When Pat Gillick enters the Baseball Hall of Fame in inductions ceremonies at Cooperstown, N.Y., on Sunday, his tenure as the Orioles' general manager from 1995-1998 will be a footnote in a storied career that has seen him win two World Series at the helm of the Toronto Blue Jays and another as the GM of the Philadelphia Phillies. Baltimore fans remember Gillick as the front office boss the last time the O's went to the playoffs, the last time there was a winning season to cheer. And Gillick...

I grew up in a mid-sized town in southwest Connecticut where it was only natural to pledge your allegiance to the New York Yankees, New York Mets or Boston Red Sox. My earliest memories of the game were the dominant Yankees teams of the late 1990s and attending their ticker tape parade in 1998, but it was my first game at Shea Stadium earlier that season which changed my life forever. Sitting out in the Pepsi Picnic area for my first professional baseball game was an exhilarating experience....

He can't be sure how long his time in the major leagues will last, but after playing more than 500 games in the Orioles' farm system, outfielder Matt Angle was excited to get his first call to the big leagues over the weekend. The 25-year-old Angle, a seventh-round draft pick out of Ohio State in 2007, was batting .266 with seven doubles, four homers, 20 steals and 29 RBIs in 81 games with Triple-A Norfolk. But he was batting .320 since June 1 and hit .380 in his last 16 games with the...

There's no baseball tonight, which means I'm going to drag my tired and battered body onto the tennis courts this morning and subject it to the stifling heat and my inconsistent backhand for at least two sets. I'll stop once the dehydration chills set in. Not the initial chills, but the steady, unrelenting ones that have me digging my medical card out of my wallet. The Orioles' rotation has produced three quality starts in the last four games, which is enough to conjure up images of the...

Yesterday's shutout included, the Orioles have scored more runs over the past seven games than they have over any seven-game stretch this season. (OK, that's not completely true. During interleague play, the O's also scored 39 runs over the seven games from June 21-26. But four of those games came in National League parks with Vladimir Guerrero relegated to the bench.) Sure, seven games seems like an arbitrary number and, yes, it is clearly can be described with the phrase "small sample...

Nationals right fielder Jayson Werth had his best offensive game in almost a month in Wednesday's finale against the Houston Astros. Werth went 3-for-5 with two doubles and the Nats' only offense, a two-run homer, that erased an early deficit and got the team eventually to extra innings, before Houston won it, 3-2 in 11. Manager Davey Johnson said he believes Werth's aggressiveness has helped him start to get out of his recent struggles and it paid dividends in the rubber match at...

After getting shutout in a game where the opponent starter walked six batters, Adam Jones was not a happy camper. "We should have had runs off their starter. We put ourselves in the (right) situation, that's all you can ask for," Jones said. He was asked if it was tough to pick up the ball out of the hand of Boston starter Andrew Miller, who pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings as the Sox won 4-0 to take the series. "No, not at all. We should have put so many runs on. He should not have been...

After a four-start stretch where he didn't pitch past five innings, Jake Arrieta produced his first quality start since mid-June today in the Orioles' 4-0 loss to Boston. "Think overall, did a good job of pounding the zone and forcing the issue of contact," Arrieta said after giving up nine hits and three runs over seven innings. "Making them earn their hits and they put some good swings on pitches. Several guys in that lineup are hot right now. "Ellsbury is the guy that hurt me today....

The Orioles had plenty of scoring opportunities today, which makes it more frustrating that they didn't score in a 4-0 loss to the Red Sox before 35,174. Manager Buck Showalter talked about the following: Buck Showalter talks about the O's 4-0 loss to the Red Sox On whether this is the best he's seen Jake Arrieta: "I've seen him as good, if not better. He's pitched some good games for us this year, and in the past I've seen him like that. He deserved a better fate. They pitched a...

Presented with a chance to win a series against the American League East leaders, the Orioles could not get any runs today off Andrew Miller, a pitcher with a career 5.83 ERA that is averaging nearly six walks per nine innings this year. The Red Sox won the series finale 4-0 in front of 35,174 on a sun-splashed afternoon at Camden Yards. The Orioles were held to just two hits by four Sox pitchers. Miller had control issues today also. He walked six batters in 5 2/3 scoreless innings. He had...