Much has been made of when Bryce Harper will be called up to the majors. But what about Tyler Moore? Just this week, the career first baseman got his first taste of playing left field. He made one catch with no problems. Triple-A Syracuse manager Tony Beasley said they will get Moore more playing time in the outfield. Tuesday he was back at first base. He has played 425 games at first base and now one in left field. But Moore has been scorching the ball. The last 10 games, Moore is batting...

I know what you were thinking when the ball was hit to Wilson Betemit with two outs and the bases loaded in the last of the ninth last night. You were thinking that third base has been a disaster for the Orioles on defense this year and now the White Sox hit the ball to the third sacker with the game on the line. Yikes, anywhere but that! But Betemit made a very nice play and the Orioles won again to improve their first place record to 7-4. After 11 games my advice to the Orioles fans is...

Maybe somewhat lost during the Orioles 7-4 start which has featured some longball bashing and solid starting pitching is that the Orioles' bullpen has been pretty solid this year as well. Outside of that Kevin Gregg meltdown Sunday in Toronto the bullpen has been very good. The 'pen ERA on the year is 2.75 and if you take away Sunday's game that lowers to 1.82. In last night's 3-2 win, four pitchers combined for 3 2/3 scoreless innings. It was all needed as Darren O'Day, Troy Patton,...

There was a time, back in the first year of the National League, when the same pitcher threw nearly every game of the season. That was 1876. Jim Devlin started and completed 68 of 69 games played by Louisville. Back then, the ball was thrown underhand and pitching careers were shorter. It wasn't until 1884 that pitchers were allowed to toss overhand - closer to the formation of the game we now watch daily from April to October - allowing more speed, but more stress, to envelop the arm. That...

The Orioles' hot start here in 2012 should not give rise to indulgent thoughts of a winning season. That much has to be said up front. It's true that there's plenty to enjoy so far, but let's take it game by game. Odds are, this team will still eventually lose more than they win. Let's say for the sake of argument, however, that they keep this up. Let's say that April turns into May and the win total is still in the black. Would then it be wise to dream of 82 wins, or more? Alas, no....

Teams aren't supposed to win games when they score three runs or fewer. Teams aren't supposed to be cruising along when they have a collective slugging percentage of .348 or be in first place when their five top outfielders have combined to drive in nine runs in 12 games. Yet, here the Nationals are. Two weeks into the season, Washington owns a 9-3 record and sits atop the National League East by a game and a half. The question now going forward is whether this pattern can continue. Can...

CHICAGO - Nick Markakis collected five hits in his first seven at-bats, with a triple, two homers and four RBIs, and the baseball world excitedly proclaimed that he was completely recovered from his abdominal surgery and the worried masses could exhale and relax. Markakis is mired in a 3-for-35 slump, and it might be time to inhale and stress. That's probably an overreaction. Markakis wasn't going to maintain his early pace and he isn't going to keep going 0-fer, as he did again last night...

CHICAGO - I'll close the blog tonight with comments from Nolan Reimold and J.J. Hardy, who hit back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning to break a scoreless tie. Reimold has four home runs in his last four games played. He sat out Sunday's game. The key to his hot streak? "Staying calm," he replied. "No real secret to it. It's just kind of happening. I've just been feeling good, keeping my swing short, not moving my head too much. Get the pitch and don't miss it." Reimold made a...

CHICAGO - Taiwanese left-hander Wei-Yin Chen learned a new American custom tonight related to major league baseball. Get your first win, get covered in shaving cream and a sports drink. Chen walked out of the bathroom after tonight's 3-2 victory over the White Sox and discovered that Luis Ayala and Tommy Hunter were waiting for him. Ayala had the shaving cream, Hunter had the blue Gatorade. You can picture the rest. "It just happened," Chen said through his interpreter, a wide grin on...

Things got a little tight in the ninth inning of tonight's game when Brad Lidge, in trying to protect a 1-0 lead, allowed a leadoff double to Jed Lowrie, then walked J.D. Martinez on four pitches. For a time there, it looked like tonight might be the second time in five days that Lidge was going to blow a game for Gio Gonzalez after the Nationals starter had thrown seven scoreless innings. But Lidge regrouped, retiring the next three hitters in succession to close it out. Jayson Werth has...