The first 5,000 fans to enter Harbor Park in Norfolk tonight will receive a Tides cap. They'll also get to watch Brian Matusz pitch. Matusz never made it to Triple-A before tonight. He moved up from Single-A Frederick to Double-A Bowie to the majors in his first professional season in 2009. He was part of the gifted and talented pitching program. Matusz returned to Frederick and Bowie on his injury rehab assignment. He'll finally pitch for Norfolk tonight in a 7:05 p.m. game against the...

Parts of the last two seasons have been nothing short of rough for Nolan Reimold. However, Remold is now back in the big leagues with the Baltimore Orioles and when he's been given the opportunity to play, the man has delivered in key moments. His bat played a huge role in Saturday's victory against the Nationals and also on Thursday against the Royals, where his home runs helped extend the Orioles' winning streak to five games. During the past week, Reimold has once again shown flashes of...

Let's not kid ourselves. Jayson Werth freaked out. After getting swept by the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night, the Washington Nationals' right fielder delivered a bizarre and cryptic postgame interview where he said: "I've got some ideas, obviously, and some thoughts, none I really want to share with the world. But I think it's pretty obvious what's going on right here. ... I'm not going to get into it right now. It is what it is. It's unfortunate. We're a way better...

Nick Markakis has been starting to get base hits and his average is on the rise. Markakis is working on an 11-game batting streak, during which he is hitting .362 as the Orioles get set to open a series tonight at Oakland. But here is a disturbing Markakis stat. He has just eight extra-base hits through 46 games and is on pace for just 28 this year. The last four years he has averaged 66 extra-base hits per season. Why the power outage right now for Markakis, a player who usually cranks out...

Give me the choice between a cross-country flight and being covered in honey and red ants, and I'll ask which one provides the most leg room. If the Orioles must travel to Oakland, and the schedule demands it, at least they're riding a five-game winning streak. It may not come with those little bags of gourmet pretzels like you get on Southwest, and yesterday's 6-5, 12-inning victory wasn't exactly a smooth ride, but it's the first time this season that the Orioles have boarded one....

After his game-winning RBI single in the 12th inning today, Vladimir Guerrero talked with reporters in the O's clubhouse with help from O's staffer Rudy Arias, who served as interpreter. Can you talk about your game-winning hit? "I was trying to look for a good pitch to hit and get a base hit. Nothing to pull or home runs, just trying to get good contact. I ran hard. I didn't know. Made sure I tried to beat the (possible) double play." On the Orioles getting back to .500. "I'm very...

The day didn't start out great for Nolan Reimold, but it ended up that way. In the top of the second inning, Reimold, playing in left field, threw to the wrong base. With a man on first and one out, Wilson Betemit singled and Reimold's throw to third was much too late to get the runner and allowed Betemit to move into second. Kansas City went on to score four runs. Nolan Reimold talks about his first multi-homer game in the big leagues as the O's beat the Royals 6-5 "I should have been...

The Orioles swept a three-game home series against the Royals for the first time since April 2007, and Nolan Reimold deserves a huge share of the credit for homering twice and driving in four runs. He also singled, doubled and walked. That's one way to raise your average to .545. Buck Showalter meets with the media following the Birds' 6-5 win over Kansas City "I'm happy for him," manager Buck Showalter said. "He made the most of his opportunities. I try to pride myself on listening to...

I went to a baseball game and a chess match broke out. Checkmate for the Orioles. Vladimir Guerrero sent a 15-hopper up the middle - a mild exaggeration - to score Robert Andino in the bottom of the 12th and give the Orioles a 6-5 victory. Andino led off with a double against Louis Coleman. Manager Buck Showalter called for Adam Jones to lay down a bunt, but the move backfired when the Orioles' center fielder popped up. Jones reached on a bunt single earlier in the game and the situation...

Kevin Gregg left the bases loaded in the 10th inning. He stole Jeremy Accardo's move. Accardo entered in the 11th with the score tied, 5-5. In 21 2/3 innings before today, he allowed 25 hits, walked 14 and hit one batter. That's almost two baserunners an inning. The first batter today, Mike Aviles, hit a line drive that almost decapitated second baseman Robert Andino, who gloved the ball before it passed through him. Brayan Pena flied to left field for the second out, and Chris Getz lined...