Tonight, Chris Parmelee became the second Oriole to hit two homers in his O's debut, joining Sam Horn who did that on April 9, 1990 at Kansas City on Opening Day. His teammates added six other homers as the Orioles hit a team-record eight in their 19-3 rout over the Philadelphia Phillies at Camden Yards. He went 4-for-6 with two RBIs and three runs, setting a personal career high in hits. His night was so good that when he grounded out in the seventh inning, he got a standing ovation running...

The Orioles set a franchise record tonight with eight home runs and came within four runs of tying another mark in a 19-3 stomping of the Phillies before 26,964 at Camden Yards. Before we get to those details, manager Buck Showalter provided an update on center fielder Adam Jones, who sat out tonight's game after undergoing an MRI on his right shoulder. Showalter described Jones' status for Wednesday night's game in Philadelphia as "iffy." "He did go and get an MRI before the game and...

This week could be called "forced rivalry week" in Major League Baseball with lots of teams playing two-game home-and-home series against regional or natural rivals. Admittedly, some of these so-called rivalries are more forced than others. This would normally be O's vs. Nats week; however, those two teams will play two three-game series later this summer and into the autumn. So the Orioles ended up with Philadelphia this week, which makes sense based on geography. The Atlanta-Boston series...

The Orioles are a defending division champion who are playing well right now. The Phillies are not a good team and are definitely not playing well right now. When those forces met tonight, the O's took a 12-0 lead in the third inning on their way to hitting a club-record eight home runs. They routed Philadelphia 19-3 at Camden Yards. The O's sweep this two-game series and now head to Philly for another one beginning Wednesday night. The Orioles had hit seven homers in a game three times...

The Orioles can't stop hitting home runs tonight and the Phillies can't take anymore of it. Reliever Justin De Fratus, working his second inning, was ejected by plate umpire Lance Barksdale in the sixth after throwing at shortstop J.J. Hardy. Chris Parmelee led off with his second homer of the night, and De Fratus followed with a pitch that was tailing into Hardy's midsection. Hardy got out of the way and Barksdale wasted no time in tossing De Fratus, who didn't put up much of a fight. If...

As the Nationals celebrate 10 seasons in Washington, D.C., we reflect on some of the best moments since the franchise moved to the nation's capital. Each Wednesday for the next 10 weeks, check out Nationals Pastime for a remembrance of one of the watershed moments in Nationals history. Last month, Ryan Zimmerman beat the Yankees when he blasted his 10th career walk-off home run, putting him elite company. In the history of the National League, only Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt, future Hall of...

The Nationals came out swinging against Rays starter Alex Colome tonight. Denard Span led off the game with a single and then Bryce Harper ripped a two-out double to the gap in right-center. Former Nat Steven Souza Jr. did an excellent job of cutting off the ball and holding Span at third, where he stayed as Ramos grounded out to end the inning. Colome wasn't so lucky in the second. Clint Robinson started the frame with a towering solo homer that disappeared in the rafters beyond the right...

No wonder Orioles manager Buck Showalter wants to keep Manny Machado in the leadoff spot. And no wonder the Phillies have lost 17 of their last 20 games. The Orioles scored six runs in the bottom of the first inning tonight and Phillies starter Jerome Williams left the game with an injury with two outs after throwing back-to-back wild pitches. Machado hit his second career leadoff home run tonight, both coming this season, to give the Orioles a quick 1-0 lead over the Phillies. He jumped on an...

The Orioles have officially announced the signing of just one of their draft picks but many more should soon follow. The Orioles are likely to have signed 10 of their first 11 picks by this Saturday. The only one that would not be in that group is their top pick, outfielder DJ Stewart of Florida State. I have not heard of any negotiating holdups with Stewart, it is just going to take longer than some others. But it certainly should get done. Today, the Orioles announced the signing of their...

The Orioles today announced that they have selected the contract of infielder Chris Parmelee from Triple-A Norfolk, optioned left-hander Wei-Yin Chen to High-A Frederick, and transferred infielder Jonathan Schoop to the 60-day disabled list (sprained right knee). Parmelee, 27, batted .312/.381/.444 (73-234) with 13 doubles, six home runs, 32 runs scored, and 32 RBI in 61 games with the Tides this season. He posted a season-high nine-game hitting streak, June 5-13, during which he hit...