At the beginning of the season, most Orioles fans would have settled for this -- a quarter of the way into the season and the O's are three games above .500 and sitting just off the pace, 2 1/2 games behind the lead in third place in the AL East.  Just like Big Brown in the Preakness.

OK, that's a reach on the comparison because it's a little hard imagining these guys running away from the field in the stretch run the way the powerful bay did as he pranced to the wire Saturday.  But this is a good place for the Orioles.  However, if there was ever a crucial stretch in May, it's coming up right now.  The next thirteen games, six immediately on the road and then seven at home are all against division rivals, the Yankees, Rays and Red Sox.  The two-game sweep of Boston at Camden Yards early last week should be a confidence-builder.

Even seeing their four-game winning streak ended against the Nationals yesterday shouldn't be too disheartening for Baltimore.  Jeremy Gurthrie had a solid seven-inning, five-hit, three-walk outing that just didn't get him the win.  The other team got a little better pitching overall.

Tomorrow's series opener at Yankee Stadium is as interesting as they get.  The Orioles have the suddenly dependable and occasionally dominant Daniel Cabrera pitching against an old Baltimore friend, Mike Mussina.  Mussina's ERA is just a shade under 4.00 but he's put together a 6-3 record so far by holding down his walks to next to nothing, just six in nine games.