The first 15 Orioles were retired Saturday night. The first nine were retired Sunday afternoon. The first six were retired last night. That's what I call progress. The Orioles are getting off to slow starts. That's the point I'm trying to make here. And the second inning has really been a sinkhole. The Orioles are 0-for-33 in the second inning over their last 10 games since Mark Reynolds hit a home run off A.J. Burnett on July 29. The offense is batting .190 (23-for-121) with 13 runs...

Tonight's attendance: 17,498 J.J. Hardy smacked a three-run homer off White Sox reliever Jesse Crain in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Orioles a 6-5 lead and set up Jeremy Guthrie for his sixth win. Matt Wieters doubled off John Danks for his third hit tonight, and he reached third base after sliding into Gordon Beckham's glove and jarring the ball loose. Crain replaced Danks with one out, and Hardy greeted him with a shot into the left field seats. Hardy is the first Orioles...

The Washington Nationals' first baseman Michael Morse, is putting up some offensive numbers Washington baseball fans haven't seen in nearly a half century. The 29-year-old Morse has a legitimate shot at winning the 2011 National League batting title. Currently Morse is third in the NL with a batting average of .324 and trails only Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers who has an average of .326 and league leading Jose Reyes of the New York Mets who is batting .336 in 98 games. If Morse does...

The White Sox have six hits off Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie through two innings tonight. Five of them have gone for extra bases. Paul Konerko doubled with two outs in the first inning, but he was stranded. Then the floodgates opened. A.J. Pierzynski led off the second with a 394-foot home run. Alex Rios, batting .215 before tonight, doubled to left field and scored on a single by Adam Dunn, who was batting .163. Guthrie got ahead of Gordon Beckham, 0-2, and served up another home run....

Adam Jones seems to like the friendly confines of Camden Yards. In 57 home games this year, he is batting .296 with 17 homers, 49 RBIs and an OPS of .928. In 53 road games, he is batting .288 with three homers, 20 RBIs and a .704 OPS. Even though he went hitless on Sunday, Jones is batting .344 with eight multi-hit games over his last 15 games with four doubles, four homers and 13 RBIs. Here is an interesting Jones stat: He leads the majors in batting average with two outs at .363. His 20...

The Orioles placed infielder Cesar Izturis on the 15-day disabled list today with a left groin strain. The move was announced a few minutes ago. Reliever Jason Berken has been recalled from Triple-A Norfolk to take Izturis' spot on the 25-man roster. Izturis is making his second trip to the disabled list. He also was sidelined May 13 to Aug. 5 with a right elbow ulnar nerve injury that required surgery. Izturis went 1-for-4 in two games after being activated and is batting .200 (6-for-30)...

The Orioles today announced that they have placed infielder Cesar Izturis on the 15-day disabled list with a left groin strain. The club has also recalled right-handed pitcher Jason Berken from Triple-A Norfolk. Berken is 1-2 with a 6.27 ERA (37.1 IP, 26 ER) in 31 appearances for the Orioles in two stints this season (March 31-May 20 and June 15-July 31). He has gone 0-1 with a 3.50 ERA (18.0IP, 7 ER) in five games (four starts) for the Tides. Izturis was on the DL, May 13-Aug. 5, with a...

The short-season Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds will send four players to the New York-Penn League All-Star Game that is set for Aug. 16 in Lowell, Mass. IronBirds outfielder Glynn Davis, infielders Dudley Leonora and Joe Velleggia, and pitcher Trent Howard will play for the American League team. A Baltimore-area native, Davis played one year at Catonsville Community College. Although he went undrafted, the Baltimore Orioles signed him as a free agent and Davis hit .316 in the month of July....

Chris Davis really wanted to start at first base tonight. Here's how much: "I've tried," he said. "I literally actually put my name in the lineup before anybody else did and when I came back, it said I was pitching, so I moved it back out of the lineup. I would love to pitch, but I just don't want to subject these guys to that." Davis has temporarily lost his place in the lineup, but not his sense of humor. He was on a roll today while standing in front of his locker. "I'll...

After putting his sore left ankle through some pregame paces, J.J. Hardy has pronounced the ankle healthy enough for duty and he returns to the Orioles' lineup here tonight against the Chicago White Sox. "Got here early, went through my treatment and then taped it up," Hardy said. "I went out and tested it, basically doing all the things that hurt me in Kansas City and it felt fine." He said there no longer is any pain to deal with it and that taking the Toronto series off did it a lot...