The Orioles are 45-40 at the All-Star break. They are in second place in the American League East and are in second in the AL wild card race right now. Time to take a look back at the first half and ahead to what we may see over the second half of the season. What went right: The Orioles' tremendous bullpen performance coupled with their ability to win close games served them well during the first half. They are an amazing 29-13 in games decided by one and two runs. That .690 win percentage...

OK, so I'll admit, the first few times Chris Davis ran out to right field, I was super excited. Granted, he's not the fastest, nor does he position himself well. It's not that I'm confident in his skills, but it was definitely entertaining to see him make some diving plays in a position that most were unaware he could play. Maybe it's the summer heat getting to me, but when I was trying to describe how I feel about Davis, the best thing I could think of was the classic summer example:...

The move of Ryan Perry from reliever to starter continues to progress in a positive direction. Although not as overpowering as his recent starts, Perry continues to make hits difficult to come by for opponents. Perry allowed just two hits over five innings Sunday as Double-A Harrisburg defeated Erie 3-1, improving his record to 1-1 as a starter. He gave up two walks and struck out three, marking the second start in which he lasted at least five innings. The plan was to ramp him up each start...

Remind me again whether Orioles fans are supposed to be more concerned about the rotation, offense or defense. The Orioles didn't stagger into the All-Star break; they crawled to it on their hands and knees. They've lost 13 of their last 19 games and haven't scored in their last 22 innings. They served up four home runs to the Angels today in a 6-0 loss, and starter Wei-Yin Chen didn't record an out in the fifth before manager Buck Showalter gave him the hook. Otherwise, things are...

The Nationals are certainly frustrated with how today's game finished and the fact that they cost Jordan Zimmermann another win. But two guys in the Nats clubhouse feel that today's loss might actually benefit the team in the long-run. "I look at it as good timing," Tyler Clippard said. "You know, I think you don't ever want to get too comfortable or too confident out there, so this is a little, maybe, check for ourselves. We can kind of regroup and move forward with a new beginning in...

If the Orioles were hoping to head into the All-Star break on a high note, this wasn't it. They have now been shut out in back-to-back games and have gone 22 innings without scoring a run. A pitcher with a terrible career ERA shut them out over five innings this afternoon, as the Orioles lost 6-0 to Los Angeles to head into the break with a record of 45-40. The Orioles still do hold the AL's second wild card berth, but now by just a 1/2 game over Tampa Bay and one game over Cleveland With...

The worst part of today's 4-3 loss to the Rockies from Davey Johnson's perspective was that it wasted a fantastic outing from starter Jordan Zimmermann, who allowed just one run over seven innings. Zimmermann lowered his ERA to 2.61 on the season, the ninth-lowest total in the majors among pitchers with at least 15 starts. Despite that low ERA and the fact that Zimmerman has gone at least six innings in all 17 outings, the righty goes into the All-Star break with just five wins. His shot at...

At a time when they are struggling to score runs, the Orioles have fallen behind Los Angeles 5-0 today after four innings in the final game before the All-Star break. For what it is worth, the Orioles are now guaranteed to be holding the American League's second wild card playoff berth at the break. Cleveland could have tied the Orioles today, but gave up three runs in the top of the ninth and lost 7-6 to Tampa Bay. Meanwhile, back in Anaheim, the Angels hit three homers in the first three...

With over 30 percent of major league clubhouses made up of players born outside of the United States, any team that wants lasting success must sign some promising international talent. Orioles vice president Dan Duquette has said he wants to improve the Orioles international efforts. Signing a player that is making a key contribution like Wei-Yin Chen was a nice first step for him. But the team must also make improvements in signing and developing international amateur players as...

When Chris Tillman pitched that great game in Seattle, we later learned that Orioles director of pitching development Rick Peterson had worked with Tillman in Norfolk in mid-May, which helped lead to some of Tillman's improvements this year. Peterson brought biomechanical analysis to the Orioles when he was hired in January and many of the organization's pitchers took part in that during spring training. After a pitcher's specific delivery gets analyzed by those at the American Sports...