The Orioles are celebrating the diamond anniversary of their arrival in Baltimore, an occasion the team is marking with a special 60th anniversary website and promotional days at the ballpark in August. If it were up to me, the season-long celebration would have started on Monday with an opening day parade, a nod to the celebratory atmosphere that pervaded Baltimore on April 15, 1954. I enjoy learning about Orioles history, and the story of the 1954 parade is one of my favorites that I've...

Four of Washington's minor league affiliates started their respective 2014 campaigns Thursday night. There are interesting prospects to follow throughout the Nationals organization, so we decided to take a look at five players we'll be following closely this season on MiLB.tv or on trips to minor league parks. Matt Purke: Taken 14th overall by the Texas Rangers in 2009, Purke didn't sign, choosing instead to attend Texas Christian University where the left-hander put together an impressive...

Wei-Yin Chen gave up a career-high 12 hits and the Orioles fell behind early tonight and never caught up in a 4-3 loss to Boston. The Red Sox took two of three in the season opening series at Camden Yards. Chen went 5 2/3 innings, allowing four runs with no walks and five strikeouts to take the loss. He threw 98 pitches, 66 for strikes. Chen now has an ERA of 5.24 in his career against Boston. The Orioles did not get a quality start in this series where O's starters pitched to an ERA of...

Oriole left-hander Wei-Yin Chen allowed a career-high 12 hits tonight in 5 2/3 innings. Eleven of them were singles. That's not easy to do. The Orioles are down 4-2 after Jackie Bradley Jr. drove in Will Middlebrooks with an RBI single with two outs in the sixth. Middlebrooks doubled for the only extra-base hit off Chen. Chen didn't walk a batter and struck out five. He threw 98 pitches, 66 for strikes. He's going to carry a 6.35 ERA into his next start in New York. He better use two...

Orioles left-hander Wei-Yin Chen got through the top of the first inning tonight without allowing a run despite singles by Jonny Gomes and David Ortiz. Dustin Pedroia lined to right field, a significant out considering that he's 11-for-20 lifetime against Chen. Mike Napoli, who was 3-for-10 with two home runs, grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. Nick Markakis singled leading off the bottom of the first, just as he did last night. Adam Jones walked with two outs, but Nelson Cruz grounded into...

The Orioles and Red Sox play the finale of their three-game, season opening series tonight at Camden Yards. After the Orioles won the opener 2-1, Boston won last night 6-2. The Orioles are 25-14 against Boston since the start of the 2012 season and are 36-27 against the Red Sox since Buck Showalter took over as manager. The Orioles have won 11 of the last 14 series between these teams since Sept. 9, 2011 and look to add to that if they win tonight. Wei-Yin Chen makes his season debut. The...

Manager Matt Williams covered an array of topics after Thursday's 8-2 win over the Mets at Citi Field, including Jordan Zimmermann's status, Tanner Roark's quality spot start and the Nats' sweep. Perhaps the main topic is whether Zimmermann can start the Nationals' home opener Friday after being scratched Thursday because of flu-like symptoms. The first indication that Zimmermann might be on track to prevent the Nats from employing a bullpen game tomorrow is the fact that the team used...

There will be a very special first pitch ceremony tonight at Camden Yards. It will be thrown by Erika Brannock, a 29-year-old teacher at a Towson preschool. It was almost a year ago when Erika lost part of her left leg in the Boston Marathon bombing. She was near the finish line to watch her mom, Carol Downing, finish the race. Erika's comeback from her injuries in Boston has been very inspirational. She certainly has a strong attachment now to both cities and it's only natural that if she...

Tanner Roark didn't know he'd be on the mound Thursday until right around three hours before first pitch. Jordan Zimmermann walked in sick and the Nats turned to tomorrow's scheduled starter in a pinch. Didn't turn out to be much of an obstacle once he got past allowing a two-run Mets rally in the first inning. The Nationals right-hander held New York scoreless over his last five frames, opening his season with a quality start - two earned runs in six innings to earn the decision in an 8-2...

The Orioles are not exactly tearing it up on offense so far, batting just .194 (12-for-62) as a team and with just four runs scored. The O's have just two extra-base hits in two games and both were homers and both by Nelson Cruz. The rest of the team has no extra-base hits in 56 total at-bats. Cruz, who signed a one-year deal for $8 million dollars on Feb. 24, is enjoying his first few weeks as an Oriole. "It's going good. I feel really blessed," he said this afternoon in the Orioles...