BOSTON - Orioles first baseman Chris Davis walked in his first at-bat today. Continue to breathe normally. That's 11 walks for Davis in 18 games. He's now tied his record by reaching base in 17 consecutive games. But he didn't swipe a bag as promised. Maybe next time. Davis contributed an RBI single in the third to increase the Orioles' lead to 3-0. They went on to score three more runs, sending nine batters to the plate and bringing a chorus of boos from the Fenway Park faithful who are...

Wei-Yin Chen today will try to overcome some shaky numbers in his career against Boston, as the Orioles look to gain a split of this four-game series. Chen is 2-3 with a 5.24 ERA in eight career starts against the Red Sox. But over his last three starts, he is 0-2 with an 8.04 ERA and has given up five homers over 15 2/3 innings. Chen gave up 12 hits and four runs in 5 2/3 frames against Boston on April 3, but his last outing was a good one as he gave up just one run and five hits in 6 1/3...

Outfielder Nate McLouth came up in the bottom of the ninth with two men on and one out against Cardinals reliever Seth Maness on Sunday. The Cardinals and Nationals were tied at 2-2. He played a key role in the series, salvaging a 3-2 walk-off winner for D.C. Maness started with three straight sinkers against McLouth, hoping to get him to bite. But McLouth hung in there, didn't swing, and got the count to 3-0. Then, Maness switched up his strategy. He threw a four-seam fastball for a called...

BOSTON - Chris Davis has reached base in 16 consecutive games, but it's not a cause to celebrate. His average is down to .241 and he's stuck on one home run after clubbing 53 last season. Cause for alarm? Not yet. Better to make light of it and keep grinding. "I turned over a new leaf this year. I'm trying not to hit any more home runs this year and just walk," Davis quipped. "Try to swing as few times as possible, take it easy on my body, try to get as many years out of it as...

BOSTON - The Orioles are playing their fifth Patriots Day game in Boston, having lost four of the first five. Their lone victory came in 1970, when they won 3-2. Most recently, they lost 12-1 in 2009. They also were beaten in 1956, 1989 and 1997. So yes, if they win today, they win the World Series. J.J. Hardy says his right hamstring feels better, but he's out of the lineup. Ryan Flaherty is at short, Jonathan Schoop is at third and Steve Lombardozzi is at second. Nick Markakis is serving...

There were quite a few encouraging things that the Nationals saw in yesterday's 3-2 walk-off win. Stephen Strasburg delivered a strong outing against a very tough Cardinals lineup, despite the fact he didn't use his slider and instead relied entirely on fastball/changeup/curve. The Nats scratched out 11 hits and drew seven walks, and did a good bit of that damage against St. Louis' bullpen. Jose Lobaton came alive with three hits. Rafael Soriano worked a clean, quick, dominant ninth inning....

A lot of emphasis is being put on the defensive struggles the Orioles have seen over the past few games. Two losses to the Red Sox have people up in arms and wondering what happened to the O's defense of 2013. As many know, the team set a major league record by playing 119 errorless games last year and also committed just 54 errors during the campaign, a record for a 162-game season. It's a small sample size, but the Birds are showing some dents in their defensive armor on the young...

For those who are afraid the Nationals' 2014 season will be a sad repeat of 2013, take a good look at last weekend's four-game split with the St. Lois Cardinals. The knock on the Nats has been that they can rack up cheap wins at the expense of the Marlins and Mets, but come up up empty against teams they may ultimately have to contend with in the postseason, like the Braves and Cardinals. A week ago, they seemed to prove their critics right, dropping three games in Atlanta, showing the same...

The Orioles entered Sunday's game having allowed just two unearned runs all year over 16 games. They allowed three unearned runs in the last three innings last night. In the immediate minutes and hour or two after last night's game, this blog and Twitter were buzzing with comments. We probably way over-analyzed that one. But fans were frustrated, looking to vent and assign blame. In the end, the Orioles blew a 5-0 lead and gift-wrapped a comeback win for Boston. The Red Sox had to get some...

BOSTON - The Orioles are leaving Boston after this morning's game, and they'd like to take the transfer rule with them. Maybe dump it in an empty field, grab a few baseball bats and destroy it like the copy machine in "Office Space." Ryan Flaherty held the ball long enough last night to record the out at second base in the seventh inning. Instead, he was charged with an error and the Red Sox went on to score twice and tie the game. Umpires seem just as confused by it. Just get rid of it...