The Orioles have lost five of their last seven series after winning four in a row. Left-hander Brian Matusz served up a grand slam in the first inning last night at Triple-A Norfolk, and followed up with six scoreless innings. One of the runs was unearned. Pedro Viola blew the save for Matusz, who allowed five hits, walked four and struck out two in seven innings. He threw 110 pitches, 72 for strikes. In two starts with the Tides, Matusz has permitted three earned runs and nine hits in 16...

So let me get this straight: We've got another pine tar incident on our hands? The first time around, it involved Joe Maddon and the Rays, with Joel Peralta being ejected for having pine tar on his glove. This time, it's Marlins skipper Ozzie Guillen, who always seems to find himself in the headlines, accusing Bryce Harper of having pine tar too high up on his bat. The timing of this incident is comical, considering that during the All-Star Game festivities just last week, Harper got a...

Chris Davis has seen Justin Verlander on top of his game before. He went 0-for-4 today, as did several of his teammates, as Verlander pitched the Tigers to a 4-0 win over the Orioles at Camden Yards. "I thought after the All-Star Game, we were going to have a real good shot at lighting him up, but he was just setting us up," Davis said. "He won MVP last year for a reason. I felt like at times today he was just toying with us. He was hitting his spots, mixing it up, then when he needed his...

Before manager Buck Showalter can dissect a game, he has to provide an injury update. It's become a tradition here. Here's the Showalter told reporters concerning second baseman Robert Andino: "Dove, landed on his shoulder. He's going to stay back and take an MRI hopefully tomorrow morning and get some information. The trainers are telling me what docs said and what initially they think, but it's just pure speculation until they get the pictures back. I think we'll be able to make a...

For Baltimore native Steve Johnson, it's been quite an afternoon. He got to play for his hometown team on the field at Camden Yards for the first time. He pitched two innings against the Tigers and gave up a Miguel Cabrera homer in his major league debut. But Johnson left to the cheers of the crowd after the top of the eighth. He walked the first two batters, but later fanned two to strand a pair in scoring position as the Camden Yards fans cheered him on. "Just walking off the field in the...

Steve Johnson appeared in his first major league game today, served up his first major league home run and was optioned to the minors for the second time. That's enough to make anyone's head spin. The Orioles needed to create room for tomorrow's starter, Chris Tillman, on the 25-man roster. Johnson threw 47 pitches in two innings, including a changeup that Miguel Cabrera deposited into the right-center field seats, and didn't figure to be available for a few days. Johnson shook hands...

The Orioles announced after today's game that they have optioned right-hander Steve Johnson to Triple-A Norfolk. Johnson made his major league debut in this afternoon's game against Detroit, allowing one earned run on a solo home run, walking two and striking out two. He is 3-6 with a 3.11 ERA (66.2IP, 23ER) in 15 games (10 starts) for the Tides. He was acquired by the Orioles with infielder Josh Bell on July 30, 2009 in exchange for left-hander George Sherrill. Steve, and his father,...

Nationals closer Drew Storen continued his rehab from elbow surgery with an appearance for Double-A Harrisburg and did not have his best stuff. With the Senators leading 4-1 in the seventh, Storen surrendered four runs on three hits to Richmond, including a solo homer that lost the lead. Richmond's Johnny Monell cranked a solo shot, No. 8 on the season, with two outs in the seventh off of Storen to give the Flying Squirrels a 5-4 lead. Storen also allowed a single, a triple and a sacrifice...

There is a saying in baseball that momentum is only as good as that day's starting pitcher. If the Orioles had any momentum after Saturday's 13-inning win, Justin Verlander squashed it. He gave up just three hits over eight innings today as Detroit beat the Orioles 4-0 to take the series finale in front of 30,439 at Camden Yards. Verlander retired 16 of the last 17 Orioles, and walked two and fanned eight, throwing 117 pitches. He improved to 10-5 on the year and lowered his ERA to...

The local kid already made good. Today, he made better. Steve Johnson, a graduate of St. Paul's who was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk this morning, made his major league debut in the eighth inning and received a loud ovation from the Camden Yards crowd. Johnson, pitching for the first time since July 8, walked the first two batters he faced. He ran the count full to Jhonny Peralta and went 3-1 on Alex Avila. The last pitch to Peralta was extremely close. Ramon Santiago laid down a...