Outfielder Ademar Rifaela hit his first professional grand slam and recorded a career-high four RBIs. The Shorebirds are 25-17 and 1 1/2 games out of first in their division of the South Atlantic League.