The Orioles rode another roller coaster of emotions yesterday. No height requirement. And keeping your hands inside at all times was purely optional. Manager Buck Showalter was saddened to learn that catcher Taylor Teagarden had been designated for assignment. Definitely not his call. Then, his team fell behind 3-0 and starter Wei-Yin Chen made another early exit. Nobody called for that scenario. The Orioles erupted for seven runs in the top of the seventh inning, beat the Yankees and...

The Orioles won just one of three games over the weekend and they gained a game on the Tampa Bay Rays, who got swept by Oakland. Remember when it seemed like Tampa Bay would never lose again? The Rays are 1-7 in their last eight games. Remember when the Orioles took the series from Oakland? The A's are 6-1 since leaving Baltimore. Things can change fast folks. If you think the Orioles are not playoff contenders, guess again. They are three games behind Tampa Bay for the second wild card as...

Trailing 5-2 going to the bottom of the seventh, the Nationals were nine offensive outs from a sweep at the hands of the Mets. They now lead 6-5 as we go to the ninth. A Wilson Ramos RBI single in the seventh cut the Mets' lead to two, and then the Nats exploded for three runs in the eighth, with Jayson Werth's double to the gap in right-center scoring Ryan Zimmerman from first to cap the comeback. Scott Hairston and Denard Span singled to start the eighth, and after a sac bunt front Bryce...

I appeared on a New York podcast late last week to talk Orioles-Yankees going into the weekend. Out of the 45 minutes of questions they asked, two stood out: Will the Orioles make a move before the waiver trade deadline, and which player(s) are you watching the closest as the pennant race heats up and the season winds down. My answer to question one was that indeed I did believe the Birds would make a deal. My response to the second question was that whoever the Orioles did pick up in a trade...

The Reds lost in Colorado today, so if the Nationals can pick up a win tonight, they can get back to 6 1/2 games behind Cincinnati in the wild card chase. They're certainly not off to a good start. The Nats trail 2-0 after a half inning thanks to a shaky start by Ross Ohlendorf. The veteran right-hander allowed back-to-back doubles to Eric Young and Daniel Murphy to start the game, then surrendered an RBI single to Lucas Duda to give the Mets a two-run lead. The first four Mets hitters to...

None of the Nationals' first three September call-ups are new faces. We've seen left-hander Ian Krol, right-hander Erik Davis and catcher Sandy Leon up with the Nats before. That doesn't mean those three guys aren't thrilled to be back in the big leagues. Krol was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse just 11 days ago after a rough stretch with the Nats, but he quickly finds himself back at Nationals Park. And the call-up couldn't have come soon enough. "Seems like a month (ago)," Krol said...

The Gulf Coast League Nationals defeated the GCL Red Sox 7-2 today to capture the GCL championship in Fort Myers, Fla. Third baseman Drew Ward was 2-5 with a double and an RBI. Right-hander Wander Suero got the start and struck out seven batters in five innings to notch the win. The GCL Nats had the best regular season record in Gulf Coast League history, going 49-9 for a .845 winning percentage. It was also the best winning percentage for any rookie league team dating back to the 1979...

NEW YORK - Making his first appearance with the Orioles today after Friday afternoon's trade, Michael Morse collected two hits and ignited the decisive seventh-inning rally with a leadoff single. Baseball is fun again. Nothing like a pennant race to invigorate a guy. "I love it," Morse said after the Orioles' 7-3 win over the Yankees. "This is what we play for. This is a great team, a great organization and there's so much upside to this organization and this team. And I think these...

NEW YORK - Orioles manager Buck Showalter had to enjoy the seventh-run outburst today in the top of the seventh inning. It ended an 18-inning scoreless drought. It made all the difference in the outcome. The Orioles sent 10 batters to the plate, with J.J. Hardy and Adam Jones hitting three-run homers, and a sweep was averted with a 7-3 victory over the Yankees. "I think it's a little frustration there. They didn't want it to end," Showalter said. Here's more from Showalter's post-game...

For the Orioles the offense finally came. It came in a seven-run explosion which featured a pair of three-run homers in the top of the seventh today as the Orioles beat the Yankees 7-3 to win the series finale and avoid being swept. Shutout for the last two days without one extra-base hit through six innings today, J.J. Hardy hit a three-run homer to give the O's a 4-3 lead and Adam Jones smoked a three-run shot to center to make it 7-3. Michael Morse and Danny Valencia singled to lead off...