Six batters into this game, Frederick was trailing Potomac, 5-0. Oliver Drake is struggling with his control. He walked three of the first four batters, gave up an RBI single and then a Grand Slam to Jamar Walton for the 5-0 edge. After a diving catch by left fielder Kyle Hudson, Robby Jacobsen hit a solo homer to center for a 6-0 lead. After two more walks, manager Orlando Gomez walked to the mound and Cole McCurry came on. Drake threw 41 pitches, just 18 for strikes. Drake's ERA in the...

Even though Frederick played better in the first half, with a record of 41-29 as opposed to 31-39 in the second half, Keys third baseman Billy Rowell says his team is upbeat and excited about the playoffs as the Keys host Potomac tonight in game one of a best-of-five series. "It's a good atmosphere right now. Both teams have good hitters so I think it's going to be a game where we have to score some runs. Maybe we can get into their bullpen early so by game three we can be deep into their...

After nearly driving off I-70 as I heard Joe Angel's call of that Swisher homer, I managed to stay in my lane long enough to make it here to Frederick for the start of the Carolina League playoffs. Here are the lineups for game one of tonight's best-of-five series: Potomac Nationals: 2B - Dan Lyons C - Derek Norris RF - Bill Rhinehart 1B - Tyler Moore DH - Sean Rooney LF - Jamar Walton SS - Jose Lozada 3B - Robby Jacobsen CF - Chris Curran P - Danny Rosenbaum Frederick Keys: CF - Xavier...

You might be tempted to run Jim Johnson back out to the mound in the bottom of the ninth. He's retired the last four batters he's faced and thrown 16 pitches in 1 1/3 innings. But that's not how manager Buck Showalter rolls these days. Koji Uehara is warming in the bullpen. He'll take the ball as the Orioles try to take the final game of this series and break out the brooms. Uehara has allowed four earned runs in his last 22 appearances covering 25 innings. The Orioles will gladly take...

My daughter just announced that she doesn't have school tomorrow and she doesn't know why. I'll explain it to her later. Brad Bergesen has held the Yankees to one run and three hits over six innings, and he continues to cling to a 2-1 lead. He's thrown 91 pitches, two of them resulting in fly balls to the warning track in the sixth. You can exhale now. I wouldn't want your face turning blue. Bergesen was 0-2 with a 10.38 ERA in two career starts against the Yankees, both in the Bronx,...

It took a while - an uncomfortable amount of time - but the Orioles finally broke through against Yankees right-hander Ivan Nova. Adam Jones opened the fifth inning with an infield hit, took second on a wild pitch - Nova's first in the majors - and scored on Matt Wieters' two-run homer to left. Orioles 2, Yankees 1. Wieters went to the opposite field on a 3-0 pitch, his 11th homer of the season, after Nova carried a two-hit shutout into the fifth. Wieters began the day 14-for-35 (.400)...

Nationals hitting coordinator Rick Schu is preparing to head back to Florida to begin the instructional league, which runs from September 16 through October 13. This week we will cover a few of the Nats prospects that Schu worked with this season and update some of their offseason schedules. Hagerstown first baseman Justin Bloxom had his season cut short on August 7 but is working hard to recover from minor knee surgery. The Kansas State product put up some nice numbers: a .309 average in...

The Frederick Keys just got a little better. They have added 20-year-old outfielder Xavier Avery from Bowie for the playoffs. Avery spent most of this year with Frederick and in 109 games batted .280-4-48 with 73 runs and 28 steals. Frederick also added RHP David Walters from Delmarva and infielders Miguel Abreu and Buck Britton rejoined the team from Triple-A Norfolk. Walters went 2-1, 4.91 with four saves in 25 2/3 innings with the Shorebirds. Mychal Givens and Jonathan Schoop, who...

For the Orioles: 2B Brian Roberts RF Nick Markakis 1B Ty Wigginton DH Luke Scott LF Felix Pie CF Adam Jones C Matt Wieters SS Cesar Izturis 3B Josh Bell RHP Brad Bergesen For the Yankees: LF Brett Gardner SS Derek Jeter DH Mark Teixeira 3B Alex Rodriguez 2B Robinson Cano RF Nick Swisher 1B Lance Berkman CF Curtis Granderson C Francisco Cervelli RHP Ivan Nova The Orioles have clinched their first series win on 161st St. since Sept. 11-13, 2009. They've won three straight games against...

Fans Can Vote for the National Award Recipient on Chevy.com/Clemente and Register for a Chance to Win a Trip to 2010 World Series Major League Baseball and Chevrolet, the official vehicle of Major League Baseball, have announced that Jeremy Guthrie was named the Orioles' 2010 nominee for the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award presented by Chevrolet. Guthrie is one of the 30 Club nominees who are finalists for the national award, which is given annually to the Major League Baseball...