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...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter doesn't feel an extra sense of excitement or anticipation with the non-waiver trade deadline a week away. His attention and interest remains tied to the 25 players in his clubhouse. He knows that rumors are swirling, but his head doesn't turn to follow them. "It's exciting for us to win our first three games in Cleveland. That's where my focus is," he said. "That type of thing, I don't read it. Someone will ask me about it, like here." You can be sure...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter is quite aware of his team's struggles to get clutch hits with runners in scoring position. But don't look for him to bring it up unless he is asked about it, as he was today. "Just do it. We've done it and will again," Showalter said. "It's like what comes first, creating all these opportunities and putting people out there. There are two sides to that. Like Oscar Gamble used to say 'when I'm in the batter's box, I am in scoring position.' Thought...

FLUSHING, N.Y. - Once Drew Storen has a few more appearances under his belt and the Nationals feel that he's strong and can handle a bit of a heavier workload, manager Davey Johnson will slide Storen in as his backup closer behind Tyler Clippard. Johnson said today that Storen will keep working in the middle-to-late innings for now, as he works back from surgery which removed bone chips in his elbow. When Storen, who saved 43 games for the Nationals last season, is ready to handle more...

Orioles reliever Matt Lindstrom felt he was throwing the ball really well on Friday night in Cleveland. Then, he took a Johnny Damon liner off his left leg on his knee, his plant leg, and he hasn't pitched since then. But Lindstrom reports that his knee is feeling much better today and that he is available to pitch tonight if needed. "I'm available," Lindstrom said today in the Orioles' clubhouse. "I actually threw in the bullpen last night. So, I'm 100 percent ready to go. Little bit...

Believe it or not, there isn't much news to report here today. I've talked to a few people in the organization who are seriously downplaying the possibility of the Orioles trading for Marlins third baseman Hanley Ramirez. I'm not saying it definitely won't happen, but I'm not rearranging my schedule for his introductory press conference. I've heard that the Orioles still haven't placed outfielder Steve Pearce on waivers. They're exploring trade possibilities first, so his situation...

If you have a player on your team with 611 homers and with the resume of Jim Thome, it is probably worthwhile to spend some time talking to him and learning from him. It seems the Orioles have been doing that since Thome was acquired on July 1 from Philadelphia. Every time the camera catches Thome in the dugout, he seems to be talking with a different player on the team. He said spreading some knowledge about the game is enjoyable to him. "I do like it. It's part of the game to, as the game...