Left-hander Zach Phillips has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk, creating another roster move for the Orioles' top affiliate. The Orioles designated Phillips for assignment on June 30 to make room for Jim Thome on the 40-man roster. In his only appearance for the Orioles this year, Phillips allowed two earned runs and three hits and walked two batters in two-thirds on an inning. The Orioles had recalled him on May 8 while optioning pitcher Jason Berken. Phillips is...

If has not been often that we can say an Orioles prospect is ranked as the best in baseball. But today, Dylan Bundy is No. 1. He has been ranked as baseball's best prospect at midseason by Baseball America. Matt Wieters was ranked the game's No. 1 prospect by Baseball America before the 2009 season. In this current listing, Manny Machado is ranked No. 9. John Manuel, Baseball America's editor in chief, told me that when his staff put together a preliminary list ranking their top 50, Texas...

Hope everyone enjoyed their Fourth of July festivities yesterday, even if the fireworks show you witnessed wasn't nearly as robust as the one that happened in San Diego. I like San Diego's style on this one. Why wait and save the "grand finale" for the end of a 15-20 minute show? Why not just make it the entire show? Today is now July 5, which means it's the last day for fans to cast their votes to determine who will earn the final spot on the two All-Star Game rosters. With a bit more...

Today provides a unique opportunity. Since the Orioles have played exactly 81 games with exactly 81 more to go, it is that one day that we can simply double some player and team statistics to project what totals they could finish with. Of course they probably won't exactly duplicate their first-half performance over the next 81 games but we have enough of a sample size now to make those projections with numbers that should at least be in the ballpark. So, at the end of the season, based on...

You've heard of good roster moves. OK, I won't go there again. The Orioles had a decision to make yesterday after optioning pitcher Chris Tillman to Double-A Bowie: Bring up a position player or a reliever. The choices weren't exactly plentiful, if you take another look at the 40-man roster. Pitchers: Jake Arrieta Luis Ayala Jason Berken Zach Britton Dylan Bundy Wei-Yin Chen Oliver Drake Dana Eveland Miguel Gonzalez Kevin Gregg Jason Hammel Tommy Hunter Jim Johnson...

The Orioles will return to a four-man bench before the All-Star break by recalling first baseman Joe Mahoney from Triple-A Norfolk. Mahoney, 25, will take the roster spot vacated by pitcher Chris Tillman, who was optioned to Double-A Bowie following yesterday's 4-2 victory over the Mariners. Mahoney will meet the Orioles in Anaheim. Mahoney is batting .256 with 14 doubles, five home runs and 38 RBIs in 85 games with the Tides. He's hitting .306 in his last 10 games. Jamie Hoffman pinch-hit...

The low Single-A Hagerstown Suns have put together an incredible start, which culminated in their 50th victory of the season on July 4. Hagerstown dropped Lexington 3-2, rallying for two runs in the eighth frame. Catcher

The Orioles optioned pitcher Chris Tillman to Double-A Bowie following today's 4-2 victory over the Mariners at Safeco Field. Tillman allowed two unearned runs in a career-high 8 1/3 innings in his return to the majors. The Orioles don't want Tillman being idle through the All-Star break. He'll start Monday night for Bowie and rejoin the club next weekend after his mandatory 10 days have expired. It's technically a demotion, since he's going back down to the minors, but it's only...

Well, that was impressive. As the Orioles search for some consistent starting pitching, Chris Tillman, at least for one afternoon, presented a very strong case for himself. In his first major league start of the season and his first since last Aug. 11, Tillman pitched the Orioles to a 4-2 win this afternoon at SafeCo Field. Tillman threw a career-high 8 1/3 innings allowing two runs, both unearned. He walked two and fanned seven. He left after a one-out double by John Jaso put runners on...

Chris Davis is getting hot again at the plate. He recently went through a 10-game stretch where he went just 1-for-35 which dropped his average to .267. But he began today at .275 and his RBI single in the third inning gave the O's a 3-0 lead this afternoon at Seattle. Davis is 1-for-2 so far today and that makes him 8-for-21 over his last six games with two homers and nine RBIs in that time. He now has 40 RBIs on the year to tie for second on the team with Matt Wieters behind team leader...