The Orioles used early and late offense and a strong outing from Bud Norris to win 7-2 today at Cleveland in the opener of a three-game series against a rival wild-card playoff contender. The Orioles are 2-0 in September. Hey, it's a start. The win allowed the Orioles to stay ahead of Cleveland and New York, which also won, in the race for the AL's second wild card spot. If Tampa Bay loses tonight at Anaheim the O's would be two games out for that spot. Norris took a shutout to the...

PHILADELPHIA - Expect five more minor leaguers to get called up to join the Nationals tomorrow. The Nats plan to promote left-handed pitcher Xavier Cedeno and four position players tomorrow, rounding out their September call-ups. Cedeno and the bulk of the position players are already on the 40-man roster, so the Nats won't need to do much maneuvering there. Even if that was necessary, they only currently have 38 players on the 40-man. Outfielders Jeff Kobernus, Corey Brown and Eury Perez...

PHILADELPHIA - Prior to his release exactly two weeks ago today, Roger Bernadina was the longest-tenured member of the Nationals organization. Tonight, he'll face off against his former team for the first time, wearing the colors of a hated division rival. After having a career season last year, hitting .291/.372/.405 in 261 plate appearances with the Nats, Bernadina's production dropped off mightily this season. He hit just .178/.247/.270 in 167 plate appearances, with just two homers and...

In three home starts with the Orioles this season, right-hander Bud Norris is 2-0 with a 7.27 ERA. He's allowed 13 earned runs in 16 1/3 innings. In three road starts with the Orioles, Norris is 1-0 with a 2.20 ERA. He's allowed four earned runs in 16 1/3 innings. Same amount of starts and innings. Vastly different results. Norris is carving up Cleveland today, permitting only one hit, walking one and striking out seven over five scoreless innings. He's retired 10 batters in a...

Now that Triple-A Norfolk has been eliminated from playoff contention, losing its final game today against Durham and the tie-breaker with Rochester, the Orioles will begin picking through the Tides' roster. The Orioles will recall outfielder Henry Urrutia, infielder Jonathan Schoop and pitcher Josh Stinson as part of their roster expansion. The trio will head to Cleveland for the series that begins today at Progressive Field. Infielder Ryan Flaherty also will join the team in Cleveland...

PHILADELPHIA - The Nationals will cross paths with Roger Bernadina tonight for the first time since Bernadina was released Aug. 19 by the only major league organization he'd ever known. After his release, Bernadina pulled a John Lannan and signed with the Phillies, choosing to stay in the National League East and play in a park with which he has a good bit of familiarity. Bernadina will hit eighth and play right field for the Phillies tonight, and he'll dig in against Nats righty Stephen...

The Orioles begin a three-game series in Cleveland today with Bud Norris (3-1, 4.91 ERA) facing Justin Masterson (14-9, 3.49 ERA). Norris is looking for a career-high 10th win counting his wins earlier with Houston. The Orioles are 5-1 in his six starts this season. Some other O's and Tribe notes: * The Orioles have gotten just three quality starts over their last nine games with an ERA of 5.73 for their starting pitchers in that stretch. * Cleveland ended a five-game losing streak with...

Launched in July, MASN has been rewarding its top fans on social media with exclusive Orioles prizes. By sharing Facebook posts, retweeting our writers, tagging Instagram pictures with #masnOrioles and more, fans have earned points, which at the end of the month, accumulated and earned them signed gear from their favorite Orioles. Well, this month is no different. Signed Adam Jones baseballs and a bat autographed by the center fielder are on deck for September. Be sure to sign up for "Touch...

Launched in July, MASN has been rewarding its top fans on social media with exclusive Nationals prizes. By sharing Facebook posts, retweeting our writers, tagging Instagram pictures with #masnNationals and more, fans have earned points, which at the end of the month, accumulated and earned them signed gear from their favorite Nationals. Well, this month is no different. Signed Denard Span baseballs and a bat autographed by the center fielder are on deck for September. Be sure to sign up for...

The Orioles today announced that they have recalled left-hander Zach Britton from Triple-A Norfolk. Britton, 25, is 2-3 with a 4.76 ERA (34.0IP, 18ER) in six starts for the Orioles this season. In 19 starts for Norfolk, Britton was 6-5 with a 4.27 ERA (103.1IP, 49ER). In 46 career games (45 starts) for the Orioles, Britton is 18-17 with a 4.74 ERA (248.2IP, 131ER).