PITTSBURGH - Rookie right-hander Joe Ross delivered another impressive effort in yesterday's 3-1 loss to Pirates. Pittsburgh scored twice in the third on three hits plus a costly error and added a solo homer in the fourth, but that was all the offense Ross allowed in his fifth big league start. "I thought he threw really well," fellow rookie Michael A. Taylor said. "His stuff looked good. His slider was working. We just couldn't pull it out for him. I think he's done great. He's shown...

The Orioles are home tonight for the first time since July 12, the final game heading into the All-Star break. It's been that long. They were a .500 team after losing their final two games to the Nationals. They can reach .500 again with a win tonight over the Braves. The Orioles went 4-5 on their road trip, sandwiching series wins in Detroit and St. Petersburg around the Yankees' three-game sweep in the Bronx. Win two of the three series and it's still not good enough in the heat of a...

There are now six teams within five games of the second wild card berth in the American League. The Orioles are one of the six and they are 3 1/2 games back of Minnesota at this point. Did the Orioles pull some fans back in with back-to-back wins at Tampa Bay? The wins came right after a four-game losing streak that included dropping three in a row at New York. Last night, ESPN's Buster Olney tweeted this: "On July 29, 2014, KC was 3 1/2 games behind in WC race--and played Game 7 of the World...

PITTSBURGH - A solo home run from rookie Michael A. Taylor was all the offensive the Nationals managed as they dropped the series with today's 3-1 loss to the Pirates. After Taylor's homer, right-hander Gerrit Cole retired 11 straight Nationals until a double from Clint Robinson in the seventh. Ian Desmond followed with a single to give the Nats runners at the corners with one out, trailing by two. But Wilson Ramos hit a tailor-made double play grounder to end the threat. Anthony Rendon...

Manager: Fredi Gonzalez (5th season) Record: 46-52 Last 10 games: 4-6 Who to watch: 1B Freddie Freeman (.298/.368/.516 with 12 HR and 41 RBIs), RF Nick Markakis (.286/.368/.359 with 32 RBIs), C A.J. Pierzynski (.286 with 6 HR, 30 RBIs), RHP Shelby Miller (7-6, 3.78 ERA), RHP Jim Johnson (20 holds, 2.11 ERA) Season series vs. Orioles: First meeting (1-2 in 2012) Pitching probables: July 27: LHP Alex Wood vs. RHP Kevin Gausman, 7:05 p.m., MASN July 28: RHP Julio Teheran vs. RHP Ubaldo Jimenez,...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Maybe the sky isn't falling. It's hard to tell inside a dome. The Orioles were swept in The Bronx, but they also took two of three from the Tigers and Rays to move within a game of the .500 mark. However, they failed to gain any ground on the Yankees. Wei-Yin Chen allowed two runs in 5 1/3 innings and the bullpen tossed 3 2/3 scoreless innings in a 5-2 win over the Rays at Tropicana Field. The Orioles scored five or more runs in consecutive games for the first time...

The Orioles have not scored a lot of runs this year in support of left-hander Wei-Yin Chen. Today, they did provide some support and even though Chen was not as his best, he did get the win. The Orioles beat Tampa Bay 5-2 to take the final two games of the series. The Orioles improved to 48-49, ending their road trip going 4-5 on trips to Detroit, New York and Tampa Bay. Staked to a 5-0 lead in the fourth, Chen allowed back-to-back homers in the last of the fourth to Evan Longoria and Logan...

PITTSBURGH - Michael A. Taylor crushed a 1-0 fastball from Pirates starter Gerrit Cole over the wall in right-center field for a solo home run with two outs in the third. Taylor has now homered in consecutive games. The rookie has six hits and four RBIs in the series. The Pirates answered in the bottom of the frame with RBI singles from Gregory Polanco and Andrew McCutchen. Right-hander Joe Ross has allowed two runs on four hits with one walk, one hit batter and four strikeouts through three...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Rays are celebrating "Christmas In July" today at Tropicana Field. They cranked up the air conditioning and the holiday tunes. My decision to carry mistletoe in my laptop bag year-round is really paying off. Now who looks foolish? David Lough returns to the leadoff spot today after collecting a single and triple last night and scoring twice in a 5-1 victory over the Rays. He's batting .230/.269/.363 with a double, triple, four home runs and 12 RBIs in 66 games this...

The Orioles scored five runs in their win over Tampa Bay on Saturday night. While four came on one swing, it was still just the third time in the last 19 games the Orioles have scored five or more runs. With that 5-1 win, thanks in large part to Chris Davis's fifth career grand slam, the Orioles are 41-12 when they score four or more runs and 6-37 when they score three runs or less. The Orioles have had 10 hits or fewer in 23 of their last 24 games. They've had seven hits or fewer in the last...