It took a long time for manager Buck Showalter to publicly admit that Jim Johnson was his closer. Is it safe to call Pedro Strop the set-up man? Strop retired the Rays in order in the eighth inning tonight, and he struck out B.J. Upton and Jose Molina. He spun on the mound, tapped his chest and pointed to the heavens. It's quite a show. As I mentioned earlier, Strop has strung together 10 scoreless innings in his last eight appearances, allowing five hits, walking four and striking out...

If you want to go through the Orioles' 2012 schedule, you could probably say they have faced adversity twice already. They got swept at home by the Yankees in the second series of the year and they lost three of four to Texas this week, giving up 36 runs in the process. They responded to the first test by winning four of their next five games and taking off to a run that now has them at 22-12 and atop the American League East. They have responded to the Texas series with back-to-back wins...

Adam Jones welcomed Bill Hall to the team with a shaving cream pie to the face following tonight's 5-3 victory over Tampa Bay. Hall hadn't homered since May 14, 2011, so the occasion called for the traditional baseball celebration. "It's the first-ever pie in the face," Hall said. "He got me good. I wasn't expecting it at all. Got me good. It was a lot in my eyes, burned a little bit, but it's always good when you're doing something good for when stuff like that happens." Hall's...

The Orioles improved to 22-10 against the American League East since Sept. 7, 2011. They're 8-2 against Boston, 4-1 against Tampa Bay, 6-3 against Toronto and 4-4 against New York. They've won a series against each division rival this season. "Proud? Sure. I'm proud we're winning baseball games. But it doesn't necessarily mean something's going to happen for the next 100 and some odd games," manager Buck Showalter said after tonight's 5-3 win over the Rays. "Our guys know. It's a...

The Nationals beat the Reds 2-1 tonight, winning their third straight and securing yet another series win. Jordan Zimmermann delivered another fantastic start, striking out nine over seven one-run innings, lowering his ERA to 2.14. Danny Espinosa hit his second homer in as many ballgames, breaking a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning by crushing a ball over the wall in right and raising his average to .205, the highest it's been since April 29. Henry Rodriguez got his eighth save of the season,...

On a night when the Tampa Bay Rays tied a team record by making five errors, the Orioles took advantage to score three unearned runs in a 5-3 win over the Rays in front of 32,862 at Camden Yards. Brian Matusz got his second win of the year, Adam Jones drove in two runs, Bill Hall provided a late solo homer for an insurance run and the O's bullpen did another tremendous job to preserve the lead in the late innings. The Orioles have won the first two games of this series which began as a...

Left-hander Brian Matusz came within one out of registering a quality start, exiting after 5 2/3 innings with the Orioles clinging to a 4-3 lead over the Rays. The bullpen would have to protect a slim margin, and that's exactly what's happened through the eighth inning. Luis Ayala stranded two inherited runners in the sixth by striking out pinch hitter Matt Joyce, and he retired the side in order in the seventh. Pedro Strop struck out two batters while retiring the side in order in the...

Jordan Zimmermann is getting just 2.1 runs of support while he's in the game this season, the third-lowest total in the majors. That number isn't rising tonight. Zimmermann has done his job on the mound this evening, holding the Reds to just one run through five innings of work, but outside of a Wilson Ramos solo home run, the Nationals' starter hasn't gotten much offensive help from his teammates. We're tied 1-1 after five frames. Part of the reason why Zimmermann doesn't have...

Bill Hall didn't see his name in Triple-A Norfolk's lineup yesterday, so he grabbed an outfielder's glove and shagged fly balls during batting practice. He did it on a whim, having no idea that he'd be starting in left field tonight for the Orioles. Worked out pretty well for him. Hall is known primarily as a third baseman, but he's played in the outfield in 240 major league games - including 78 in left. He's played third base in 271 games over his 1o-year major league career. "I'm...

The Orioles today announced that they have selected the contract of infielder Bill Hall from Triple-A Norfolk and placed infielder Mark Reynolds on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left oblique, retroactive to May 11. Hall, 32, is batting .222/.269/.381 with two home runs and seven RBI in 15 games with the Tides after signing as a minor league free agent on April 25. He had a nine-game hitting streak, April 28-May 6. Hall set career-highs with 35 home runs and 85 RBI in 2006 with...