The Orioles have taken the lead in the wild card race with tonight's 5-3 victory over the Red Sox, and they're in sole possession of second place in the American League East. The Orioles are 4-0-1 in their last five series against the Yankees, Rays, Mariners, Royals and Red Sox. Miguel Gonzalez registered his third consecutive quality start and has allowed three runs in his last 21 innings. "I thought I threw the ball well," he said after permitting two runs and six hits in six innings....

WOODBRIDGE, Va. -- Potomac Nationals left-hander Robbie Ray had his shortest outing of the season Wednesday in a 9-1 loss to Wilmington. Ray managed to get only two of the first eight batters out as the Blue Rocks scored seven runs in the first inning. Ironically, before the game manager Brian Rupp said one rocky inning had been the southpaw's undoing recently. Unfortunately, that inning was the first frame on Wednesday afternoon at Pfitzner Stadium. "He has been pretty good," Rupp said....

One mark of a good team is to have a big innning when your opponent makes a critical mistake. Tonight, a key error by Boston opened the door for the Orioles and they kicked it in by scoring five times in bottom of the sixth in a 5-3 win over Boston. The win gives the Orioles a record of 64-53 and they are 11 games over .500 for the first time since June 18 when they were 39-28. The Orioles have now won five of the last six series against Boston and are 8-3 this year against the Red Sox. They...

Red Sox starter Aaron Cook has allowed one baserunner through four innings tonight, and it came on a leadoff walk to Nick Markakis in the bottom of the fourth. That's it. Cook and Miguel Gonzalez were working on dueling shutouts before Jacoby Ellsbury's ground-rule double scored Scott Podsednik in the fifth. Nick Punto, who followed Podsednik's single with one of his own, scored on Carl Crawford' sacrifice fly to give Boston a 2-0 lead. Ellsbury has a 38-game hitting streak against the...

I wonder if Miguel Gonzalez will have some extra motivation for tonight's game. He'll be pitching against his previous organization, Boston, tonight. It's not that the Red Sox let him go, though. In fact, they signed him away from the Angels as a Rule 5 pick in December of 2008. Then he needed Tommy John surgery and spent the entire 2009 season on their major league roster without pitching an inning. Last year, Gonzalez pitched at three levels on the Red Sox farm, with most of his innings...

The days when Tim Lincecum was nearly unhittable seem oh so long ago. The two-time National League Cy Young Award winner went just four innings today, allowing eight hits and four runs before being yanked from the game. The Nationals hit Lincecum hard, notching three extra-base hits off him, including Danny Espinosa's long two-run homer to center which broke a 2-2 tie and gave the Nats a 4-2 lead. How well did Espinosa strike that ball? Well enough to cut it through the San Francisco breeze...

Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette and manager Buck Showalter still view left-hander Brian Matusz as a starter down the road. It's the current path that has led Matusz into the bullpen. As I wrote earlier, Matusz is available to pitch in relief tonight at Triple-A Norfolk. It's conceivable that he could rejoin the Orioles in that same role as they attempt to end their lengthy playoff drought. "It's for now. It's to address a need we have in the big leagues that we've been...

There are few players more qualified to talk about defense than Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy. He's a good guy to go to for an early assessment of how Manny Machado is doing at third base as the guy that plays right next to him on the field. "He has made some nice plays and he's made the routine plays," Hardy said. "He looks comfortable. I think sometimes the guys will come up and can look like a deer in headlights, but he's always aware of what is going on. Always, you know, checking...

Wilson Betemit is out of the lineup again tonight because of a sore right wrist, and the Orioles have scheduled an MRI for tomorrow at 11 a.m. Betemit hasn't started the last two games against Boston right-handers Josh Beckett and Aaron Cook. He was expected to platoon at first base with Mark Reynolds after Manny Machado became the regular third baseman. Betemit is hitting .306 with 11 home runs against right-handers, compared to .143 with one home run vs. left-handers. The MRI should...

Jim Thome was in Bowie last night. Not to play on an injury-rehab assignment but to watch a top prospect play. He was sent to watch Dylan Bundy make his Double-A debut and left impressed with the 19-year-old right-hander. "His physical appearance - his arm, you know," Thome said about Bundy. "I'm not going to tell you everything (I liked about him), but he's got so much upside to him. He might be one of the best young pitchers I've seen in quite a while. "He looks like a great pitcher....