ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Orioles received the anticipated news today on catcher Matt Wieters. They must proceed through the rest of the 2014 season without him. Wieters will undergo ligament-reconstructive surgery on his right elbow at noon Tuesday in Gulf Breeze, Fla. Dr. James Andrews will handle the procedure after examining the elbow again this afternoon. Manager Buck Showalter said today's MRI revealed a little more damage than the one taken last month while the Orioles were in St....

The Orioles are beginning a six-game road trip and maybe that is good news. The club has won more and scored more runs this year away from Camden Yards. The Orioles are 16-17 at home, averaging 3.18 runs per game. They are 19-16 on the road, scoring 5.09 runs per game. The Orioles send Wei-Yin Chen (7-2, 3.76 ERA) to the mound tonight in St. Petersburg against right-hander Jake Odorizzi (2-7, 4.85 ERA). Chen is 2-0 with a 1.45 ERA and .203 average against over his last three starts with just...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Adam Jones received a phone call early this morning with the news he had been dreading. Hall of Fame outfielder Tony Gwynn passed away after a courageous battle with salivary gland cancer, the disease taking him at age 54. The call came from Gwynn's son-in law, former Orioles farmhand Kennard Jones, who played at Single-A Frederick in 2007 and Double-A Bowie in 2008. All of baseball is mourning Gwynn's loss today, but it especially hits close to home for Adam Jones,...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Chris Davis returns to the Orioles lineup tonight after getting a "mental break" yesterday at Camden Yards. David Lough is in left field and Ryan Flaherty is at second base. Caleb Joseph is behind the plate after sitting out the past two games. For the Orioles Nick Markakis RF Manny Machado 3B Adam Jones CF Chris Davis 1B Nelson Cruz DH J.J. Hardy SS David Lough LF Ryan Flaherty 2B Caleb Joseph C Wei-Yin Chen LHP For the Rays Desmond Jennings CF Yunel Escobar...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A few of the Orioles are working on their bunting today as part of their early batting practice session at Tropicana Field. The group includes Jonathan Schoop, David Lough and Ryan Flaherty. Small ball may be in order if the Orioles are going to offer more run support for their pitchers. The Orioles have allowed only 14 runs in the last seven games, with 13 of those scoring in the last four days. Their 1.86 ERA over 63 innings since last Monday ranks second in the...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The baseball world mourns the loss of Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, who died today at age 54 following a courageous battle with cancer. Gwynn was inducted on the same day as Cal Ripken Jr. in 2007. "This is an extraordinarily sad day," Ripken said in a statement. "Tony was a Hall of Fame ballplayer, but more importantly he was a wonderful man. Tony always had a big smile on his face and was one of the warmest and most genuine people I have ever had the honor of knowing....

Music fans of a certain age are mourning the death on Sunday of long-time radio host Casey Kasem. Long before the days of podcasts, teenagers and young adults would ritually tune in each week, usually on Sundays, to hear the genial Kasem count down the top 40 songs in the nation. Nationals fans, meanwhile, are grieving after a road trip that started with promise and excitement, ended in a season-long four-game skid. After watching their team take three of four in San Francisco from the...

Home, sweet home. Finally. That 10-day road trip felt quite a bit longer, with long flights, three stops and lots of momentum swings for the Nationals along the way. The Nats went into this trip hoping to go on a bit of a run, get hot and carry some momentum back home into a big week, which features a four-game series against the Braves. They accomplished part of that goal, starting the road trip by winning back-to-back series against the Padres and Giants, giving them four straight series...

Depth at any position in any sport is always crucial, but it seems starting pitching in baseball always provides one of the toughest tests for a team in this department. It's clear that having a top-notch pitcher always gives an organization a chance to win every fifth day, but one injury (or sore elbow leading to Tommy John surgery, it seems this season), can derail the best of rotations and teams. The Orioles are clearly going about things differently this season, and have been for some...

There are those among you that insist the Orioles are nothing more than a .500 team that will fall short of a playoff berth this season. The last 10 games gave that opinion more credibility. While the clubhouse take seemed to be that the club is fine and they'll be more chances to face Toronto later in the year, this was the chance for the Orioles to trim their first-place deficit to 2 1/2 games against a Toronto team that was not playing as well as it once was. The Birds faced J.A. Happ who...