I can’t come up with some clever nickname for Koji Uehara as he continues to sports those long side burns, but I will compliment him on his stellar play for the Orioles this month. Hopefully, Buck Showalter has found Koji’s role for the Orioles and set him up to succeed. At least it seems that way.

In Baltimore’s 11 inning 5-4 win, Koji pitched 1.1 and struck out four. This performance wasn’t a fluke though, Koji has been fooling batters left and right recording 11 strikeouts in his last 7.2 innings pitched.

Uehara has lowered his ERA from 4.00 on July 9 to 1.88 on August 16. He’s been a part of five of the Orioles ten wins this month and recorded two holds along the way.

The Japanese reliever has struggled with injuries since his arrival in Baltimore, but has been healthy since June 29 and helped the Orioles in their recent stretch under Buck Showalter.