With all due respect to new leadoff hitter Nick Markakis, the bottom third of the Orioles' lineup did the heavy lifting last night. No. 7 hitter Nate McLouth, No. 8 hitter Manny Machado and No. 9 hitter Omar Quintanilla were a combined 7-for-12 with a double, three home runs, seven RBIs and four runs scored. Seven RBIs. In a 7-1 victory over the Royals. That's heavy lifting. Manager Buck Showalter didn't want Quintanilla's two-run homer in the second inning to get lost in the Machado...

We'll be getting a heavy dose of both the Nationals and Diamondbacks bullpens tonight. Stephen Strasburg and Trevor Cahill have both thrown well tonight, but through five innings, each starter has a pitch count in the 90s. Strasburg has tossed 93 pitches, while Cahill has needed 92 to get through his five frames. Strasburg might very well be done before reaching the sixth, and if he is indeed finished, he leaves with at least a three-run lead. The righty uncharacteristically walked four,...

Manny Machado had a crowd of reporters waiting for him after tonight's game. He also had traces of the shaving cream pie he received still wedged in his ears. I suppose he wouldn't mind having to clean it off every night. "I wouldn't mind that at all," he said. Machado had a pretty good idea that the first ball was going to settle into the left field seats. "I put some good wood on it," he said. "I kind of figured it was going to go out." And the second one? "Yeah, no doubt,"...

Manager Buck Showalter would like to keep the Manny Machado hype at a reasonable level. You can tell by the tone of his voice and the measured responses, how he points out the small number of games that the kid has played and how a new one is coming up tomorrow. Machado isn't make it easy on Showalter. "He had a nice night, put a couple good swings on some breaking balls that were left out over the plate," Showalter said after Machado hit two home runs to lift the Orioles to a 7-1 victory...

It looks like this Manny Machado kid might work out. Tonight, Machado became the 12th youngest player since 1918 to hit two homers in one game as the Orioles beat Kansas City 7-1 in front of 17,277 at Camden Yards. Machado hit a solo shot off Luke Hochevar in the fifth which gave the Orioles a 3-1 lead, and the next inning he unloaded a three-run shot to left to make it 7-1. Tonight, Machado became the youngest Oriole to homer since Jim Palmer did so at age 19 on May 16, 1965. He then became...

It's only been two games, but Manny Machado doesn't look like a kid who was rushed to the majors. Machado hit his second home run tonight, a three-run shot deep into the left field seats in the bottom of the fifth inning to give the Orioles a 7-1 lead. Machado is the youngest Orioles player to hit a home run since Jim Palmer, who was 19, on May 16, 1965. He's now the youngest ever to hit multiple home runs in the same game. Boog Powell collected two on May 2, 1962 against the Twins when he...

A couple of notes as the Orioles lead the Kansas City Royals 2-1 in the fifth inning tonight: * After starting the year 3-0 against Kansas City in the season series, Baltimore has lost their last three games against the Royals. The O's have won the season series in six of the last eight seasons. * Coming into tonight's game, catcher Matt Wieters was 7-for-14 over his past three games with three doubles, three homers and eight RBIs. Over his past 11 games, Wieters is batting .333 with four...

The Orioles have announced that their game against the Chicago White Sox on Thursday, August 30 will begin at 12:35 p.m.

Miguel Gonzalez had allowed a home run to the first batter he faced in both home starts this season - Detroit's Austin Jackson and Tampa Bay's Desmond Jennings - which made his battle tonight with Kansas City's Alex Gordon must-see TV. Gordon struck out. No repeat tonight. Gonzalez retired the side in order, but catcher Salvador Perez homered with one out in the second inning to give the Royals a 1-0 lead. Gonzalez has allowed 10 homers in seven starts with the Orioles. His only clean...

After getting a day off yesterday, Bryce Harper is back in the Nationals lineup for tonight's series opener against Diamondbacks. Stephen Strasburg will face off against D'backs righty Trevor Cahill, who is 9-9 with a 3.76 ERA this season. Michael Morse will hit fifth, but instead of looking to extend his hitting streak to 19 games, he'll try and boost that hitting streak to eight. Major League Baseball has announced that Morse's third inning single against the Phillies on August 2...