ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Orioles were swept by the Rays in a four-game series at Tropicana Field. They've lost five games in a row and are five behind the Indians for the second wild card. They only have six left in the regular season. Could it get any worse? It did today with a knee injury to Manny Machado and a possible concussion suffered by Alexi Casilla. The fear, of course, is that Machado tore ligaments in his left knee. An MRI in Baltimore on Monday could bring confirmation. The...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Orioles manager Buck Showalter had lots to say about losing Manny Machado and Alexi Casilla to injuries in today's 5-4 loss to the Rays before 17,830 at Tropicana Field. I'll give you his quotes, and later pass along comments from concerned teammates. "It started out as a real good road trip and we ran into some problems here and a lot of that has to do with Tampa," Showalter said. "They played real well. It's frustrating because our guys really left it all out on...

ST. LOUIS - Tanner Roark gets the start tonight for the Nationals in the opener of their three-game set with the Cardinals, but this will probably be the last time we'll see the rookie right-hander start a game this season. Manager Davey Johnson has laid out his rotation for the remainder of the season, and he'll have Roark move back to the bullpen following tonight's game. Gio Gonzalez will start tomorrow night, followed by Jordan Zimmermann in the series finale Wednesday afternoon. Then...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Orioles third baseman Manny Machado will fly back with the team tonight and undergo an MRI on his left knee Tuesday morning in Baltimore. Machado had the knee X-rayed at Tropicana Field, but the film hasn't been read. Machado was taken off the field on a stretcher in the seventh inning after his knee buckled and ankle turned as he hit the bag on an infield single. The Orioles don't want to speculate on the severity of the injury until the MRI. Machado wasn't...

A bad series ended badly. James Loney led off the last of the ninth with a homer to right off Tommy Hunter as Tampa Bay beat the Orioles 5-4 to complete a four-game sweep. The loss in the series finale this afternoon was overshadowed by what happened in the top of the seventh inning. The Orioles and their fans had to watch as their talented 21-year-old third baseman, Manny Machado, was taken from the field on a stretcher. Machado hit a grounder to second that was bobbled. As he reached the...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Orioles' road trip just got a whole lot worse. Manny Machado was taken off the field on a stretcher, his left leg immobilized, after tripping over first base in the top of the seventh inning. He appeared to suffer an injury to his knee. Machado let out a scream and laid on his side while athletic trainers Richie Bancells and Brian Ebel and manager Buck Showalter raced out of the dugout. First base coach Wayne Kirby immediately ran to Machado, who had tears in his...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Rays manager Joe Maddon continues to take full advantage of the expanded September roster. Some would say he abuses it. Maddon used four pitchers in the top of the fifth, again playing matchups in the middle innings. He can't control himself. Orioles manager Buck Showalter continues to show more restraint, but he removed starter Wei-Yin Chen today after 4 1/3 innings with the Orioles leading 4-2. Sean Rodriguez led off the fifth with a double. Ben Zobrist struck out...

ST. LOUIS - We've got a pretty strong pitching matchup tonight at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, as Cardinals right-hander Adam Wainwright will oppose Nationals righty Tanner Roark. If I had written that sentence back in June, you all would've thought I was drunk. But while Roark obviously isn't on Wainwright's level, he has burst onto the scene over the last couple of months and started to turn some heads. Roark is 7-0 with a 1.08 ERA over 41 2/3 innings this season. He's yet to allow a...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Orioles have a lead for the first time since the top of the seventh inning Friday night. Continue to breathe normally. Chris Davis belted a two-run homer off the batter's eye in center field - naturally going to the deepest part of the ballpark - to wipe out Tampa Bay's 1-0 lead in the fourth inning. He increased his team-record single-season home run total to 52 and upped his RBI total to 136. The Orioles lead the majors with 201 homers, but Davis produced the...

Winning Sunday's nightcap was nice, but the realization of the predicament the Nationals put themselves in came Sunday afternoon at home when they dropped a 4-2 decision to the Marlins. "It didn't help it, for sure," said center fielder Denard Span. "It just made it tougher on us to try to pull this thing out. We are going to keep fighting until we are absolutely out of it. We are stumbling right now, but we are going to keep fighting until it is over." But that does not mean that they...