The Orioles are seeking their 14th victory of the season tonight after not winning their 14th game in 2010 until May 21. Their next road victory will be their seventh after not winning their seventh road game in 2010 until June 15. The Orioles are going for their first sweep of a four-game set on Chicago's South Side since July 6-9, 1995. Their last four-game sweep was July 8-11, 2010 at Texas. The Orioles are 14-6 against the American League Central under manager Buck Showalter, winning all...

Single-A Hagerstown Suns outfielder Bryce Harper - perhaps you have heard of him - continues to scorch South Atlantic League pitching. His last 10 games have been ridiculous. Since April 21, Harper is hitting .500 (16-for-32) with six doubles, five homers and 13 RBIs. During this recent run, Harper's slugging percentage is 1.156 and his on-base percentage is .600. Overall, Harper is now batting .355 with eight doubles, six homers and 20 RBIs. Projected out to a 140-game minor league...

Single-A Potomac Nationals first baseman Justin Bloxom has been activated today and will start tonight in Woodbridge. Bloxom has been out since the beginning of the season with knee weakness related to a previous surgery. The 6-foot-1, 205 lb. first baseman hit .309 with 11 homers and 70 RBI in 2010 with the Hagerstown Suns. His season was cut short last year due to the knee injury. Meanwhile, the Washington Nationals announced that infielder Stephen King has been promoted from Potomac to...

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, I, like millions of fellow Americans, was on my daily commute to work, only I work two blocks from the White House. I first heard the news on the elevator up to my floor: "A plane hit the World Trade Center in New York." There were no details at that point and no reason to think that America was under attack. Once I reached my desk and got on the Internet, I realized there was a much bigger story and, like all my fellow Americans, I was then glued to the...

It's no secret the that Orioles' bullpen hasn't been all that reliable through the first month of the season. Even when he gets the job done, closer Kevin Gregg raises the stress level in Birdland to epic proportions. Mike Gonzalez's last outing was fantastic, but given his other performances this year it was still a little hard to watch. Koji Uehara is walking people, Jim Johnson is giving up home runs, Josh Rupe has been a disaster. With the starting pitching having success, it's even...

The Orioles will attempt to break out the brooms tonight in an unusual four-game series that started on Friday. How often does a team play a road game on Sunday and remain in the city overnight? Better to do it in Chicago than, say, Detroit. Jeremy Guthrie is sporting a 1-3 record, which clashes with his 2.53 ERA. He's allowed two runs or fewer in four of his five starts. Guthrie is 3-4 with a 4.36 ERA lifetime against the White Sox. Paul Konerko is 5-for-24 with a double and two homers....

Single-A Delmarva shortstop Manny Machado hit his fifth home run today, a two-run shot that raised his RBI total to 20. He's batting .337. Machado has five homers and 12 RBIs in his last seven games. Believe the hype. Jacob Pettit, a 42nd-round pick from Western Oregon State College, struck out eight over eight scoreless innings. Chris Jakubauskas, on an injury-rehab assignment at Triple-A Norfolk, allowed one run and three hits in 1 1/3 innings. He threw 37 pitches, 21 for strikes. Nolan...

The Orioles have taken the first three games of this series after today's tense, 6-4 victory over the White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field. Kevin Gregg made it interesting, to say the least, by walking leadoff hitter Alexei Ramirez and giving up a single to Carlos Quentin before recording his first out in the ninth inning - a called third strike on Paul Konerko. Buck Showalter talks with Gary Thorne about the amount of walks in the Birds' 6-4 win Gregg fell behind, 3-1, to Alex Rios before...

Zach Britton is lined up for his fifth win of the season, which again comes across as pretty impressive for a guy who wasn't supposed to be in the majors. Britton held the White Sox to one run over six innings, allowing five hits, walking three and striking out one. He threw 96 pitches and lowered his ERA to 2.63. This wasn't Britton at his best, but the Orioles will take it. At some point, the starters will need to get deeper in these games. There are no rules against going eight...

The Washington Nationals put Laynce Nix in the clean-up spot Sunday. Nix has had a pretty good start of the season at the plate in an utility role. Nix is batting .314 with three homers and nine RBIs. He hit a home run off of Tim Lincecum to start the series against the San Francisco Giants, and is an impressive 5-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Sunday is second game for the Nationals with the knowledge that third baseman Ryan Zimmerman will be out of the lineup until at least late...