Let's be clear: There's still no reason to abandon hope for the Orioles to post a plus-.500 season in 2012. They have a knack for righting the ship when things look bad and every game that passes puts them that much closer to the endgame. Each day that ends with a cushion is a surplus banked against a bad streak. They're getting there. Regardless, we all basically know that this team isn't ready for the playoffs just yet. There's too much strength in the competition, both from the Yankees...

Orioles minor league pitcher Bobby Bundy is expected to have surgery Thursday to remove bone spurs from his right elbow. The procedure will keep him out for the rest of the season. The procedure will be performed by a doctor based near Little Rock, Ark., who has dealt with the Bundy brothers before and has the approval of Orioles doctors. The older brother of Dylan Bundy, the Orioles' top pitching prospect, Bobby Bundy had given up 15 runs in just 3 2/3 innings in his last two starts for...

The Pirates are buyers, proving again that it's a mad, mad, mad, mad world. It is not 1971 or 1979. I took the time to check. In case you missed it, the Pirates acquired pitcher Wandy Rodriguez from the Astros last night for minor leaguers Rudy Owens, Robbie Grossman and Colton Cain. The Astros will be sending a nice hunk of cash, too. The Orioles spoke to the Astros about Rodriguez, as I wrote here, but they weren't overly enthusiastic. I've heard that his salary was a big turnoff -...

FLUSHING, N.Y. - Even though Gio Gonzalez finished the seventh inning last night having thrown just 87 pitches, Edwin Jackson remains the only Nationals starter this season to record an out in the eighth. Take a second to let that sink in. As good as the Nationals' rotation has been this season, there have only been three games where that day's starter has notched an out in the eighth inning. And all three times, it's been Jackson. Gonzalez certainly could have worked into the eighth...

FLUSHING, N.Y. - Adam LaRoche used Roger Bernadina's bat in his first three trips to the plate tonight. The switch-hitting Danny Espinosa hit right-handed against a right-handed pitcher. Jesus Flores and Michael Morse attacked the ball early instead of waiting for it to get deep into the zone. The Nationals tried everything against Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. And after five innings of mostly ineffectiveness, all the tinkering started to pay off in the sixth. Washington's hitters...

Second base umpire Gary Darling made the balk call on Wei-Yin Chen. "To be honest with you, I have no idea (why)," Chen said through his interpreter. "I have a standard routine when I was on the mound and I do the same routine every time. After the game, I went back to the video room and I keep checking. I watched it (over and over). I couldn't get it, and to be honest with you I don't understand that. "I can do better. I didn't control my emotions really well at that time. It's so...

Wei-Yin Chen gave the Orioles a seventh consecutive quality start tonight. It was wasted by an offense that couldn't do much against Rays starter Jeremy Hellickson and three relievers. "He was good, real good," manager Buck Showalter said following the Orioles' 3-1 loss. "Deserved a little bit better fate. Their guy was real good, too. Wei-Yin was good again. He's been solid. He had good stuff tonight. The balk call hurt him. Probably cost him another inning." Oh yes, the balk...

For the second night in a row, the Orioles got a solid starting pitching performance and quality start, but not a win. Jeremy Hellickson outdueled Wei-Yin Chen as Tampa Bay beat the Orioles 3-1 in Game 1 of a three-game series and an O's six-game homestand. Chen gave up just four hits and three runs over 6 2/3 innings, throwing 109 pitches. He falls to 8-6 with an ERA of 3.82. O's starters have now recorded seven straight quality starts for the first time since posting nine in a row from...

Wei-Yin Chen's eyes widened and his feet took him off the mound. With his arms held out, he paced the infield and offered a non-verbal plea to the umpires to reconsider the balk call in the sixth inning that advanced B.J. Upton to second base. To no one's surprise, it didn't work. Upton moved to second with no outs, took third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Jeff Keppinger's broken-bat bloop single along the right field line. Matt Joyce flied to deep center and Chris Davis made a...

FLUSHING, N.Y. - The Nationals had done very little against R.A. Dickey through five innings tonight, notching just three hits and going down on strikes seven times. The sixth was a different story. The Nats exploded with five straight two-out hits, scoring four runs and turning a 1-1 tie into a 5-1 lead. The outpouring of offense started with Adam LaRoche's two run homer off Dickey, a monster shot which was launched about halfway up the second deck in right field. It was LaRoche's 17th...