ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Orioles have left Tropicana Field. No '80s hair band promotions, no dogs barking in the upper deck, no Wiggles concerts, no kids introducing batters over the PA system, no rap-artist felines spinning records. The series against the Rays will be remembered for some costly mistakes by the Orioles and its overall weirdness. And if there's one thing The Trop can deliver, it's a healthy dose of weird. Ryan Flaherty is on the team because he's regarded as a good...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Orioles' magic number is down to 12. Their lead in the American League East is 9 1/2 games, exactly where it stood before they arrived at Tropicana Field. Was it pretty? Absolutely not. Is it a requirement? Absolutely not. Nelson Cruz drove in all seven runs for the Orioles in their 7-5, 11-inning win over the Rays. Cruz became the first player with at least seven RBIs to account for all of his team's scoring since Colorado's Jason Giambi on May 19, 2011 in...

The Nationals salvaged their series against the Phillies with a 3-2 win on Sunday. Left-hander Gio Gonzalez outdueled fellow southpaw Cole Hamels for the win. The offense was powered by two solo home runs from Adam LaRoche and a sacrifice fly from Scott Hairston. Drew Storen also earned his second save of the season after working a perfect ninth inning. The win could not have come at a better time as the Nats begin a three-game series with the Braves tomorrow night. Here's what the...

Nelson Cruz would not let them lose. The Orioles' slugger drove in seven runs today with two homers and a triple as the Orioles beat Tampa Bay 7-5 in 11 innings to avoid a sweep at Tropicana Field. Just when it looked like Tampa Bay would beat the Orioles at their own game, by hitting home runs, Cruz flipped the script. The Orioles went to the ninth down 4-2, but Cruz's three-run triple gave the Orioles the 5-4 lead. But Ryan Flaherty's error at shortstop led to an unearned run for the...

With one victory today, the Nationals avoided a sweep by the Phillies, extended their lead in the National League East to seven games, trimmed their magic number to 14 and got some momentum back on their side before a three-game series against the Braves starts tomorrow. Not a bad day at the office. The Nats got six strong innings from Gio Gonzalez today, were led offensively by Adam LaRoche's two solo homers and Scott Hairston's go-ahead sac fly, and saw Drew Storen close it down with a...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - We're headed to the 10th inning today after another miscue in the ninth burned the Orioles. Zach Britton is charged with his fourth blown save after converting 18 in a row, but the tying run is unearned after Ryan Flaherty's error on Evan Longoria's ground ball leading off the inning. Flaherty made a high throw that pulled Chris Davis off the bag. He also committed an error in the ninth yesterday afternoon, and Nick Hundley's passed ball let the winning run cross...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - We said it wouldn't get weird. This series has included some odd moments, such as yesterday's walk-off passed ball. Today brings us an inside-the-park home run by Tampa Bay's David DeJesus in the fourth inning that increased the Rays' lead to 3-0. Bud Norris hadn't allowed more than three home runs in any start this season. All three today have come with two outs. DeJesus sent a fly ball into left-center field. Alejandro De Aza ran it down, but David Lough slammed...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Dogs are barking in the upper deck today at Tropicana Field. Pets must be part of the Rays' promotion. They've got a few baseballs to retrieve. The Rays hit two home runs off Orioles starter Bud Norris in the bottom of the first inning, with Evan Longoria and James Loney going back-to-back with two outs. Longoria jumped on a first-pitch 93 mph fastball. Loney lined Norris' eighth pitch, a 94 mph fastball, to right field. There wasn't much doubt on Longoria's...

Well, things are off to an interesting start this afternoon at Nationals Park. With one out in the top of the first, Grady Sizemore singled to center fielder Denard Span. With two outs, Marlon Byrd singled on a line drive to Span, which scored Sizemore. Byrd was able to advance to third following throwing errors by Span and third baseman Anthony Rendon. The Phillies lead the Nationals 1-0 at the end of one inning. The run was charged as an earned run to Gio Gonzalez, who threw 19 pitches...

The Orioles need a win this afternoon at Tropicana Field to avoid being swept by the Rays and to avoid extending a road losing streak to six games. The streak began when the Orioles were swept at Wrigley Field. The Orioles have scored just six runs during the five-game streak, and they have been outscored outscored 19-6 in the five games. In this stretch, the Orioles have just 26 hits, three homers and a .168 team batting average. They have just 13 hits in 64 at-bats (.203) the last two days...