When I made my season predictions earlier today, my take on the Orioles' offense was that it could be league average or a tick or two above that this season. One game is a rather small sample size, don't you think, but it was an impressive start this afternoon with seven runs, six extra-base hits and 13 overall hits in the win over Tampa. Anytime you can win a game started by David Price - who was 7-2 with a 1.81 ERA at the Trop in 2012 - it's impressive. It sure was. With all the offense...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Adam Jones doubled twice, singled and drove in two runs today that gave the Orioles a 4-3 lead in the top of the seventh inning. Three hits on opening day? So, what else is new? Jones has recorded three-hit games in three of his six openers with the Orioles. He's 10-for-19 (.526) during that stretch. The Orioles were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position when Jones batted in the seventh. He fell behind 0-2 to Rays reliever Jake McGee and ripped a two-run double to...

Under normal circumstances, Rafael Soriano picking up his first save as a National on opening day with a dominant ninth inning would be something we'd be discussing immediately following the game. With what Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg did yesterday, however, Soriano's performance took a bit of a backseat. Now that we've broken down Harper and Strasburg's efforts backwards and forwards and backwards again, however, we can talk a bit about Soriano's 1-2-3 ninth, which included two...

With one big swing in the first inning and two huge swings in the seventh, the Orioles beat Tampa Bay 7-4 today to win their opener for the 10th time in the last 13 years. Last season, the Orioles scored six runs total in their last four games at Tropicana Field. Jason Hammel had allowed just one run on 56 pitches through five innings until Tampa Bay scored twice in the sixth to take a short-lived 3-2 lead. The Orioles then quickly exploded for five runs in the seventh against lefty Jake...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Orioles are 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position today, and it's come back to haunt them. Tampa Bay left-hander David Price is done after six innings and 100 pitches. He served up a two-run homer to Matt Wieters in the first, but that's all the scoring off him. Jason Hammel carried a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the sixth, but he walked No. 9 hitter Kelly Johnson to lead off the inning. As you know, nothing good ever comes from a leadoff walk, especially to...

HAGERSTOWN - The older brother of the Nationals' famous young hitter, a new-look uniform and a brand new manager highlight the 2013 version of Single-A Hagerstown Suns. Tripp Keister was promoted from the GCL Nats and takes over for Brian Daubach, who moved on to Single-A Potomac. The Suns feature several talented draft picks and eight Dominican players this season. They also will wear red- and blue-trimmed uniforms, more in tune with their top team, the Washington Nationals. "I think we...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Tampa Bay left-hander David Price retired the first two Orioles in the top of the first inning. Then he ran into a little trouble. It was compounded when catcher Matt Wieters ran into a changeup. Wieters launched a two-run homer to left-center field following Adam Jones' double, giving the Orioles a quick 2-0 lead over the reigning Cy Young Award winner. Price missed with a 95 mph fastball, then tried an 87 mph changeup. Wieters, batting cleanup today, responded with...

Well, if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best, right? Today the Orioles face one of the American League's best on opening day in Tampa Bay lefty David Price. He went 20-5 with a 2.56 ERA last year and won the AL Cy Young Award in a close vote over Justin Verlander. He was the first AL East pitcher to win the award since Boston's Pedro Martinez in 2003. Price was dominant against the Orioles last season, going 2-0 with a 0.40 ERA, allowing just one run and 13 hits in 22 1/3...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Three players in the Orioles clubhouse made an opening day roster for the first time in their major league careers: Pitchers Miguel Gonzalez and T.J. McFarland, and third baseman Manny Machado. McFarland is getting his first exposure to the majors after being selected from the Cleveland Indians' organization in the Rule 5 draft. "Before I came over here, I was looking at T.J. and wondering what must be going through his mind right now," said manager Buck Showalter....

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Orioles manager Buck Showalter looked ahead at the upcoming pitching matchups and figured that he needed to get Steve Pearce in the lineup today as the designated hitter against Tampa Bay's David Price. The Orioles may not face another left-hander for a while, and Showalter didn't want Pearce to sit for too long. "It looks like we're going to go quite a while, the equivalent of about 10 days if you go back to the last time Stevie played in a game, before we face a...