Don't panic Birdland, don't panic. In this social media age, which includes our blog comments here, we saw some big-time venting after the Orioles' loss last night. The fans now can react publicly and immediately and they do when it doesn't go well. Don't hold it in, I guess. OK, let's talk big picture first. The Orioles have won 15 of 25 games. They have won four straight series. They are 4-1 in five AL East series and 9-6 in AL East games. They are 8-5 in road games. They even look...

The Orioles didn't wait long to find another backup catcher. According to a text message from executive vice president Dan Duquette, the Orioles have acquired catcher Chris Snyder from the Los Angeles Angels for reliever Rob Delaney in a minor league deal. Update: The Orioles and Angels both announced the trade. Snyder, 32, could join the Orioles in Seattle on Monday night, according to Duquette, and will have his contract selected this week. Luis Exposito, who met up with the club in...

I could hear the blood pressure of some fans rising after yesterday's loss. My ears popped when it spiked. It's never easy to surrender a five-run lead, blow a two-run lead in the ninth and commit back-to-back throwing errors in the 10th that hands a game to the opponent. That'll make you chew nails for the rest of the night. To the fans who wondered why Jim Johnson didn't pitch yesterday, I'll repeat that he was used on five of the previous six days. No game is worth having his arm fall...

Syracuse Chiefs starter Danny Rosenbaum is off to a great beginning for 2013. Fresh off his return to the Nationals from the Colorado Rockies, who plucked him in the Rule 5 draft, Rosenbaum is 2-1 with a 1.14 ERA in four starts. Rosenbaum has tossed 23 2/3 innings and allowed only three runs, 16 hits, one homer, eight walks and has struck out five. Saturday's gem over Durham was the best of all the starts so far this season. Against the Bulls, Rosenbaum went seven innings, allowing only...

Of all the red-letter days in Washington's baseball history, Nationals fans may well look back on April 28, 2012 as the most important date of all. It was on that date that a 19-year-old rookie named Bryce Aron Max Harper made his major league debut, amid the media spotlight of Los Angeles. He singled and drove in a run for a Nats team that was struggling offensively, and while Washington would fall to the Dodgers, both Harper and the Nats would soon heat up and not look back. Harper...

So close to their first four-game sweep at Oakland since May 22-25, 1987. The Orioles lost a 5-0 lead after five innings and a two-run lead in the last of the ninth today, and fell 9-8 in 10 innings to Oakland. After Yoenis Cespedes hit a two-run homer with one out in the the last of the ninth off Brian Matusz to tie it 8-8, the Orioles defense came unglued as they lost it an inning later. Eric Sogard led off the 10th with a single off Pedro Strop and advanced to second on a bunt when Strop...

Nate McLouth and Manny Machado have combined for eight hits, two RBIs and five runs scored today. The Orioles have a pretty nice one-two combination at the top of their order. McLouth produced his first four-hit game in four years. Machado has his first career four-hit game. McLouth, who's scored four of the runs, is batting .351. He's making $2 million this season. That's quite a bargain. Machado, who's accounted for both RBIs, has raised his average to .302. He seems pretty...

Following this afternoon's 5-2 loss to the Reds, in which Adam LaRoche went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, making him 0-for-his-last-26, a frustrated LaRoche was asked how he feels at the plate right now. "Probably about as good as it looks," he said. Yeah, LaRoche is upset at himself for how he's been playing lately. He has 13 strikeouts in his last eight games and doesn't have a hit in more than a week. But he's going to keep fighting, trying to claw out of this deep slump and get...

This afternoon's game officially lasted three hours, 27 minutes. It sure felt a good bit longer than that. The Reds beat the Nationals 5-2 today, salvaging the final game of this four-game series and avoiding a sweep at the hands of their hosts. It wasn't a pretty ballgame to say the least, especially from the Nationals' side. Ross Detwiler allowed 11 hits and four runs over five innings, Anthony Rendon and Danny Espinosa made errors, Henry Rodriguez threw four strikes in a 17-pitch outing...

So much for that scoreless tie in Oakland. Nate McLouth, Manny Machado, Nick Markakis and Adam Jones singled in succession to produce the game's first run in the top of the fourth inning. Chris Davis drove in two more runs with a double and Matt Wieters produced a sacrifice fly. The Orioles didn't knock out Oakland starter Bartolo Colon. They just peppered him with jabs. McLouth has reached base safely in 19 of his last 33 plate appearances. Over his last nine games, he's 12-for-26 with...