Mike Wright was given a reprieve tonight. He responded by giving the Orioles one of the best starts of his brief major league career. The Royals managed only an unearned run off Wright over seven innings, and the Orioles hit three home runs in a 4-1 victory before 14,878 at Camden Yards. The Orioles' rotation has registered back-to-back quality starts, raising the total to seven in the last 21 games. Brad Brach struck out the side in the eighth to lower his ERA to 0.88 with 34 strikeouts in 30...

For the second game in a row, Matt Wieters turned around a pretty good fastball to produce a big hit that put the Orioles ahead. It led to another win. Mark Trumbo and Wieters homered in the bottom of the seventh to turn a one-run deficit into a one-run lead and the Orioles went on to a 4-1 victory tonight over Kansas City at Camden Yards. Kansas City lefty Danny Duffy had blanked the Orioles on eight strikeouts over six innings with an assortment of fastballs and changeups. But Trumbo led off...

Zach Britton did his usual work on the mound Sunday afternoon, preserving a lead in the ninth inning and recording his 17th save in as many opportunities. A couple of ground balls and a predictable result from the All-Star closer. He woke up early the next morning, another game on the horizon, and offered a hand in the fight against a much tougher opponent. The competitive side bends toward the compassionate. Britton and his wife Courtney are continuing their partnership with The Johns Hopkins...

Some Tuesday morning odds and ends to whet your appetite before the Nationals open their three-game interleague series against the White Sox in Chicago (to which I am currently en route)... * The Nationals are catching a break this week when it comes to the White Sox's rotation ... sort of. The good news: They're missing both Chris Sale (9-2, 2.54 ERA) and Jose Quintana (5-6, 2.58). The bad news (potentially): They're getting James Shields making his Chicago debut. Shields, who was acquired...

Expected to join Triple-A Norfolk's rotation and make tonight's start, right-hander Mike Wright instead remains with the Orioles and is taking his normal turn against the Royals. Baseball is both funny and unpredictable. Wright was optioned and recalled last week before the water in the clubhouse shower had time to get warm. He replaced injured reliever Darren O'Day on the roster and outlasted the other starting candidates for tonight's game. "As opposed to who?" Showalter asked, a...

Manager: Robin Ventura (5th season) Record: 29-28 Last 10 games: 2-8 Who to watch: 3B Todd Frazier (18 HR, 40 RBIs); RF Adam Eaton (.270 average, 60 hits); 1B Jose Abreu (.251 average, 56 hits, 30 RBIs); LHP Chris Sale (9-2, 2.54 ERA); RHP Mat Latos (6-1, 4;02 ERA); CL David Robertson (3.22 ERA, 13 saves) Season series vs. Nationals: First meeting of 2016 (0-3 in 2013) Pitching probables: June 7: RHP Joe Ross vs. RHP Mat Latos, 8:10 p.m., MASN2June 8: RHP Max Scherzer vs. RHP James Shields,...

The Orioles host the defending World Series champion Kansas City Royals tonight as a 10-game homestand continues at Camden Yards. The Orioles went 2-2 versus Boston and 2-1 versus New York to start the homestand. At 32-23, the Orioles are once again tied for first in the American League East with Boston, although ahead by a few win percentage points at .582 to .579. Toronto, which will host the Orioles for three games starting Thursday, is 2 ½ games back. Kansas City went into a four-game...

Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy fielded 25 ground balls hit directly at him this morning in Sarasota to further test his fractured left foot. Hardy has been throwing, taking dry swings and hitting off a tee. He's making progress that continues to encourage the Orioles. "He's out there moving around a little bit. That's good to see," said manager Buck Showalter. Hardy will come back to Baltimore "as soon as he gets into full baseball activities," Showalter said. "As soon as he gets where...

The Orioles were not getting much going Sunday against left-hander CC Sabathia of the Yankees. They didn't get a run off of him. But they did get him out of the game one batter into the sixth inning. One reason for that was a pitch count that reached 111. And one of the reasons that count reached that number is that Joey Rickard saw 29 Sabathia pitches over three at-bats on Sunday. He was called out on strikes in the first inning, but not until the 12th pitch of the sequence. He singled in the...

Steve Lombardozzi is returning to the Nationals organization, signing a minor league contract after re-establishing himself this season playing independent ball in Waldorf. Lombardozzi will report to Triple-A Syracuse. He's not on the Nationals' 40-man roster. A 19th-round pick in the 2008 draft, Lombardozzi became one of the Nats' top prospects and made his major league debut in September 2011. The Columbia native wound up a key member of the 2012 National League East championship roster,...