We may never know what Houston shortstop Miguel Tejada told Astros closer Jose Valverde about pitching to his former teammate Melvin Mora during a critical situation in the eighth inning last night (runners on first and second, two out and the O's behind by a rub) but the guess here was that it wasn't throw a 3-2 pitch down the middle of the plate to a guy hitting nearly .400 with runners in scoring position.

Actually, we can pretty much figure out that Miggie told Valverde to keep the ball outside because that's where Valverde had been working Mora during a classic nine-pitch at-bat and Valverde said this after the game in an interview that appeared in the Houston newspaper: "I missed with that pitch (to Mora). That's what happened. I didn't have too much command (Tuesday) for my split finger. The pitch Mora hit I was supposed to throw away, and it stayed in the middle."

Well, it didn't stay there long because the O's third baseman jacked it to just right of  center for a one-hop double to the wall that drove in two runs giving Baltimore a 6-5 lead that held up through George Sherrill's 23rd save.

It was also the 20th Orioles comeback win as they lifted themselves above .500 (35-34) one more time.  At this rate, the O's may not wind up being in serious contention for the playoffs in September but they won't be mathematically eliminated, either.  And right now, they're giving fans plenty of reason to watch beyond the seventh inning.