For a franchise that has produced many special players over the years and seen many others pass this way, to generations of O's fans, no Oriole is beloved more than Brooks Robinson. Simply stated, he was a Hall of Fame player and is a Hall of Fame person. Over the years, thousands upon thousands of fans must have had a chance to meet Brooks, and probably every one came away blown away by the man's kindness and warmth. He's from Little Rock, Ark., but we have long since claimed him for our...

ST. LOUIS - It's not often that a 10-run loss in the heat of a playoff race can be brushed aside so quickly. Fortunately for the Nationals, they're in a position that allowed last night's 12-2 loss to the Cardinals to be put in the rear-view mirror as soon as they walked out of Busch Stadium. Yes, they got whooped up on to the point that they'd essentially thrown in the towel in the fifth inning. It wasn't the prettiest game of the season, that's for sure. But thanks to the New York...

ST. LOUIS - Edwin Jackson, much like Ross Detwiler a few nights ago, put full blame on himself for his sub-par outing in the Nationals' 12-2 loss. "Today's game was just very disappointing and embarrassing," Jackson said after allowing nine runs in 1 1/3 innings. "When your club is in a pennant race and you have a game like that, it definitely leaves a bitter taste in your mouth that you did absolutely nothing to give your team a chance to win." What was the major issue tonight? You...

When shortstop J.J. Hardy signed a three-year contract extension with the Orioles last July 18, the team had a record of 38-55. But Hardy said he felt then that the organization was going to be a winner in the future and that the team's performance this year validates his decision to re-sign with the Orioles and not wait to become a free agent after last season. "I always said I signed that deal because I saw that there was potential with this team and organization," he said Friday. "To...

ST. LOUIS - Edwin Jackson has been very, very good at times this season. Tonight was not one of those times. The Nationals' righty went just 1 1/3 innings tonight, allowing nine runs (eight earned). He gave up six hits, walked four and got only one swing-and-miss all night, which is incredibly low for a power pitcher who usually has no problem missing bats. Manager Davey Johnson tried to give Jackson a chance to pitch out of trouble and eat up innings, but it just wasn't happening. He had...

The Orioles have been keeping Elias busy. Here's the latest: The 18 consecutive runs scored on home runs in the last two games were the most since the Orioles moved to Baltimore in 1954. Manager Buck Showalter doesn't reveal much about his rotation, which leaves the rest of us trying to guess how it's lined up for the postseason. The TBAs tend to complicate the process. Here's what I learned yesterday: Joe Saunders is starting on Sunday in the final home game of the regular season....

Chris Tillman and Troy Patton combined on the Orioles second one-hitter of the year tonight, with Tillman doing most of the heavy lifting. After he pitched eight innings of one-hit ball to lead the O's past Boston 9-1 tonight, Tillman was not boasting much at all about his outing. "I thought it was okay, was good," he said in summing it up. It was a little better than that as the right-hander improved to 3-0 with a 1.20 ERA over his last five starts and to 9-2 with an ERA of 2.78 on the...

ST. LOUIS - Davey Johnson has waved the white flag tonight, emptying his bench with the Nationals trailing 9-1 in the middle innings. But even with the blowout here in St. Louis, the Nats still can clinch the NL East title tomorrow night, thanks to the Mets. The Braves lost to the Mets 3-1 tonight, cutting the Nationals' magic number to two. A Nats win and a Braves loss tomorrow, and the division title belongs to Washington. See, you got something positive out of tonight. For what it's...

The Orioles are a 90-win team with a magic number of three to clinch a playoff berth. And they have five more games to play in the regular season. Yep, we all saw it coming back in March. The Orioles have scored 21 runs in their last two games and have recorded double-digit hits in nine of their last 12 games, going 9-3 in that stretch. Also, the Orioles have a plus-7 run differential, the first time they've been off the negative side since June 24. The Orioles are 69-21 when their starter...

Well, this is no way to treat a negative run differential. After winning 12-2 over Toronto on Wednesday, the Orioles beat the Red Sox 9-1 Friday night in the opener of the final regular season home series of the 2012 season. A festive crowd of 33,518 enjoyed it at Camden Yards as the Orioles won for the ninth time in 12 games, the 23rd in 33 and improved to 35-16 over the last 51 games. As of the end of the O's game, the Yankees led Toronto 7-2 in the seventh. A New York win tonight and the...