The announcement earlier this week that Roberto Alomar would be the latest inductee into the Orioles' Hall of Fame this summer sparked a debate over his worthiness and who should be next in line. The knock on Alomar: He only played three seasons here - the minimum requirement for induction - and only posted two really good ones. The third season was sub-par by his standards. His heart wasn't in it. He's probably the best overall player that I've covered. As a former teammate once noted,...

ATLANTA - In case you missed the final out of last night's 3-1 Nationals win, you missed a postgame celebration that's starting to grow in popularity. For years now, Rafael Soriano has untucked his jersey after notching a save. Last night, MASN's cameras caught Ian Desmond

Orioles fans have marveled at the play of the now 20-year-old Manny Machado since his call up to the major leagues last August. The kid has clearly taken his game to a new level in recent weeks and a lot of people are noticing. That includes the national media. On MLB Network's "MLB Now" Wednesday, former Oriole and current network analyst Bill Ripken anchored a segment where he said when you talk about the top young players in the game - and the current crop is pretty outstanding - you...

After their starting pitchers had worked a total of 20 1/3 innings over the last four games, the Orioles were hoping Chris Tillman could get them a deep outing in the series opener at Anaheim against the Angels - and he delivered. Pitching near his Fountain Valley, Calif., home, Tillman gave up just three singles over eight shutout innings as the O's beat Los Angeles 5-1 to improve to 5-3 on this road trip. Tillman gave up two walks and a single in the first, but Nick Markakis threw Mike...

ATLANTA - If you've read any of Dan Haren's quotes following a start or seen his postgame interviews on MASN, you've probably noticed that Haren is as self-aware and honest a player as you'll find in the majors. If Haren stinks, he'll tell you he stinks. If he needs to stop messing around and throw more strikes, he'll say so. Tonight, following his eight-inning gem in a 3-1 Nationals win over the Braves, Haren discussed what went right in his outing while also reflecting on what had...

If the sixth inning doesn't jump up and bite Chris Tillman - it tends to happen to Orioles starters - he's headed toward an outstanding start in his first game in Anaheim. Tillman's having quite a time at his homecoming. He's retired 11 batters in a row and holding tightly to a 2-0 lead over the Angels. Joe Blanton had allowed only one run until the sixth. Insane. But Adam Jones singled with one out and scored on Chris Davis' double - his 29th RBI on the season. Jones had fouled a ball...

ATLANTA - Two nights ago, after an 8-1 Nationals loss, Davey Johnson started his postgame session with reporters by asking whether he really needed to discuss another defeat at the hands of the Braves. Tonight, Johnson was more than happy to talk about the Nats' second win over Atlanta in as many nights. "That was fun," a smiling Johnson said to open his postgame press conference. Dan Haren went eight innings, allowing just one run on four hits in what was far and away his best start as...

The Orioles' lineup is definitely top-heavy again tonight. The first five batters are posting averages of .329 (Nate McLouth), .311 (Manny Machado), .284 (Nick Markakis), .333 (Adam Jones) and .337 (Chris Davis). The bottom four are posting averages of .228 (Matt Wieters), .194 (J.J. Hardy), .117 (Ryan Flaherty) and .203 (Nolan Reimold). Wieters is 5-for-15 in his last four games, with a double, home run and five RBIs. That's encouraging. Hardy has registered his first two multi-hit games...

ATLANTA - After four starts to begin the season that ranged from average to ugly, Dan Haren might be turning a corner. Haren has been tremendous tonight, throwing seven frames of one-run ball against the Braves, allowing just three hits and striking out three. Perhaps even more remarkable than the pitching line has been Haren's efficiency. He's needed just 69 pitches to get through his seven innings of work, and 47 of those pitches have been strikes. That's an average of 9.9 pitches per...

For the second night in a row, the Orioles face a pitcher who doesn't look very good on the stat sheet. It didn't turn out that well for Baltimore last night. That is when Aaron Harang began the night with an ERA of 11.37 and batting average against of .362 and then shut out the Orioles for the first five innings of the game and got the win, allowing two runs over six innings for Seattle. Tonight, the Orioles face the Angels' Joe Blanton, who is 0-4 with a 7.09 ERA in five starts. Opposing...