SHOREBIRDS GAME NOTES: 7/26 vs. Lakewood

PREVIEW: After a 1 hour and 28-minute rain delay, the Shorebirds defeated the BlueClaws 3-1 to level the series heading into game three. The ‘Birds jumped over Greensboro for third place in the Northern Division (three games out of first). Including the delay last night, the weekend games lasted a combined eight hours and 51 minutes.

BREAKDOWN OF OPPONENTS: The Shorebirds have 41 games remaining in 2010. Here is a breakdown of their remaining opponents. The ‘Birds will play: 8 games against Lakewood (18-11), four games vs. Hickory (17-13), nine games against Lexington (15-15), eight games against Hagerstown (10-19), four games against Augusta (16-14), four vs. Kannapolis (13-17) and four against West Virginia (13-17).

CONLEY GOES YARD AGAIN: Brian Conley connected on his third home run in four games last night. The Gaithersburg, Md. native now leads the Shorebirds with six homers on the season. In 102 minor league games entering 2010, Conley hit just four home runs.

BACK-TO-BACK: Mikey Planeta has recorded multi-hit games in both games of the Lakewood series. He has nine hits in the last six games. His batting average has jumped from .237 to .248.

NICE DEBUT: Mike Flacco went 3-for-3 with an RBI in his debut last night.

STEALS LEADER: T.J. Baxter is tied with Kyle Hudson (Frederick) for the most stolen bases in the Orioles farm system. They each have 26 stolen bases. Baxter is 11th in the league in stolen bases.

ON PACE FOR RECORD: Brian Conley has walked 68 times this season, second in the SAL. He is slightly behind pace to break the Shorebirds single-season record for walks of 97, set in 1997 by Tim DeCines. Conley already ranks tied for eighth in a single-season with Danny Figueroa (2007). He is three walks from tying Tim Raines (1999) and Matt Angle (2008) for sixth all-time.

4TH IN SINGLE-SEASON: With more than a month to play, Steve Bumbry’s nine triples rank fourth all-time in a single-season. He is one triple from tying Willie Harris, who notched 10 triples in 2000. B.J. Littleton owns the record with 18 back in 2001.