The St. Louis Cardinals had lost five of six games and 12 of their last 15 before tonight's series opener at Camden Yards. Plus, they had the highest ERA in the majors during the month of June. Despite that, the Cardinals beat the Orioles 6-2 in tonight's series opener. Kyle Lohse, who entered with a career interleague ERA of 5.93, pitched five shutout innings before a rain delay. Lohse, who gave up four hits with one walk and two strikeouts, improved to 8-4 with an ERA of 2.78. The...

J.J. Hardy belted his 11th home run to finally put the Orioles on the scoreboard in the eighth inning. Hardy connected off Cardinals reliever Ryan Franklin, sending the ball an estimated 406 feet to left-center field. And you thought the night was going to be a total loss. You can't judge a trade this early, but giving up minor league relievers Jim Hoey and Brett Jacobson for Hardy during the winter meetings seems like a good one for the Orioles. Dare I say "steal?" Too soon? Adam...

Double-A Harrisburg right-hander Brad Peacock makes his 13th start of the season tonight at Richmond as he continues to be one of the most dominant pitchers in the Eastern League. Peacock's eight wins and 114 strikeouts in 12 starts this season are tops in the league, while his 2.28 ERA is second overall. Peacock was honored last week with the announcement that he will be pitching in the All-Star Futures Game on July 10 in Phoenix. "I am very excited," Peacock said. "I didn't even know...

The tarp is off the field and Clay Rapada is on the mound after a 28-minute rain delay. Rapada last pitched on Sunday, when he walked the only batter he faced. This is Rapada's second appearance since June 21. Zach Britton allowed four runs and seven hits, with two walks and three strikeouts, in 5 2/3 innings. He threw 90 pitches, 55 for strikes. Britton will have one win in his last 10 starts after tonight. I mentioned earlier today that Double-A Bowie infielder Billy Rowell was placed...

I knew this game was moving too fast. The tarp is coming on the field after umpires halted play at 8:35 p.m. Too bad the grounds crew didn't take action a few minutes earlier. Colby Rasmus hit a 400-foot home run to extend the Cardinals' lead to 4-0 in the top of the sixth. Zach Britton retired Yadier Molina on a ground ball for the second out before the Orioles bolted for the dugout. Britton had retired eight of nine batters before Rasmus launched his seventh home run. I'll take this...

Zach Britton got into a jam in the second inning when David Freese reached on an infield hit and Colby Rasmus walked with one out. He fell behind, 1-0, to Yadier Molina, and catcher Matt Wieters called time and headed to the mound for a brief conference. I don't know what Wieters said, but Britton retired Molina on a fly ball to right and got ahead of Mark Hamilton, 1-2. It looked like the game would remain scoreless. Wrong. Hamilton, Nick Punto and Ryan Theriot strung together three...

With the selection of reserves for the All-Star teams coming up on Sunday, we'll know soon which Oriole or Orioles will make the American League squad. Most seem to be predicting that just one player from this team will make it, but there are several deserving candidates. They include Adam Jones, batting .294 with 14 doubles, 13 homers and 45 RBIs. "Personally, it's out of my hands," Jones said. "You know, we've got guys in here having helluva years. I'm just trying to do my part. We...

It probably should not come as a shock to anyone, but Orioles manager Buck Showalter did express concern today over the lack of production from Vladimir Guerrero, his cleanup hitter. Guerrero has just four extra-base hits, two homers and two doubles, over his last 32 games. His current slugging percentage is .388 down from last year's .496 and his OPS is down from .841 to .702. "Yeah, there is (reason to be concerned)," Showalter said. "But, Vladdy we all know, he's not conventional. You...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter talked today about the recent lack of playing time for outfielder Nolan Reimold. He did not play in the series with Cincinnati and had just eight at-bats during the recent nine-game road trip. "It's been a challenge. We keep hoping that Luke (Scott) can get it going and we went through a period where there were a lot of left-handed pitchers, so it was pretty easy (to play him). We are going through the opposite now," Showalter said. "On my list of things that...

Alfredo Simon reported to Single-A Frederick today, but manager Buck Showalter told reporters that it's "more likely than less likely" that the reliever is activated from the disabled list before tomorrow night's game against the Cardinals. Showalter said the club will make a decision early tomorrow afternoon whether Simon pitches for the Keys or comes off the disabled list. Look for Simon to join the 25-man roster. The Orioles haven't ruled out making Simon a starter down the road, but...