Bud Norris has been pitching well for the Orioles and wants to continue that trend tonight as the Birds host Cleveland in Game 2 of a four-game series. Norris is 2-4 with a 3.58 ERA over eight starts. He has gone over seven innings in each of his last two outings. He went 7 2/3 frames, allowing four runs against Detroit and gave up one run over 7 1/3 innings in his last start against Kansas City. After pitching to an ERA of 4.44 his first four starts, that number is 2.77 his past four with a...

The Orioles were supposed to face four right-handers in their series against the Indians at Camden Yards, but the Indians had to alter their rotation Wednesday after using Josh Tomlin in relief for three innings. Justin Masterson moved up to take Tomlin's spot last night, working on three days rest, and left-hander T.J. House will make his first major league start tonight. The Indians have won back-to-back 13-inning games. Yeah, happens all the time. House, 25, was 1-2 with a 2.40 ERA in seven...

Manager Matt Williams said earlier this week that nine-run games are rarities, and that if a team could score that many runs every game, they would be champions. Of course, every team would love to score that many times every game out. The pressure would be taken off the pitchers and the team would have much easier games. It is so easy to say, but much harder to accomplish, especially without your top offensive producers. I saw another statistic this week that makes sense as to where the...

He was buried in his Orioles jersey and his obituary read, "He especially loved having a beer or two while watching baseball on TV." Robert "Tex" Nelson is a guy who's worth getting to know more about. I first learned about Nelson, who played for the Orioles from 1955 through 1957, thanks to my wife. She sent me a profile of former O's public relations director and current director of Orioles alumni Bill Stetka that ran in The Baltimore Sun last month. I give her flowers, she...

Two unearned runs scored on a bases-loaded error by Harrisburg Senators third baseman Adrian Sanchez and two more on came in on a two-out RBI double later in the sixth inning of last night's game in Arm and Hammer Park in Trenton, N.J., where the Senators beat the Trenton Thunder 6-4 with a five-run comeback in the top of the ninth inning. A.J. Cole, 22, left his ninth start of the season after 5 2/3 innings with a 1.97 ERA on the year and the Senators down 4-1. But the Matt Skole-led rally in...

PITTSBURGH - Five appearances into Blake Treinen's big league career, it's clear that he has the raw ability to compete at this level. Treinen's hard two-seamer touched 98 mph last night against the Pirates and was clocked at 100 mph at times in the minors. He has a changeup and slider that at times can be strong pitches for him. He has a quiet confidence and rarely seems shaken on the mound. The question going forward is whether he can develop his secondary pitches enough to still be...

The Orioles have now lost four of their last five games and eight of their past 11. That escalated quickly and not in a good way. They've now lost three straight one-run games and lost for the first time in extra innings last night after a 4-0 start this year. A loss tonight would drop the Orioles back to even .500 at 23-23. They have not been there since April 27 when they were 12-12. The Orioles have scored 30 runs and hit eight homers the last four games, yet they have lost three of those...

Just when the Orioles thought they could make it through a day without another roster move, 13 innings happened. Look for a reliever to arrive from Triple-A Norfolk before tonight's game against the Indians at Camden Yards. I pitched T.J. McFarland's name - so to speak - before the Orioles decided to recall Preston Guilmet. McFarland remains a candidate tonight as a backup to right-handed starter Bud Norris. McFarland is scheduled to start tonight for Norfolk. We'll see. The Orioles could...

Manny Machado said his right groin became an issue for him early in the game Thursday. It may have happened when he slid into second base on a force play after he singled in the bottom of the fourth. He hopes he can play Friday in the second game of this series. "It tightened up on me early on in the game and just continued to keep getting stiff on me," Machado said. "It was one of the slides. Popped up and then ever since then it kept stiffening up every inning. "Tomorrow, we'll see...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter will check on Manny Machado on Friday afternoon before making out his lineup, unsure whether the third baseman will play due to tightness in his groin. Machado came out of tonight's game after the 11th inning as a precaution. "Just had some tightness in his groin and that long of a game, I didn't like some of the body language he had moving around and everything, especially running down the line," Showalter said following an 8-7, 13-inning loss to the...