ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Three games, three different designated hitters. Orioles manager Buck Showalter is shuffling the DH deck again today, going from Steve Pearce on Tuesday to Nolan Reimold yesterday to Ryan Flaherty this afternoon in the series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays. Nate McLouth remains in the leadoff spot. For the Orioles Nate McLouth LF Manny Machado 3B Nick Markakis RF Adam Jones CF Chris Davis 1B Matt Wieters C J.J. Hardy SS Ryan Flaherty DH Brian Roberts...

Following a popular inaugural season, the Orioles will continue the Birdland Passport program in 2013. The program rewards fans who visit Oriole Park at Camden Yards and the Orioles' local minor league affiliates. All five minor league affiliates - the Norfolk Tides, Bowie Baysox, Frederick Keys, Delmarva Shorebirds and Aberdeen IronBirds - will continue to participate in the program. "Having all six ballparks located within such close proximity allows for this unique program to be...

Let this stat sink in: Chris Davis has hit nine homers over his last nine regular season games. He has homered in eight of those nine games. He homered in six in a row late last year, took game 162 off and is now 2-for-2. I guess that is pretty good. I also guess talk that Davis could hit 40 this year is not just hype. He clearly is capable of it. And it does seem he is a bit of a streaky homer hitter. Last season, even before that late-season homer barrage, he homered in back-to-back games...

For the first 25 years of my life, Major League Baseball's opening day was a romanticized fantasy played out in my head. It was an all-elusive game that one day I'd attend, though I didn't know when, where, why, or how. Growing up mere minutes from Wrigley Field was always such a tease, but I knew dad would never take us kids out of school for the game no matter how hard I begged. I'll also venture to guess that tickets to a Wrigley Field opening day game weren't exactly cheap even back in...

Michael Morse smacked another home run last night for the Mariners, giving him three in the last two days. The former Nationals slugger has four hits on the season. Three have left the yard. That man sure can hit. Morse better keep going deep, though. He's got Gio Gonzalez right on his tail in the home run department. For those who haven't gotten a chance to make it out to Nats Park yet, it appears the team is going to be using the song "Take on Me" as part of its seventh-inning stretch...

He has got one of the most famous brothers in all of baseball. He is a southpaw looking to make it to the majors. He has played for a national champion. But all the questions come back to his talented younger brother, Bryce. Left-hander Bryan Harper of the Hagerstown Suns says that is all good, because his dream is to someday join his brother with the Nationals. "I will at least have the opportunity to play with him at some point," Bryan said. "That is one driving factor. Obviously,...

If you want to talk about the changes, upgrades and improvements in the Orioles' minor leagues over the last, say, 10 or more years, Baltimore native Gary Kendall is a great guy to talk to. The 2013 season is his 14th in the Orioles' organization and he has managed at Bluefield, Delmarva, Aberdeen and Bowie. This will be his this third year as Baysox manager after he led the team to a record of 75-66 in 2011 and to a mark of 78-64 last year. In 2012, he guided the team to an Eastern League...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - I woke up and it hit me. This is my last morning in Florida until I make a return trip to The Trop. I left my house on Feb. 11. I have no idea if I'll be able to find it. The challenge will be to catch my 9:20 p.m. flight out of Tampa. Today's game begins at 3:10 p.m. I really can't afford one of those 18-inning thrillers, or five pitching changes in the top of the eighth inning. Should I be forced to leave before the final out, we'll never speak of it...

You might not know it by looking at his pitching line - or his batting line, for that matter - but Gio Gonzalez was battling a pretty bad headache during his 2013 regular season debut tonight. Gonzalez started feeling the headache prior to first pitch and relied on consistent massages on his temple from trainer John Hsu and some Advil in order to get through his six shutout innings in the Nationals' 3-0 win. "Every inning, all the way to the fifth, where it was constantly getting massaged...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Tommy Hunter left a pitch over the middle of the plate tonight in the bottom of the ninth inning. Then came the slow walk to the clubhouse. Matt Joyce, who began the game on the bench, homered to right field to give Tampa Bay a wild 8-7 victory over the Orioles. Joyce got ahead 3-1 and evened the series. "He put a good swing on it," Hunter said after allowing the first walk-off hit of his career. "It was just not an executed pitch." Hunter retired the side in...