One definition of powder keg is, "A potentially explosive situation or thing." Welcome to the final two games of this series at Rogers Centre between the Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays. Toronto reporters quoted Jose Bautista after last night's game as saying, "I think it's all pretty well planned out and premeditated and I think they hide behind the way their manager acts and conducts himself. ...They're going to continue to keep doing that until something comes down from MLB." Bautista...

Nationals third baseman Yunel Escobar was the hero tonight with a walk-off home run in the 10th inning to beat the Cardinals 2-1. But closer Drew Storen was unable to hold the 1-0 Nationals lead in the top of the ninth. He allowed an RBI single by Matt Holliday that evened the game. Matt Carpenter had started the Cardinals rally with a line single to left field. Manager Matt Williams was not too concerned after the game, and broke down how St. Louis was able to get a couple of hits off of...

We all saw what occurred with Ubaldo Jimenez on Friday night in Boston. I'll be very honest - my initial thought was that I didn't recall the last time (if ever) I had seen a pitcher thrown out of a game totally cold. No warning, no history of trouble, nothing. When the reports of the hard slide at second base started circulating, my personal opinion was that was a copout. In saying that, I mean that any hit batsman by an Orioles pitcher might have culminated in an ejection. Having said that,...

So what's the over/under for which inning the benches and bullpens empty tonight? Orioles manager Buck Showalter made two smart moves last night that really stood out to me in a game that otherwise should be forgotten as quickly as possible. Erased from memory. Pretend it never happened. Showalter went to the mound to counsel Rule 5 pick Jason Garcia in the seventh inning after the kid surrendered a home run to Jose Bautista. Garcia sailed a pitch behind Bautista earlier in the at-bat and paid...

Well, this was no way to start a series against an American League East rival. Bud Norris struggled again and the Orioles defense was shaky again. Late in the game, some tempers flared between these teams yet again. Toronto scored six runs in the second inning and knocked out Norris in the third in a 13-6 blowout of the Orioles at Rogers Centre. In the big inning for Toronto, right fielder Travis Snider committed an error and missed the cutoff man on a throw. Caleb Joseph made a throwing error....

The Orioles should have known that they'd be in for a rough game tonight when Jimmy Paredes was hit on the right side of the face during batting practice, a grounder from Steve Pearce taking a bad hop at third base. Paredes is fine. The Orioles... not so much. Bud Norris was charged with nine runs and six hits in 2 1/3 innings, with three walks, two strikeouts and a home run. His ERA ballooned to 17.42 in three starts this season. Norris was 4-0 with a 1.78 ERA in five starts against the Blue...

The Nationals wasted a prime scoring opportunity in the second when first baseman Ryan Zimmerman led off with a double to the the gap in right-center field. Third baseman Yunel Escobar followed with a great piece of hitting to move ZImmerman over to third on a groundout to first. But Zimmerman would be stranded there as catcher Wilson Ramos would strike out and, after an intentional walk to second baseman Danny Espinosa, starter Gio Gonzalez would pop out to end the inning. Gonzalez has kept...

The Rogers Centre in Toronto was once a house of horrors for the Orioles. They hardly ever won there. In 2010, they went winless there, losing all nine games between the teams. From 2009-12, the Orioles were 4-23 in Toronto. But since they have been winning again, they are 13-15 at Rogers Centre since the 2012 season. That included a 5-4 mark last year, the Orioles' first winning record at Toronto in a single season since 2005. But all that losing has left the Orioles with a record of just...

After 43 days on the sidelines, third baseman Anthony Rendon finally saw game action today, playing three innings and taking two at-bats in an extended spring game in Viera, Fla. Nationals manager Matt Williams indicated that Rendon will ramp it up to five innings tomorrow before heading out to a minor league rehab assignment on Friday. This is a major step for Rendon, who has been sidelined since spraining his left MCL while making a stunning diving stop on a grounder in his third Grapefruit...

Danny Espinosa is back to playing second base again tonight as the Nationals begin a series with the St. Louis Cardinals. He is hitting in the eight-hole versus veteran right-hander Lance Lynn. Espinosa is batting .238 with two homers and three RBIs, but he also has a .385 on-base percentage in his first seven games with four walks and two strikeouts. Nationals manager Matt Williams has been impressed with the way Espinosa has taken to anything the club has asked him to do this season. In...