BOSTON - Literally as soon as I stepped foot in the press box at Fenway Park, the grounds crew pulled the tarp over the infield. I'm pretty excited to be here for this series (my first time at Fenway in a professional capacity), and I'm not going to let Mother Nature rain on my parade. Actually, they're only calling for a brief thunderstorm here shortly and then possibly another sprinkling later on. Nothing too big, it seems. With the Red Sox throwing two lefties this series and having...

The Triple-A Norfolk Tides have starters listed for their next five games, and Tommy Hunter isn't among them. The Orioles pulled Hunter from the Tides' rotation in case he's needed to start tomorrow afternoon against the Phillies at Camden Yards. They wanted to keep that option alive if Miguel Gonzalez was needed in long relief. Well, Gonzalez threw four innings last night in Boston after replacing left-hander Brian Matusz, which eliminated him from consideration. Dana Eveland remains a...

When it comes to the All-Star Game, I've always functioned under one simple mantra: one man, one vote. Each summer since balloting was returned to fans in 1970, I've gotten one ballot on a visit to either Camden Yards or Memorial Stadium and punched out my dream team. I usually wait until near the end of the voting - wouldn't want to have an untimely slump or injury make me regret a certain selection, right - and dutifully use my car key to punch out the appropriate player's slot. Heck,...

Chris Marrero, recovering from a torn hamstring, played two games with low Single-A Hagerstown this week. Now he is headed to high Single-A Potomac, according to club sources. It was the first baseman's first pro action since he tore his hamstring in winter ball. His recovery was slowed a bit this year because he also had to battle shoulder soreness, spending more time in extended spring training. The right-handed hitter finally returned to the field for two games with the Suns this week,...

Low Single-A Hagerstown Suns catcher

The Orioles are certainly aware that their third-round draft pick, high school shortstop Adrian Marin,

With last night's loss at Boston, the Orioles are now 5-11 since they were a season-high 13 games over .500 on May 19. They won the series in Boston, but had lost four in a row before that. So as they begin a series with Philadelphia tonight, the Orioles are looking for some wins, and to get them, they'll likely need to start scoring some more runs. While there has been a lot of focus on the club's starting pitching lately, the Orioles' hitters did not have a great road trip. Here are...

My baseball memory begins somewhere in the 1980s on 33rd Street. I can remember the first batting practice baseball I caught (Dante Bichette, Milwaukee Brewers), the nachos I helped spill during a rare visit to Memorial Stadium's blue box seats, and the lesson I learned about appropriate ballpark decorum by violating it with an obscene heckle. At its best, the ballpark can teach a kid a lot about the game. I got to thinking recently about the game I attended when Fred Lynn stroked two home...

For whatever reason, the Nationals have no problem winning games early in series this season. Ten times this season, they've gone into the series finale with a chance to earn a sweep. Only once (not including a two-game, rain-shortened series win over Miami) have they actually brought out the brooms and finished the job. Kind of a quirky stat that is tough to explain, but as Ryan Zimmerman said last night, the fact that the Nats have had 10 shots to sweep means they're winning a good...

The Orioles have reportedly come to contract terms with their third-round draft pick, high school shortstop Adrian Marin. That word comes from the player himself. He proclaimed this via his Twitter page on Thursday night: "Officially signed a contract with Baltimore!!" Click here for the link to that Twitter announcement and picture. ‪ The speedy, 5-foot-10, 165-lb. Marin played at Gulliver Prep near Miami. He was the 99th overall pick in the draft, is a right-handed batter...