The Orioles’ recent offensive surge continued on Monday night in Seattle with the O’s scoring 11 runs on 16 hits which included four home runs.

A victory in one of the next two games would guarantee at least a .500 road trip, a scenario most fans would usually accept when the team heads out west. However, at this point in the season, the O’s need to stack wins so it will feel a little disappointing.

Beckham Continues to Rake

Tim Beckham is just the latest in the “nobody saw this coming” department. It amazes me that Dan Duquette has pulled off moves like this throughout his tenure, finding lightning in a bottle again and again…and then makes other moves like giving away Parker Bridwell for nothing, signing Ubaldo Jimenez to a big contract and signing Yovani Gallardo period.

Win some, lose some, I suppose.

Beckham clearly had the talent, as evidenced by his first overall selection in the draft, but he has arrived at the perfect time for this team. He has been a clear spark plug that provides speed that the O’s have lacked and his energy is clearly contagious.

The biggest thing for Beckham will be his defense as he has made sensational plays already, but has also botched a few routine plays that we have been accustomed to seeing being made with ease by J.J. Hardy.

Duquette pointed out that Beckham just needed to get away from the ugly ballpark of Tropicana Field and he may be right. In Beckham’s career, according to BaseballReference.com, the shortstop has a .232 batting average playing in a dome compared to a .319 batting average playing outside.

Is it really just that simple? I’m not sure, but if it is, that’s impressive by whoever noticed that.

Davis Heating Up

It has been a rough two seasons for Chris Davis, and the slugger hit one of his low points in his Orioles career when Buck Showalter moved him down to seventh in the order.

It appears the mental day off along with the demotion may have woken Davis up, as he has collected six hits in the four games he has batted seventh. We know Davis can carry an offense when he is hot, the problem is those stretches have been few and far between over the last two seasons. Those stretches have also not lasted as long.

The offense is rolling right now, but it will go a long way if Davis can get hot for at least a month or find his stroke from August and September of 2015 when he was an absolute monster. This team needs to get on a roll and they need the players they are paying a lot of money to be part of that.

Roster Moves Coming

The Orioles were probably hoping they could avoid making these decisions until September 1^st when rosters expand and they wouldn’t have to risk losing a player, but the timing did not work. Ryan Flaherty and Anthony Santander will join the Orioles when they return back home which means two roster moves will have to be made.

Ruben Tejada will more than likely be the corresponding move for Flaherty and he will have to pass through waivers to remain in the organization. There are many teams that would love to have a utility infielder, so Tejada could easily be claimed. I like Tejada and feel like he has a place in the organization, but in the end, he’s just a utility infielder.

The bigger question surrounds what player leaves when Santander is added to the roster. Craig Gentry is the likely choice, and as is the case will Tejada, he will have to clear waivers to stay in the organization.

Gentry is the quintessential September player with his ability to pinch run and be used as a late inning defensive replacement. In my mind, that means a team will scoop him up which will be a loss for the O’s, as he brings something to the table.

The question is, would the Orioles option Joey Rickard for two weeks to ensure Gentry remains in the organization?

I think that is a realistic scenario, one the organization has probably thought about. This could be more realistic if the team will be facing a string of right-handed pitchers.

It will be interesting to see what roster machinations are in store.