Left-hander T.J. McFarland found out after last night's game that he would make his first major league start tonight against the New York Yankees. Manager Buck Showalter approached McFarland at his locker and delivered the news. And he didn't take a direct path with it. "I asked him, 'What time do you usually get here?'" Showalter recalled. "He said, 'Oh, about 1 o'clock.' I said, 'Why don't you get here around 3:30 and be ready to pitch the first inning instead of the second,...

Tonight T.J. McFarland gets a big opportunity. It's his first chance to show the Orioles what he can do as a starting pitcher as he takes the mound against the Yankees. McFarland is 1-0 with a 4.14 ERA, and the Rule 5 pick has been effective in a long relief role. But he's been a starter most of his minor league career. He made 116 career appearances before this season and 107 were as a starter. Every outing he had the last two years came as a starter, with most of those at Double-A and some...

It was after one of the late season games last season when the Orioles' Nate McLouth compared the Camden Yards fans to a college football crowd. He thought the home-field advantage was that good then. McLouth would like to see the same turnout this weekend, when big crowds are expected for all three games of the Yankees-Orioles series that starts here tonight. "I can just speak on what I'd heard that Camden Yards seemed to be a place in the past where a lot of New York fans would come and...

Brian Roberts is expected to play nine innings at second base tonight for Triple-A Norfolk, drive to Baltimore Saturday morning and come off the disabled list on Sunday. The Orioles would prefer that he avoid traveling on the day that he's activated and inserted into the lineup. Roberts isn't coming here to sit on the bench. He's going directly into the lineup, most likely batting ninth. Infielder Wilson Betemit resumed baseball-related activities today in Sarasota. He was shut down for a...

NEW YORK - Greetings from Citi Field on a slightly muggy but otherwise nice day. Looks like we'll avoid the storm clouds that apparently are hovering around those of you back in the mid-Atlantic region. There was a point where I wasn't sure whether I'd make it here at all. The cab driver I had take me to my hotel was quite possibly the worst driver I've ever seen. I'm not 100 percent sure he'd ever driven a car prior to today. Luckily, I'm here safe and sound. Tonight the Nationals...

Rule 5 pick T.J. McFarland makes his first major league start tonight to open a three-game series against the New York Yankees at Camden Yards. McFarland is the 12th starter used by the Orioles this season, matching last year's total. Manager Buck Showalter is breaking out his right-handed lineup, which is interesting, considering that the Yankees are starting right-hander David Phelps. Nick Markakis is leading off. J.J. Hardy is batting third. Nate McLouth has been lowered to eighth....

The Texas Rangers thought enough of Matt Purke coming out of Klein High School near Houston, Texas, that they took the 6-foot-3 prep school lefty with the 14th overall pick in the 2009 First-Year Player Draft. Purke was 12-1 with 147 strikeouts (17.26 K/9) and a 0.37 ERA in 76 2/3 innings pitched as a junior and 4-2 with a 1.18 ERA and 91 strikeouts (17.30 K/9) in 47 1/3 innings of work in his senior year. There were rumors of a well-above slot $6 million deal for the pitcher, which was...

The Orioles turned around several years of losing to the Yankees in 2012, the year they ended their long playoff drought. After going 5-13 against New York from 2009-11, the Orioles went 9-9 vs. the Yankees in the regular season last year. They lost the first four games the teams played and are 12-8 in the last 20 regular season games. The teams have split six games this season with New York scoring 22 runs to the O's 20. ESPN's Buster Olney, who will be in town this weekend for the...

Here's the good news: The Nationals are looking like they've got three top-of-the-rotation starting pitchers right now. Jordan Zimmermann is tied for the major league lead with 11 wins and has a 2.28 ERA. Gio Gonzalez has bounced back from a rocky April and owns a 2.32 ERA over his last 10 starts. And after yesterday's outing, Stephen Strasburg has a 2.41 ERA on the season. Over his last eight starts (one of which was a two-inning, injury-shortened outing), Strasburg's ERA is a ridiculous...

It continues to be a busy time on Eutaw Street. After the 2012 season produced a record nine Eutaw Street home runs, the Indians' Lonnie Chisenhall hit the fourth such home run of the 2013 season Thursday night. His blast was the 70th home run to reach Eutaw Street since Oriole Park at Camden Yards opened in 1992. There have only been five seasons when batters reached Eutaw Street more than four times - 1996 (seven), 1999 (five), 2008 (eight), 2011 (five) and 2012 (nine). This could be the...