Ten straight games in He....

BALTIMORE, Maryland, June 21,2013- Beginning on Thursday, June 13 the Orioles faced ten straight games against very tough teams.  The first four were at home against AL East Division Leader Boston.  Following Boston came three games in Detroit against the Central Division Leading (and Defending American League Champion) Tigers followed by three games against surging, enigmatic Toronto.  Seven of those games are now behind the Orioles.  They began them 3.5 behind Boston in third place.  Starting play in Toronto tonight, they have moved solidly into second place and now stand but one game behind the Red Sox.  They took three of four from Boston and two of three from Detroit.  They are doing this with a makeshift starting staff that has forced Buck Showalter to send call-ups from the minor leagues to the hill to start games three times in the past week.  Right now, it is their hitting and a resurgent bullpen that is carrying the load.  Among the regular starters, Chris Tillman and Miguel Gonzalez have been dependable, but Jason Hammel is recovering from a bad flu that caused him to miss two starts and Wei-Yin Chen is still on the disabled list with early July seen as the nearest date for his return.  The other news from Baltimore that cannot thrill the AL East is that Brian Roberts is due to return before the All-Star Break.