Last night, the Orioles got swept by the Toronto Blue Jays in their three-game series up north in Canada and lost their fifth straight game. We all know that the Birds have had quite an remarkable run during the first two months of the season. To say that they have surprised everyone - fans, the local and national media alike - is an understatement. However, at this point, are the Orioles collapsing, or is this just an extraordinarily lousy stretch? They have gone 2-8 in their last 10...

The Nationals find themselves in an enviable position. Clinging to the National League East lead by a half-game over the Miami Marlins on the last day of May, they expect to get cleanup hitter Michael Morse back as early as Friday when they start a three-game weekend series with the Atlanta Braves. Morse, who is with the high Single-A Potomac Nationals this week on a rehab assignment, went 3-for-6 with a walk and an RBI over two games so far as a designated hitter. He's scheduled to play...

Any time you end up with a winning road trip, you'll take it. It's not easy winning on the road in this league, especially when you're playing in a division where every team has an above-.500 record. But when you start a tough nine-game road trip against division opponents by going 5-1 and then proceed to lose your final three games before heading home, it takes some of the wind out of your sails. It takes even more wind out of said sails when, on that nine-game road trip, you have to put...

Gary Rajsich, who was hired as the Orioles' director of scouting in November, is now days away from his first draft with the O's, who have the fourth pick in round one Monday night. Rajsich has several of his top staff members with him in Baltimore this week in final preparations for next week's draft. While he is not going to volunteer to any reporter which players the Orioles are focusing on with their top pick, he did say he has trimmed the list of players under consideration for that...

The Orioles need to get healthy, and that includes their sickening stretch of futility that's threatening to drop them down the American League East standings as if there's an anchor tied to their waists. If that were actually true, they'd probably end up with strained obliques and intercostals. The Orioles have lost five in a row and eight of their last 10, but the schedule cuts them a break. No game until tomorrow night in St. Petersburg. Left-hander Zach Britton won't be idle tonight....

Five days ago, Chien-Ming Wang jogged out of the bullpen to relieve Ross Detwiler after a mediocre start. Today, the reverse happened. Wang went just four-plus innings in his first start of the season, giving up four runs. He allowed 10 baserunners in that time (seven hits and three walks) and clearly wasn't showing the command that we saw early in spring training when the veteran right-hander was pounding his sinker down in the zone and locating his offspeed stuff for strikes. Detwiler...

Well, at least Adam Jones stayed in the game after getting hit by a pitch on his left hand tonight. Other than that, not a lot went right again this evening for the Orioles in a 4-1 loss at Rogers Centre. Toronto swept the three-game series by a 18-9 score and is 33-7 against the Orioles in the last 40 games between the two teams at home in Toronto. Losing pitcher Jason Hammel entered this start having allowed just three homers all year in 55 innings. Tonight, he gave up four solo shots as...

Jason Hammel doesn't give up home runs. Until tonight. Now he's passing them out like ballpark peanuts. Hammel has served up four home runs in five innings, all of them solo shots to give Toronto a 4-1 lead. The roll call consists of Edwin Encarnacion, Rajai Davis, Brett Lowrie and Colby Rasmus. I'm waiting for Pat Borders and Garth Iorg to grab a bat. Once again, starting pitching is hurting the Orioles. So is their lack of offense. Maybe they need to get angry again. Where's...

The runners in scoring position (RISP) stat has been a key one for the Orioles this year. The team is hitting .241 on the season when batting with runners in scoring position. Over the last four games, all losses, the Orioles are batting just .121 (4-for-33) when hitting with RISP. RISP stats for the Orioles the last four games: *Went 0-for-2 Saturday against KC. *Went 1-for-11 Sunday against KC. *Went 2-for-8 Monday at Toronto. *Went 1-for-12 Tuesday at Toronto. That has led to the O's...

This would probably fall under the heading of team business and not be something necessarily shared with a reporter but when Jonathan Schoop, one of the Orioles top prospects, was removed from Double-A Bowie's game this afternoon, I wondered if there had been an injury. There was no injury and it appears that Schoop was taken out of that game at Akron because he attempted to make an unnecessary play on a groundball that may have not sit well with the Bowie coaches looking on in the dugout. I...