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...

ST. LOUIS - It's safe to say this is not how Edwin Jackson envisioned his return to St. Louis going. Facing the team he helped to a World Series title last season, Jackson went just 1 1/3 innings tonight, allowing nine runs (eight earned) on seven hits. He walked four and struck out none, and leaves with the Nationals trailing 9-1. Those of you who were still wrapping up dinner during the early innings, you missed a bit of action. It was clear from the start that Jackson just wasn't there....

The Orioles hit two more home runs in the first inning tonight, giving them a franchise-record 122 at home this season. That's only part of the story. Chris Davis hit a two-run homer to wipe out the Red Sox's 1-0 lead. The Orioles loaded the bases with two outs against Boston starter Aaron Cook, and Ryan Flaherty launched his first career grand slam. Orioles 6, Red Sox 1. Cook threw 30 pitches in the first inning. Alfredo Aceves began warming in the bullpen before Flaherty's...

ST. LOUIS - It's hard to believe - from my perspective, at least - but tomorrow will mark the start of the last regular season turn through the Nationals' rotation. Jordan Zimmermann will take the ball for the Nats tomorrow and then not pitch again until the postseason. As I mentioned earlier, the rotation alignment for the final four games of the regular season will depend on when the Nationals are able to clinch the division title. Manager Davey Johnson will have options when it comes to...

The Orioles are having a very good September with a winning percentage of .640 this month. That is exceeded only by August when the Orioles played .667 ball. Not bad to have your two best months be the last two. The Orioles went 18-9 in August and are 16-9 in September. The win percentage for the two months combined is .654 at 34-18. The Orioles team batting average is .267 and the team OPS is .792 this month. The Orioles are averaging 5.36 runs per game in September with 40 homers. The team...

Nolan Reimold has been at Camden Yards for the past few days, though he wasn't visible to the media until he strolled through the clubhouse this afternoon and plopped down on Chris Tillman's chair. Reimold is in town to get checked by a team physician and hang out for a little while. He's progressing well from surgery to remove a herniated disc and fuse the vertebrae, but he's not close to playing again. He couldn't suddenly be activated from the disabled list and become part of a playoff...