Though Chris Davis has a history with broken-bat home runs, tonight's wood-shattering blast didn't come with any excuses. This one was legit. Davis said he's done it before, "but it was in a Cracker Jack park and basically just a wind-aided home run. The bat didn't blow up. It cracked. I've never done anything like that before. I'm just glad it left the ballpark and got a few more runs. "It's one of those crazy things. There's always crazy things gong on in this game. To be honest...

Jake Arrieta's next turn in the rotation comes on Monday, and it appears that he'll make the start after holding the Pirates to one run over seven innings tonight in a 7-1 victory. Arrieta found out this afternoon that he'd be replacing left-hander Brian Matusz, who was pushed back to Friday. "I tapped him on the shoulder about 2:30 in the food room and said, 'You're pitching tonight,'" manager Buck Showalter said. "It's kind of out of the bag. I can't do it in five days now, so...

Chris Davis isn't just strong, he's country strong. As in, he could lift an entire country on his shoulders and go for a jog. Davis hit his 12th home run tonight in the bottom of the seventh inning, and his second in two games. Without doing any research, I'm pretty sure his latest is the only one that shattered his bat. The barrel of the bat went flying as the ball sailed over the grounds crew shed in right field. Players in the dugout lowered their heads as if worried that they'd get...

I'll remind you of a stat I passed along in my previous entry. The Orioles were averaging 3.53 runs per game for Jake Arrieta, the third-worst total among American League starters. Arrieta has a 3-0 lead after two innings tonight. Six of the first eight batters reached against Pirates starter Kevin Correia. The Orioles collected three singles, two doubles and a walk in one inning plus three batters. Chris Davis followed J.J. Hardy's one-out single in the first inning with an RBI double...

Well, that bullpen stint for Jake Arrieta didn't last very long. With Brian Matusz's start pushed back to Friday, Arrieta will get the ball tonight, five days since his last outing when he gave up a career-high nine runs over four innings at home against Philadelphia. Here are the recent numbers on Arrieta: *He has an ERA of 13.15 over his past three starts. *Opponents are batting .328 against him in that stretch and he has pitched just 13 innings in three starts. *Over his last seven...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter explained why he pushed back Brian Matusz's start until Friday and gave the ball to Jake Arrieta tonight. "A lot of factors," he said. "We're fortunate to have somebody rested, normal day, and I just didn't want him to get out there and... He said he actually slept better than he has in a long time. I was talking to him about his breathing during the night. And then if he has a problem with it first or second inning and have to use a lot of bullpen, which...

For today at least, Orioles outfielder Endy Chavez will avoid his second trip this year to the disabled list. He suffered a strained right hamstring injury when he hit the first base bag awkwardly last night after a bunt single in the last of the sixth inning. "I feel better today but it's still sore," Chavez said. "I'm getting some treatment to see how it will respond. I don't think it's that bad." But when asked if he could play tonight, Chavez said he could not. "Not really,...

Going back over the Orioles' rotation, Jake Arrieta is starting tonight, followed by Tommy Hunter on Thursday, Brian Matusz on Friday and Jason Hammel on Saturday. Arrieta is taking Matusz's place. Manager Buck Showalter wanted to give Matusz a few more days to recover from being hit in the nose by a ball yesterday during a bunting drill. Also, Hammel will only have to pitch once in a National League ballpark, which puts less strain on his right knee. Hammel's next turn wouldn't come...

Major League Baseball and the Orioles today announced that the start time for their Saturday, July 14 game against the Detroit Tigers at Oriole Park has been moved from 7:05 p.m. to 4:05 p.m. The change in time is due to the selection of the game for broadcast by FOX. July 14 also marks the unveiling of the Jim Palmer sculpture as part of the Orioles Legends Celebration Series. The Palmer sculpture unveiling will take place at 2:15 p.m. that day, with all ballpark gates opening at 2:00 p.m. ...

Brian Matusz said he could have started tonight for the Orioles, but the decision has been made to push his start back now to Friday night in Atlanta. Matusz suffered a nose contusion yesterday here when he tried a bunt a ball and it hit him in the nose. "Yeah, pushed back to Friday," Matusz said. "I woke up this morning and felt good. I feel good enough to go, but just talked with Buck (Showalter) and we feel like it was best to give me a couple of extra days and I feel like I should be...