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...

The Nationals have scored in all four innings thus far tonight, have hit two home runs and lead the Reds 7-1 as we go to the top of the fifth. It's fun to hit in the Great American Ballpark, all right. Washington got on top 3-0 in the top of the first inning on Roger Bernadina's two-run home run and Adam LaRoche's RBI double. Bernadina has now homered in two straight games, and he added another RBI when his single to left plated Wilson Ramos in the second. Think Bernadina wants to grab...

Dana Eveland is littering the bases and running up his pitch count, so he's not likely to stick around for the late innings of tonight's game. Eveland has allowed three runs and four hits, walked five (one intentional), struck out two and hit two batters in four innings. He's thrown 71 pitches, only 37 for strikes. Eveland retired the side in order in the first, but it's been a massive struggle otherwise. The Rays loaded the bases with no outs in the second and settled for one run on...

Dana Eveland is making his Orioles debut tonight in the series opener between the O's and Tampa Bay. The Orioles are Eveland's seventh major league team since he was drafted in the 16th round of the 2002 draft by Milwaukee. Last September, Eveland went 3-2 with an ERA of 3.03 with the Los Angeles Dodgers after spending most of the 2011 season at Triple-A. Tonight, he will making his 60th career major league start but his first ever on three days' rest. He last started on Monday for...

The Orioles created room on the 25-man roster for tonight's starter, left-hander Dana Eveland, by placing reliever Matt Lindstrom on the 15-day disabled list with a right middle finger injury. Lindstrom, 32, has posted a 1.29 ERA in 13 games, allowing two earned runs in 14 innings. Both runs scored last night. Three unearned runs also have scored while he's pitched. Lindstrom, acquired from the Rockies along with Jason Hammel in the Jeremy Guthrie trade, has walked four and struck out 14....