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...

The cortisone shot continues to work wonders for Ryan Zimmerman. Since getting a pain-killing injection in his inflamed right shoulder 10 days ago, Zimmerman is batting .369 with four home runs, five doubles and 16 RBIs. Today, he notched a run-scoring double in the third and a two-run homer in the fifth, a ball which was absolutely smoked over the right-center field fence. Is it fair to assume the cortisone shot is the lone reason for this dramatic increase in production of late? "It was...

In his next-to-last start with the Orioles on against the White Sox, he surrendered six runs and eight hits, and walked three batters, in only 2 2/3 innings. Tillman didn't pitch for the Orioles again - beyond spring training - until making today's start against the Mariners at Safeco Field. I try not to place too much emphasis on one appearance or a game in early July, but this is a fairly big one for Tillman, who is trying to establish himself in the majors and jump off the shuttle to...

Following today's game, Davey Johnson found his team 15 games above .500, matching their season-high. That gave him plenty to smile about while meeting with reporters. But Johnson isn't satisfied yet. Not by a longshot. His team is now 47-32 on the season, but he's already picked out his next goal - 20 games above .500. "I like to go by fives," Johnson said. "We got to 15 before and we dropped back. I like to progress. The next number I like to get is 20 games over. I always go by...

Remember that scene in "When Harry Met Sally," when Meg Ryan is slapping the table and the random lady nearby turns to the waitress and says, "I'll have what she's having"? The rest of the league wants whatever the Nationals have been having over their last eight games. Was that a bit of a reach? OK, my bad. Since last Tuesday, the Nats have averaged 8.6 runs per game, which is remarkable, given they hadn't scored eight runs in any of their 25 contests prior to this streak...

Xavier Avery is leading off again today, as the Orioles attempt to win back-to-back games before heading to Anaheim. Chris Tillman is making his first start for the Orioles this season, and he'll have Matt Wieters behind the plate in a day game following a night game. For the Orioles: Xavier Avery LF J.J. Hardy SS Chris Davis RF Adam Jones CF Jim Thome DH Matt Wieters C Wilson Betemit 3B Mark Reynolds 1B Robert Andino 2B Chris Tillman RHP For the Mariners: Ichiro Suzuki RF Michael...

Unlike some fans and analysts, I am not a huge believer that a high strikeout rate is generally a predictor that a pitcher will do well. But I do put some importance on it and it stands to reason that a pitcher with a lot of strikeouts must have something going for him. If you look at Chris Tillman's strikeout rates at Triple-A Norfolk this year, he is ringing up the Ks at his best rate since 2009 when he had an ERA of 2.70 for the Tides. Tillman averaged 9.2 strikeouts for every nine...