NEW YORK - Instead of accompanying his teammates to Toronto later today, Orioles pitcher Chris Tillman will fly back to Baltimore and undergo an MRI on his right elbow. The MRI most likely will take place on Monday while the Orioles open a three-game series against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Tillman lasted only three innings today before manager Buck Showalter, concerned by a drop in his starter's velocity, summoned left-hander Randy Wolf from the bullpen. Tillman said the elbow felt...

Sean Burnett is still in the midst of a career season. He'd just prefer to forget the last 2 1/2 weeks. After an appearance on August 10, Burnett had a 1.81 ERA. He hadn't given up a single run and had allowed just three total baserunners over his previous 10 appearances, spanning nine innings. Since then, things have turned for the worse. Burnett has a 7.50 ERA over his last eight appearances, but even more concerning are the number of baserunners he's allowed. Of the last 35 hitters...

The Nationals have made two errors behind Stephen Strasburg today, both of which left him in jams with runners at the corners and two outs. Both times, Strasburg worked out of trouble to keep the game scoreless. The Nationals' ace can thank Bryce Harper for helping bail him out of the second such situation. Three batters after Ryan Zimmerman airmailed a throw into the stands to allow Allen Craig to reach on a two-base error in the fourth inning, Bryan Anderson lifted a fly ball to medium...

NEW YORK - So much for the Orioles having too many starters for their rotation. Manager Buck Showalter has mentioned the need for depth in case a pitcher is knocked out of a game with an injury. He usually talks about a line drive up the middle, not stiffness in an elbow, but his point is made. We won't know the severity of Chris Tillman's injury until later today or after the team arrives in Toronto, but the timing is both good and bad. The good: The roster has expanded this month, with...

A lot has been made of rookie center fielder Bryce Harper's offense since the All-Star break, and how he had been struggling with off-speed pitches down in the zone. But recently, Harper has had four consecutive multi-hit games. In his last five games, he has nine hits, three homers and eight RBIs. His average has been raised to .256, after hitting .222 in July and .243 in August. And what about his defense in the outfield? He has made strides on defense with every chance and learned from...

NEW YORK - Chris Tillman is struggling with his command in the early innings, having thrown only 18 of his 34 pitches for strikes through the second. Tillman has walked two batters and thrown two wild pitches. Worse, he's also served up a two-run homer to Chris Dickerson that's given the Yankees a 2-0 lead. Dickerson is starting in center field because Curtis Granderson injured his right hamstring during yesterday's game. Dickerson didn't have a major league at-bat this season before...

Sitting down with Randy Knorr in the dugout late this morning, I told the Nationals' bench coach I'd like to talk about his team's issues with holding and throwing out runners. "Favorite topic," Knorr said sarcastically, a smile creeping across his face. This is a bit of a tired subject for Knorr, who has been preaching the importance of holding runners to Nationals pitchers and catchers this entire season with little success. Knorr, a former catcher who played parts of 11 seasons in the...

The series finale has arrived for the Orioles and Yankees. The Birds need a win to erase the memory of letting yesterday's game get away and to pull to within two games of first place in the AL East. Check back here on today's live blog often as I add notes, stats, facts and commentary throughout today's game. The readers can keep the dialogue going too, by leaving comments and/or questions on anything about the Orioles or the O's minors. Tillman's velo: This chart shows that Tillman's...

We're less than two hours away from first pitch and are still waiting for the Nationals to send out their lineup for today's game against the Cardinals. The holdup is almost certainly related to Jayson Werth, who was pulled from last night's game in the ninth inning due to a hamstring cramp. Werth didn't sound concerned about the hamstring after the game and said that he hoped to be able to play today. But with it being a day game after a night game and the Nats not wanting the hamstring...

NEW YORK - Robert Andino is starting at second base in today's series finale against the Yankees. So much for a platoon at second base. Andino is 2-for-5 lifetime against Yankees right-hander Phil Hughes. Omar Quintanilla is 1-for-4 with a home run, but he's mired in an 0-for-24 slump. For the Orioles: Nick Markakis RF J.J. Hardy SS Nate McLouth LF Adam Jones CF Matt Wieters C Mark Reynolds 1B Chris Davis DH Manny Machado 3B Robert Andino 2B Chris Tillman RHP Robinson Cano is 8-for-14...