I wrote yesterday that Miguel Tejada collected his first hit since reporting to extended spring training. He started at third base after serving as the designated hitter in his first game and starting at shortstop in another game. I received the following text scouting report on Tejada yesterday: "He's rusty with the bat/timing. Needs to get in baseball shape (at-bats, balls off bat at short/third). Only had one play at short yesterday. One at third today. Time will tell." So there you...

With last night's comeback win, the Orioles moved into sole possession of first place in the American League East at 21-12. They are now 13-5 over the last 18 games and that includes the series where they lost three of four to Texas. The Orioles have 17 hits the last three games and eight of them are homers. They are bashing homers at quite a pace. They began Friday's games leading the majors with 50 homers, leading by one over the New York Yankees and by two over Texas. They remain atop...

It pays to stay up late. Infielder Bill Hall just sent the following tweet: "Got the word a lil while ago. Just got called up to #Orioles. See u guys at #CamdenYards 2morrow night." At this hour, I can't possibly confirm the corresponding roster move, but the Orioles apparently will add a fourth player to their bench. One possibility is the Orioles designate left-hander Dana Eveland for assignment, since he's out of minor league options. They must believe that Jason Hammel will avoid...

Left fielder Roger Bernadina's big bat has returned at just the right time, helping to ignite the Nationals' offense two games in a row. Down 2-0 at Pittsburgh Thursday, Bernadina crushed a solo homer to cut the Pirates lead to 2-1. The Nationals eventually won the game, 4-2. Friday, Bernadina taxed Cincinnati starter Mike Leake for 10 pitches in the first frame before blasting a two-run homer over the right-center-field fence to give the Nats a 2-0 lead. Washington rolled to a 7-3 opening...

Any Barry Manilow fans out there? OK, anyway... Left-hander Dana Eveland said he didn't think much of his performance tonight. "I was very fortunate to have awesome defense behind me today," he said. "It was one of the worst games I have had all year. I've been throwing the ball pretty well down there. I haven't been walking people. Just did not have command today. Could not find my off-speed pitches. Fastball wasn't really there. I had to grind through it. Fortunately for me, those...

Considering how hard Tampa Bay's Sean Rodriguez hit Matt Wieters while trying to score in the fourth inning tonight, it's amazing that the Orioles' catcher escaped with nothing more serious than cuts in his mouth and on his ear. Rodriguez was trying to score on a single to right field after Matt Joyce already had crossed the plate. Nick Markakis threw to Robert Andino, who fired the ball home for the out. "You take a look, and you saw that they're both tagging," Wieters said. "With...

With Jayson Werth out for a few months and general manager Mike Rizzo saying he's not going to trade to acquire an outfielder for the short term, a few guys on the Nationals roster have an opportunity on their hands right now. There's playing time to be had in left field, and it's up to someone to earn it. Roger Bernadina, step on up. Bernadina has made a claim for the left field job with his play the last two days, hitting two home runs, driving in four and stealing a base over the...

Manager Buck Showalter enjoyed talking about Nick Johnson for a change without having to dissect a hitless streak or explain why he kept putting the veteran in his lineup. It was all good tonight, with Johnson singling, walking, stealing a base and hitting a decisive two-run homer in the Orioles' 4-3 victory over Tampa Bay. "Nick had a lot of good at-bats tonight, the type he's capable of putting together that we saw in the spring," Showalter said. "I think you can tell what everybody in...

Nick Johnson picked a great time for his first homer as an Oriole. Johnson, who began tonight batting .122, hit a two-run shot in the last of the seventh to give the O's the 4-3 lead and a 4-3 win tonight over Tampa Bay. Johnson took a pitch from Joel Peralta out to right field to bring the Camden Yards crowd of 26,669 to its feet. The Orioles began tonight leading the major leagues in home runs with 50, and they added three important ones tonight to edge Tampa Bay in Game 1 of a series...

If you're looking for unlikely heroes tonight, cast your gaze in Nick Johnson's direction. Johnson began the night batting .122 with no home runs and five RBIs. He's been booed by the Camden Yards crowd. Readers of this blog question why he's still on the team, the memory of his 0-for-28 start burned into their brains. For one night, at least, he's the most popular guy in the building. Johnson drilled a two-run homer off Tampa Bay reliever Joel Peralta in the bottom of the seventh...