This must be pretty exciting for Nate McLouth. Batting .140 and let go by the Pittsburgh Pirates in late May, now he's batting .279 and leading off for the Orioles and tonight getting mobbed by his teammates after a walk-off hit in the bottom of the ninth provided a 3-2 win over Tampa Bay. "This is neat," McLouth said. "Almost daily you can kind of sense and feel the excitement growing. The crowds, it's almost like a college football crowd to to be honest with you. It's been neat to...

Make a great defensive play in the top of the ninth. Single and score the winning run in the bottom of the ninth. Just another night for Manny Machado, who at this time last year was leading Frederick to a Carolina League championship. Machado had just about everyone in the Yard marveling at his play that got the last out of the Tampa ninth. He charged in to field a slow roller off Evan Longoria's bat and then made a fake throw to first, spun around and threw back to third. Rich Thompson had...

The Orioles and Yankees remain in a first-place tie in the American League East, with both teams winning by one run. The Orioles are 26-7 in one-run games after tonight's 3-2 victory over the Rays. A win tomorrow will allow the Orioles (80-62) to end their streak of 14 consecutive losing seasons, but the bar has been raised so much higher. Nate McLouth's walk-off single scored Manny Machado, but it was the rookie's play at third base to end the top of the ninth that prompted the first...

This and that as the Nationals earned their 89th win of the season in a 2-0 win at New York against the Mets: • Pretty amazing to think Tyler Moore had played first base his entire career and had two games in left field at Triple-A Syracuse before being promoted to the Nationals. Now with Michael Morse laboring with a sprained wrist, Moore's play in left field, and that forward thinking the franchise had to work him in the outfield at instructional league last season, are paying...

On a night when the two teams struggled often to get a clutch hit, the Orioles got two big ones in the last of the ninth to beat Tampa Bay 3-2 in front of 26,076 at Camden Yards. Manny Machado led off the inning with a single to left off Kyle Farnsworth and moved to second on Robert Andino's sac bunt. Then Nate McLouth ripped a single off the right-field wall down the line to give the Orioles a walk-off win and put them three games ahead of the Rays. Jim Johnson pitched the top of the ninth...

Manny Machado keeps making it easy to forget he's a 20-year-old shortstop. Machado made a veteran play to end the top of the ninth inning, fielding Evan Longoria's chopper, faking the throw to first, spinning and firing to J.J. Hardy covering third. Rich Thompson rounded the bag and got caught in a rundown, with catcher Matt Wieters applying the tag. Machado had no play at first. Thompson had no clue that Machado, still learning all the nuances of third base, would go the other way. Credit...

If you were thinking that John Lannan might be a little too hyped up for his first major league start in over five weeks, you don't really know John Lannan all that well. The veteran lefty, who isn't the type to let his emotions affect him too much on the mound, has thrown three scoreless innings to start tonight's ballgame. Lannan's allowed three hits so far, but he hasn't walked a batter (walks were his issue during his last start with the Nats) and he's gotten six groundball...

Wilson Betemit's defensive lapses cost him a regular spot in the Orioles' lineup. He's healthy now, but he's a man without a position. Left-handed designated hitter could be a nice fit. Betemit began tonight hitting .304 against right-handers, and his RBI single off Rays starter Alex Cobb in the bottom of the first inning scored J.J. Hardy for a 2-1 lead. Betemit raced to second base on the throw to third, where Matt Wieters advanced on the hit. Chris Davis walked with two outs to load...

He is starting on the mound for the Orioles tonight and he might be the biggest surprise on the team this year. Right-hander Miguel Gonzalez is 6-4 with a 3.62 ERA, one year after he pitched a total of 56 2/3 innings in the Red Sox system, mostly at Double-A, going 0-7 with a 5.40 ERA. Now he is pitching big games for the Orioles in a pennant race. The Orioles found him pitching in Mexico over the winter and signed him as a minor league free agent on February 28, after spring training had...

One day after leaving the game in the fourth inning with a right knee injury, Orioles pitcher Jason Hammel is still waiting to get an MRI and that won't happen until tomorrow. His mood is not any beter about the situation, he said. "Not really, I'm frusrated. That is all I can be right now until something positive shows up. It's just frustrating. "It is a good thing that there isn't a lot of swelling, but that just raises more questions for me about what is going on," Hammel...