BALTIMORE — They are getting ready for quite the holiday weekend at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Orioles are back home, still red hot and still owners of the second-best record in all of Major League Baseball. The American League West-leading Texas Rangers come to town Friday for the first of three games.
The O’s are coming off a couple of statement series wins. They swept the Blue Jays in Toronto then won two of three in New York against the Yankees.
This team continues to roll. They are three games behind Tampa Bay for tops in MLB and in the A.L. East division. Just a game and a half behind the Birds is tonight’s opponent, Texas.
"Great road trip. Taking five out of six from two really good teams is a lot of fun and hopefully we can keep it going into this series too," said O's first baseman Ryan Mountcastle.
Orioles second baseman Adam Frazier is riding an eight-game hitting streak and an on-base streak of 18 straight games. He is hitting .273 during that stretch.
"I feel pretty good. Some things clicked with my swing. So, just try to stay right there, stay locked in," he said.
The Orioles return home looking drastically different on the field. The team is debuting its new ‘City Connect’ uniform on Friday night. It has 'Baltimore' in black and white on the outside front and is full of color on the inside. The interior design is meant to represent the various neighborhoods of the city.
Mountcastle and third baseman Gunnar Henderson are both fans of the uni.
"I like them," said Mountcastle. "The all black are easy to match with. I’m normally a neutral color guy when I put on clothes because it’s easy to match. I think they look good, pretty fresh."
"I like the digital camo in there because I’m from the south so I like my camo," added Henderson. "It will be pretty cool and I’m looking forward to repping it tonight."
In other news from the Yard, general manager Mike Elias said pitcher John Means strained a back muscle during his recovery from Tommy John elbow surgery. He is still optimistic Means will pitch for the Orioles this season. But it won’t be in July like the team had previously hoped.
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