There has been some talk recently about Chris Tillman. Could the 24-year-old right-hander help the Orioles' rotation if he gets the call to Baltimore? Tillman has given up just one earned run over 11 1/3 innings in his past two starts. Over his last six starts, he is 4-2 with an ERA of 2.19 and opposing batters are hitting just .175 off him in those starts. Tillman's next Triple-A start is set for tomorrow night. Norfolk pitching coach Mike Griffin recently talked with me about Tillman on...

Now that the Chicago White Sox have acquired a third baseman, Kevin Youkilis, the question is whether the Orioles will do the same. The Orioles would be a stronger contender if they had a stabilizing third baseman instead of a revolving door at the hot corner. Wilson Betemit is a fill-in player who can hit, but he's not a regular third baseman. Mark Reynolds is better defensively at first base. Manager Buck Showalter says Chris Davis could be an above-average third baseman, but it's too late...

The Nationals may still have the second-best record in the National League at 41-30, but the team is currently in a tailspin. The Nats have lost seven of their past 10 contests and have been outscored 25-34 in that span. The club will be the first to admit it: Their offense is struggling and the team, as a whole, is suffering. Earlier in the year, the team was able to get by game-to-game with one-run victories, but it seems the luck has run out as the edged-out wins just aren't happening....

Remember that six-game winning streak the Nationals compiled by sweeping the Red Sox and Blue Jays on the road? Since then, the Nats have won just three of 10 games. In those 10 games, they've scored an average of 2.5 runs per contest. And that includes a game where they played 14 innings. When your offense is performing that poorly, it doesn't matter how good your guys on the mound are. Your pitching staff can put up a 3.09 ERA in those 10 games, as Washington's has, and you can still...

Chris Davis may be a little light on hits recently, but his sense of humor remains strong. After talking with a few reporters Sunday about his recent batting slump he said, "Hey, thanks, guys for bringing all this up." He joked that he has pitching to fall back on if he needs it. Don't take any of this to mean Davis is not taking his slump seriously or not working hard to get out of it. He is, but he's also trying to keep an even keel and knows hitters go through hot and cold streaks. He...

Right-hander Stephen Strasburg looked pretty good again Monday, but allowed three runs in the 4-2 loss to the Rockies in Denver. A loss by Strasburg is as rare as oxygen at the higher elevations of the Mile High City. It was his first setback since May 15. Fresh off of striking out the side in the fifth and his team clinging to a 2-1 advantage, Colorado put together three hits and benefited from a hit batter to start a rally that would end up winning the game. Following a Dexter Fowler...

Stephen Strasburg and the Nationals held a 2-1 lead over the Rockies entering the bottom of the sixth inning. Strasburg gave up a leadoff triple to Dexter Fowler. He then drilled Marco Scutaro in the head with a first-pitch, 95 mph fastball. After staying on the ground for a few seconds, Scutaro got up and talked things over with a trainer. He left the game, but appeared to be OK. The Nationals' lead wasn't OK. Immediately after hitting Scutaro, Strasburg grabbed his hat off his head. He...

The Orioles are winning and there have been a lot of heroes during this magic stretch of baseball - Adam Jones, Jason Hammel, Jim Johnson, Matt Wieters. The contributions of those players are obvious. But on any winning club, there are always unsung heroes. And my favorite unsung hero this season has been lefty reliever Troy Patton. But this isn't just about 2012. Truth be told, I have always been a Patton fan, ever since December 2007 when the Orioles acquired him from the Houston Astros...

Once again, I failed to grasp the concept of a quiet off-day. Nolan Reimold undergoes surgery for a herniated disc (and I'm going with "disc" instead of "disk" after numerous Internet searches), the latest All-Star vote totals are released and Miguel Tejada is released upon his request. Otherwise, nothing happened. When I think about how much time and energy were spent writing about Tejada and asking team officials about Tejada and checking the Triple-A Norfolk box scores each day for...

Stephen Strasburg (9-1, 2.46 ERA) will oppose Jeff Francis (0-1, 8.56 ERA) tonight at Coors Field. The difference in those stat lines jumps out at you just a bit, doesn't it? Francis' numbers this season aren't exactly what you'd call impressive, but the veteran lefty did allow just one earned run his last time out against the Phillies. The Rockies are currently working with a four-man rotation, and they're capping their starters' pitch counts at 75 in order to keep them fresh....