Jason Hammel has allowed two baserunners in seven innings today, walking Josh Willingham in the second and Justin Morneau leading off the fifth. He's faced the minimum number of batters because he's gotten two double plays. The Twins are beating the ball into the ground. Hammel has induced 14 ground balls for 16 outs, counting the double plays. He's also struck out three. That leaves two fly balls - none since the second inning. The Orioles continue to lead, 3-0, as Hammel takes the mound...

The Orioles jumped out to another lead against the Twins this afternoon when J.J. Hardy hit a 2-1 pitch from Anthony Swarzak for a solo homer to left center in the last of the first today. The Orioles still hold that 1-0 lead in the fourth and have outscored the Twins 6-0 in the first three innings of the games this weekend. The Orioles began last year with a starting pitching-led three-game sweep at Tampa Bay and so far in this series have gotten excellent starting pitching. Jake Arrieta,...

CHICAGO - Since he used somewhat of a mixture of his A and B bullpens yesterday, the relievers manager Davey Johnson will lean on today will mostly be the guys who didn't get work in the Nationals' 7-4 win on Saturday. Hello, Brad Lidge. Lefties Sean Burnett and Tom Gorzelanny could also be called on today, especially since Cubs manager Dale Sveum has written in a lineup that includes all four of his available left-handed hitters. Xavier Nady will get his first appearance of 2012 today, as...

J.J. Hardy homered off his former team in the bottom of the first inning to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead. Twins right-hander Anthony Swarzak went curveball, fastball, curveball, fastball to Hardy, who detected a pattern and easily cleared the left field fence. Swarzak is starting for Liam Hendricks, who was hospitalized with a bad case of food poisoning. Now who feels sick? The Orioles have five home runs off the Twins in this series, including two from Nick Markakis, who's on pace for 162....

Here are a few more pregame comments from manager Buck Showalter: On whether he anticipates Brian Matusz being amped up for Monday's start vs. the Yankees: "He did that a little bit this spring as far as, first time out it was like he was running pretty fast. There were a lot of hamsters running around pretty quick there. He slowed them down. I expect it. That's part of it. All of these guys had it and got back in control. That's part of it. It'll happen till the day he quits playing. It...

The four Orioles full-season minor league affiliates are underway in their seasons with a combined record of 5-6 so far. * Triple-A Norfolk is 1-2, averaging 4.0 runs per game with a 5.57 ERA. * Double-A Bowie is 1-2, averaging 3.0 runs per game with a 6.00 ERA. * Single-A Frederick is 1-1, averaging 8.5 runs per game with a 5.00 ERA. * Single-A Delmarva is 2-1, averaging 6.3 runs per game with a 4.50 ERA. Among individual players, Manny Machado is batting .273 for Bowie, going 3-for-11 so...

Mark Reynolds didn't roll up his pant leg while sitting at his locker, so I'll take him at his word that he's got a bruised left calf. Reynolds said he's fine, and it's apparent that he wants to be in the lineup. He wasn't his usual jovial self after manager Buck Showalter excluded him. "He just told me I wasn't playing," Reynolds said. "I'm fine. There's nothing wrong." Asked if he expects to play tomorrow, Reynolds said, "You've got to ask Buck. I don't know." Is his leg...

CHICAGO - Just got word that 2011 first-round pick Anthony Rendon's injury has been diagnosed as a badly sprained left ankle. X-rays on Rendon's ankle were negative. The Nationals will need to wait until the swelling goes down in Rendon's ankle before they have an idea of how long the third baseman will be out. The team obviously won't like seeing Rendon in the trainer's room yet again (he twice injured his right ankle a few years ago and suffered a right shoulder injury while in...

It is safe to say that Orioles third baseman Mark Reynolds has not gotten off to the start on defense that he wanted. After leading the American League with 31 errors last season, he made an errant throw on opening day but first baseman Chris Davis saved him with a nice stretch and catch. Last night, Reynolds made an error in the eighth that led to both Twins runs that inning being unearned. "That was a tough play last night. A lefty hit a slicing cue off the end (of the bat) down the...

CHICAGO - Rick Ankiel went yard again yesterday for Double-A Harrisburg, giving him two homers in as many rehab games. He's now batting .429 in three contests for the Senators. Harrisburg center fielder Eury Perez went 3-for-6 yesterday to raise his season average to .400, but he was caught stealing and picked off first base. Easy, Eury. There were a couple strong pitching performances in the Nats' system yesterday, as Yunesky Maya threw six shutout innings for Triple-A Syracuse, striking...