Game 49: Orioles (24-24) @ Athletics (24-27), 10:05pm

Streaming along behind the Orioles' charter as it made the westward journey (like a G6) was one of those banners like you might see on a plane going by as you lay on the beach: FIVE-GAME WINNING STREAK. It's been over a year since we saw one, so we might as well proclaim it to all the world.

This is the standard place where I would start trash-talking about the team or city that we are currently playing against. Oakland's stadium is now named the Overstock.com Coliseum. I think that speaks for itself.

O's fans who stay up late to watch this Friday night matchup will be watching Gio Gonzalez pitch for the Athletics. Gonzalez has a pulse and throws with his left hand, so the O's begin the game with a certain handicap. Add on top of that he may actually be a good pitcher, with a 2.20 ERA across 57.1 IP in the 2011 season. That's impressive. Also impressive is the fact (chronicled earlier today on CC) that the Orioles have in recent history sucked against Oakland.

But the thing about history is that it's in the past, and while who controls the past controls the future, who controls the present now controls the past (testify!) Helmed by Buck, the time is now and the place is here, so here's hoping it's the O's who are going back and writing over the recent history with some Birdland excellence of their own.

Although if the O's want to keep the winning streak going, they'll have to do it with Chris Tillman starting, so we can probably look forward to a jet-lagged bullpen. Tillman only let up one run against Washington but only went five innings, and we know Oakland is all about working the count, probably a bad sign for our young starter. The good news is that Oakland is one of the few teams with an offense that legitimately sucks more than ours: the A's are batting a titanic .238/.303/.347. Yowza.