Now that's the way to announce your presence in Game 1 of a doubleheader. The first three Orioles homered off Rangers starter Colby Lewis in the bottom of the first inning, bringing the sparse crowd to its feet and almost knocking Lewis to his knees. Rule 5 pick Ryan Flaherty hit his first major league home run on Lewis' second pitch, the ball clearing the out-of-town scoreboard in right field. J.J. Hardy followed with his eighth homer, and Nick Markakis followed with his fifth. The...

Dana Eveland will arrive in Baltimore later today and make tomorrow night's start against the Rays at Camden Yards. That much we know. In fact, we knew about it yesterday, but manager Buck Showalter confirmed it this afternoon and joked about how the reporters staring back at him already figured it out. Here's what we don't know: How the Orioles will make room for Eveland on the 25-man and 40-man rosters. That's a much more complicated mystery. The Orioles could open a spot on the 40-man...

Davey Johnson has made a couple lineup changes, all right. The Nationals' skipper has tweaked his batting order for tonight's series finale against the Pirates, putting Roger Bernadina in the No. 2 spot and dropping Bryce Harper to fifth. Danny Espinosa will start at second base tonight and will protect Harper in the order, hitting sixth. This is now the fourth spot in the lineup that Harper has at-bats. He's previously hit seventh, third and second. Here are the lineups for both...

The Orioles signed Steve Tolleson as a minor league free agent in November. After showing a hot bat in some recent games with Triple-A Norfolk, the 28-year-old was added to the O's roster yesterday, and he figures to play in a utility role while here. This will be his second time in the majors. In 25 games with Oakland in 2010, Tolleson hit .286 over 49 at-bats. "It was a great experience," he said. "I went up as a utility guy for Oakland, and I knew my role. I thought I did a really good...

Over the Nationals' last 16 games, they've gotten 15 quality starts. In that 16-game span, the Nats are 8-8. I'm not trying to pile on here, I'm just saying. Stuck on a three-game losing streak, the Nats send their ace to the mound tonight, looking to avoid getting swept by the Pirates. It's a very small sample size, but Stephen Strasburg has allowed only one hit to a player currently on the Pirates' roster. That guy is Neil Walker, who is 1-for-3 with a strikeout off Strasburg....

It has been a frustrating start to the season for Orioles reserve outfielder Endy Chavez. After hitting .301 last year with Texas, he is batting just .133 in 20 games with the Orioles and now he is headed for the disabled list. Chavez will be officially put on the DL at some point today, likely after Game 1, to allow the Orioles to recall Tommy Hunter from the minors to pitch tonight's second game of the doubleheader with Texas. "They said on the MRI the oblique is fine (showing no...

Jason Hammel, who isn't making today's start because of a sore right knee, is tentatively scheduled to pitch Monday night against the Yankees at Camden Yards. Hammel could be pushed back one more day and start Tuesday. The Orioles will more strongly consider placing him on the disabled list if he remains unavailable. Manager Buck Showalter stressed that Hammel could have pitched today under different circumstances, but the club isn't taking any chances this early in the season. Endy...

It's the same as yesterday. For the Orioles: Ryan Flaherty LF J.J. Hardy SS Nick Markakis RF Adam Jones CF Matt Wieters C Wilson Betemit 3B Chris Davis DH Mark Reynolds 1B Robert Andino 2B Wei-Yin Chen LHP

Colby Lewis is off to a fast start for the Rangers, going 3-1 with a 2.97 ERA and 1.14 WHIP in six starts. He's walked five and struck out 31 in 39 1/3 innings. The Orioles might not recognize him in Game 1. That's because Lewis is 1-3 with a 5.53 ERA and 1.52 WHIP in six career appearances against them, including four starts. He's allowed 32 hits, walked 10 and struck out 16 in 27 2/3 innings. He's also served up five home runs. Mark Reynolds is 3-for-6 with two homers and five RBIs...

It took place out of public and media view, but a nice thing happened this week at Camden Yards. The Texas Rangers organization took time to thank several current Orioles for helping their team win the American League championship last year and they presented several of those players with their 2011 AL championship rings. Here is the list of Orioles that were on that 2011 team: * Chris Davis had 76 at-bats * Endy Chavez made 66 starts with 256 at-bats and hit .301 for Texas in 2011 * Pedro...