Despite only splitting this weekend's series against the Kansas City Royals, the Orioles seem to have turned it up a tick in the past few weeks. This is not in the least bit surprising to me; in fact, I expected it. The Birds have always finished strong under Buck Showalter. In 2010, he had them take the competition to the opponents who figured that they'd walk all over the O's due to their record. And who could forget last September, which I believe was the launching point for 2011?...

Here is a question for you Orioles fans: How are you dealing with all this good news? Let's see, the team is currently the holder of the second AL wild card, Manny Machado seems to set a new record daily, Dylan Bundy is moving to Double-A and Baltimore still could be in his near future, and now the club's latest first-round pick, Kevin Gausman, looks like the real deal. I ask that question somewhat tongue in cheek. I know you'll find a way to deal with a lot of good news if it keeps coming...

Right-hander Chien-Ming Wang has been removed from the Double-A Harrisburg roster and remains on the disabled list. He has reportedly continued to have issues with hip soreness, so his minor league injury rehabilitation assignment has been halted. He left his start four days ago after just 4 2/3 innings when the hip issue returned. Now that he is no longer on the 30-day rehab clock, he can remain on the disabled list. He has allowed 13 runs and 23 hits in his last three rehab starts for...

Yesterday marked the first time in Kurt Suzuki's Nationals career that he experienced a loss. I hope the guy made it through the night OK. After eight straight wins to kick off his tenure as a Nat, Suzuki and his new teammates were on the losing end of things yesterday in Arizona. They battled back from a 7-0 deficit to make things interesting in the ninth inning, bringing the tying run to the plate and allowing manager Davey Johnson to utter one of his favorite lines about there being no...

The Orioles are off today, which means that I'm sort of off today. My immediate plans are to go outside and run around in circles while waiving my arms over my head. That's it. Just ... go outside and run around in circles. And the arms thing. In case you missed my tweet last night (and shame on you for not following me at @MASNroch), Jake Arrieta's latest start at Triple-A Norfolk was a dud. He allowed six runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings, with five walks and five strikeouts. He threw...

The Orioles have optioned reliever Miguel Socolovich to Triple-A Norfolk. A corresponding roster move will be announced later. Socolovich has appeared in six games, allowing eight earned runs in 10 1/3 innings for a 6.97 ERA. He let two inherited runners score last night after replacing starter Chris Tillman and also was charged with one run. Socolovich has posted a 1.90 ERA in 28 appearances with the Tides. He was chosen to the International League All-Star team. Could the Orioles be...

ABERDEEN, Md. - In his second pro outing, Aberdeen IronBirds pitcher Kevin Gausman was very impressive today, so much so that the Orioles may even be thinking about altering the original plan, which was for Gausman to make all his starts this year at Aberdeen. After seeing Gausman dominate in a three-inning outing today, it appears the O's are open to the possibility of having Gausman pitch at a higher level, even though they want him limited to three-inning outings after he threw 124 innings...

After taking the first two games in Arizona, the Nationals are getting pushed around by the Diamondbacks in the series finale. Boy, are they ever. It's 7-0 after five innings, as the Diamondbacks are outplaying their opposition in all possible phases. Ross Detwiler didn't make it out of the fifth inning, allowing five runs (four earned) over 4 2/3. He only gave up three hits, but left the ball up in the zone much more than he had in his past two outings. The Nats also didn't help him...

Imagine how good Manny Machado will be once he actually settles in and gets comfortable. Machado is 6-for-16 with a double, triple, three home runs, seven RBIs and five runs scored in his first four major league games. He shares the Orioles club record with at least one extra-base hit in four consecutive games to begin his career, joining Ray Knight (1987), Lee May (1975) and Frank Robinson (1966). Machado hit his third home run today, though it took a review to have a double overturned. "I...

The Orioles are nine games above .500 again. They improved to 17-11 in two-run games with today's 5-3 victory over the Royals. They're also 47-0 when leading after the seventh inning and 49-1 when leading after the eighth. Credit the bullpen with four scoreless and hitless innings, beginning with Luis Ayala and ending with closer Jim Johnson. Manager Buck Showalter also used Troy Patton and Pedro Strop to piece together the last four innings. "Well, I think because we have an off-day...