Orioles third baseman Chris Davis misses that Eastern League pitching. Davis has struck out four times today and is 0-for-8 with six strikeouts since completing his injury rehab assignment at Double-A Bowie and coming off the disabled list yesterday. Davis fanned three times today against A.J. Burnett and took a called third strike from reliever David Robertson. This isn't a recent development for Davis. He's struck out 19 times in his last nine games and 39 at-bats. Meanwhile, the...

FREDERICK, Md.- Tonight's scheduled playoff game between the Single-A Frederick Keys and the Potomac Nationals remains very much on. The rain has just about stopped as of just before 4 p.m. at Harry Grove Stadium and right now the tarp is not on the field. Frederick is set to begin its best-of-five Carolina League semifinal series against Potomac. The same teams met in the semifinals last year with Potomac winning that series, three games to one. If there is any change in the status of...

Nationals pitcher Brad Peacock gave up a couple of hits and a walk in his major league debut, but didn't let that bother him. He still felt very good about his first outing. After all, he was excited and nervous during his first start with the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs back on July 16. He settled down following that game and reeled off five straight wins from July 22 to August 29. Peacock said during those last few weeks, Syracuse pitching coach Greg Booker helped him to calm down on the...

The Orioles will assist with Hurricane Irene relief efforts by teaming up with the American Red Cross Greater Chesapeake and Potomac (GC&P) Blood Services Region for a series of blood drives this week in an effort to help rebuild the local blood supplies following Hurricane Irene. All donors will receive a complimentary ticket to the Orioles' game against the New York Yankees tomorrow, Thursday, Sept. 8 at 1:05 p.m. The club is also working with the Maryland National Guard, Baltimore City...

Zach Britton couldn't hold a 4-2 lead, allowing two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning after a four-pitch leadoff walk to Alex Rodriguez. Nothing good happens after...well, you know. Britton hadn't surrendered a hit since the first inning, but Andruw Jones doubled to move Rodriguez to third and Jesus Montero followed with a two-run single off the right field fence. The Orioles have seen enough of Montero. Big-time prospect with impressive opposite-field power. We get it. Britton had...

The Orioles and Yankees are fielding lineups today that conjure images of a split-squad game in spring training. Anyone know if it's raining in Sarasota or Tampa? The Orioles found the strength to take a 1-0 lead in the first inning, and the rally started with Matt Angle slapping a single into center field. Angle stole second, took third on a ground ball and scored on Nick Markakis' grounder to second base. Markakis has 65 RBIs this season. If Angle is going to make the roster in 2012,...

I couldn't be happier that I've been refreshing Twitter since 9:30 a.m. waiting for a lineup that arrived at noon. Stay hot, Roch. Manager Buck Showalter is doing some massive substituting and rearranging after last night's game ended at 2:15 a.m. You won't recognize this lineup. For the Orioles: Matt Angle CF Robert Andino SS Nick Markakis DH Mark Reynolds 1B Nolan Reimold RF Chris Davis 3B Ryan Adams 2B Kyle Hudson LF Craig Tatum C Zach Britton LHP

The Orioles have had a tough season in many respects. Many, many respects. But there is one area in which they've been not only the best team in baseball, but the best team in baseball by far. It's their pitchers - when they're hitters. The best-hitting pitching staff in the National League belongs to the Arizona Diamondbacks, who have a collective .190/.230/.257 line. That's obviously awful by regular standards (and one of the main reasons why I think the DH should be universal), but on...

I can certainly remember my first time in a major league press box. It was back on May 25, 2009, my first assignment as an intern with MLB.com. I was assigned to cover the Orioles for the rest of the season (or until I found a full-time gig somewhere) and had the rare privilege of spending my summer among the fans at Camden Yards. A sweet gig, it was. It's been more than two years since my first experience, and meanwhile I've spent countless days and eaten too many luke warm hot dogs to...

I can't think of a player that has had a bigger swing in his performance from very good to very bad quite as dramatically as Brian Matusz. Over his last eight starts last year, he went 6-0 with a 1.57 ERA. In 10 starts this year, he is 1-7 with a 9.84 ERA. His ERA is 11.42 over his past four starts since he returned from the minor leagues. The question that doesn't seem to have a clear and definitive answer is this: What the heck happened to Matusz? Maybe it's one mass of a combination of...