One of the nice things about great individual performances are that they bring attention to past player accomplishments. Such is the case with Manny Machado and Brian Roberts. Machado hit his major league-leading 33rd double of the season this week, which tied Roberts' Orioles record for most doubles prior to an All-Star Game. Machado is likely to break that 2008 mark as soon as this weekend and has Roberts' single-season franchise record for doubles in his sights. After setting an Orioles...

Mike Rizzo reluctantly parted with 2010 fourth-round pick A.J. Cole in the December 2011 trade with the Oakland A's that brought Gio Gonzalez to the nation's capital in return for Cole, left-hander Tom Milone, right-hander Brad Peacock and catcher Derek Norris. Given a chance to reacquire Cole a year later when the Athletics got involved in three-team talks with the Nationals and Seattle Mariners, Rizzo pulled the trigger on a deal that brought the 21-year-old Cole back to the organization...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter had a plan for third baseman Manny Machado. He formulated it over the winter, kept it quiet and sprung it on the media - and the world - toward the end of spring training. Showalter elevated Machado to second in the order in a late exhibition game. Since the rest of the lineup seemed to be designed for opening day in St. Petersburg, it was safe to assume that Machado would be the No. 2 hitter for the Orioles. Showalter downplayed it, of course, saying that...

The All-Star Game is just a few weeks away now. And if Jordan Zimmermann's 10-3 record and 2.26 ERA aren't doing enough to convince people that the 27-year-old right-hander belongs in the Midsummer Classic, his teammates are sure going to lend him some vocal support. "Oh absolutely. Yeah, no question," Adam LaRoche said, when asked whether Zimmermann deserves his first All-Star Game selection. "He's had, I don't know, maybe two rough outings. Other than that, he's absolutely dominated....

The first thing Davey Johnson said as he approached the podium for his postgame press conference after tonight's 5-1 win over the Rockies wasn't related to Jordan Zimmermann's stellar eight-inning outing or Adam LaRoche's three-hit, two-RBI night. It related to Anthony Rendon's eighth-inning error that put the potential game-tying run in the on-deck circle and brought Rockies slugger Carlos Gonzalez up with two runners on and one out. "My second baseman gave me a heart attack," Johnson...

Everyone has been talking about Superman since "Man of Steel" has been rocking the box offices the past week. It led us to consider: Who is the Nationals' "Man of Steel"? Is it Ian Desmond, who has hit two home runs in the past two games? Is it Jordan Zimmermann, who is tied for the major league lead with 10 wins? Perhaps it's one of the Nats' younger talents, Stephen Strasburg or Bryce Harper. With a well-balanced lineup, it's difficult to choose just one "Man of Steel". But, with...

While the Orioles enjoyed an off-day Thursday, the Detroit Tigers beat Boston 4-3 on Jhonny Peralta's two-run walkoff homer in the last of the ninth. The homer came off Andrew Bailey and it was his fourth blown save of the year. That Red Sox loss moved the Orioles to within one game of first place in the American League East. It is the closest the Orioles have been since May 12 as they begin a series in Toronto tonight against a Jays team that has won eight in a row. The Blue Jays have been...

First baseman Adam LaRoche would be the first to admit the last couple of weeks have not been very much fun for him at the plate. Heading into Thursday's game against Colorado, LaRoche was batting .156 (5-for-32) in those past 10 games. Manager Davey Johnson sensed his veteran was scuffling a bit at the plate and gave him Monday's game at Philadelphia off. He did have a pinch-hit at-bat in that game, but went 0-for-1. Now, in his last three starts, he has six hits. Thursday was the best of...

In his eight innings of work tonight, Jordan Zimmermann got into very little trouble. He allowed just two runners to get into scoring positing through the seventh and set down 16 straight hitters at one point. Zimmermann was cruising, pounding the strike zone and setting down the Rockies with relative ease. In the eighth, the right-hander finally needed to work his way out of a jam, albeit one that was partially created by some shaky defense. After Zimmermann walked Josh Rutledge with one...

The Orioles tonight have agreed to signing bonus terms with their top draft pick, high school pitcher Hunter Harvey, MASNsports.com has learned. The 22nd overall pick in the draft, it is believed Harvey's deal is around the slot value for that pick of $1,947,600. Harvey is expected to take a physical early next week to make the deal official. Harvey is a right-hander from Bandys High School in Catawba, N.C., and was rated by Baseball America as the 33rd-best overall player and the...