ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - I'm racing out of here to drop off my rental car and catch my flight back to Baltimore, but I wanted to pass along a little postgame Buck Showalter for you. On Jake Arrieta: "He had great stuff early. Hopefully, he'll get to a point where he can kind of maximize his pitches a little bit more and get deeper. He had a great fastball today." On J.J. Hardy's grand slam: "You're going to need it against any club and especially here in their ballpark. There were a lot...

Heading into today's game, the Orioles were batting .293 over their last five games and they were facing a pitcher, Andy Sonnanstine, whose career ERA against the O's was 6.62. Yes, it set up as a day the Orioles might post some numbers on offense and they did in a 9-3, 15-hit win against Tampa Bay to take this series, two games to one. The Orioles have won five of their last six to get to 19-20 on the season. They are 11-8 over the last 19 games. Gary Thorne meets up with Buck Showalter...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Tampa Bay left-hander Cesar Ramos entered today's game in the sixth inning with the bases loaded and no outs. The bases were cleared after three pitches. Shortstop J.J. Hardy hit his third career grand slam, and first since May 12, 2007 off the Mets' Joe Smith. Orioles 8, Rays 2. Right-hander Rob Delaney walked the bases loaded - one free pass was intentional - before Ramos replaced him. Hardy gave him quite a greeting. The No. 9 hitter in this lineup must be...

Here is my take on Orioles' right-hander Chris Tillman, who is 2-3 with an ERA of 6.15 over seven starts and faces Boston tonight. He has been terrible, but in just two starts. He has pitched pretty well in five of his seven outings this year and that gets lost in the debate when fans start talking about Tillman. Tillman gave up 14 of his 23 runs this year in two starts against New York and Kansas City. Did you realize his record is 2-1 and ERA is 2.86 in his five other starts? And, by the...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Before yesterday's game, Derrek Lee was 2-for-28 with runners in scoring position, ranking last in average among American League hitters with at least 25 at-bats. He was 3-for-31 (.097) with five RBIs before today. Better, but still not good. He continued to rank last among active players. Detroit's Magglio Ordonez is worse, but he's also on the disabled list. Lee came up big in the third inning today, driving in two runs with a single off Rays starter Andy...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Matt Wieters gave the Orioles a 1-0 lead in the second inning with a two-out single that scored Vladimir Guerrero, who led off with a double and moved to third on a ground ball. Rays catcher Kelly Shoppach set up outside with Guerrero batting. Andy Sonnanstine hit the target and Guerrero reached for the ball and poked it down the right field line. Not a bad pitch, just a good bad-ball hitter. Wieters is 13-for-23 (.565) with three doubles, three homers and 20 RBIs with...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Left-hander Brian Matusz will be restricted to 55-60 pitches tomorrow night at Single-A Frederick. The Orioles would like to get at least four innings out of him, but it depends on his pitch count. Matusz will be extended to 75-80 pitches in his next start on Saturday. The Orioles haven't decided whether he'll join Triple-A Norfolk or Double-A Bowie. Justin Duchscherer will go three innings Wednesday in a simulated game in Sarasota, and four innings in the next...

It has only been five games. We've thought before this year that the Orioles' offense was starting to show signs of life. Maybe this time it is for real. They are not exactly mashing the ball, but the Orioles have produced 10 hits or more in four of the last five games. They have 55 hits and a team average of .293 in the stretch, even including being shutout on Friday night. The offense the last five games: Tuesday versus Seattle: 20-for-53, seven runs, win Wednesday versus Seattle:...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Mark Reynolds have moved up to eighth in the lineup today. That's what a home run will do for you. For the Orioles: Brian Roberts 2B Nick Markakis RF Derrek Lee 1B Vladimir Guerrero DH Luke Scott LF Adam Jones CF Matt Wieters C Mark Reynolds 3B J.J. Hardy SS Jake Arrieta RHP For the Rays: Fuld LF Zobrist 2B Damon DH Longoria 3B Joyce RF Upton CF Kotchman 1B E. Johnson SS Shoppach C Sonnanstine RHP

Andy MacPhail wasn't wrong in saying the Orioles should use the Rays as their role model. A lot of people were ready to throw dirt on Tampa Bay when they started 1-8, but the Rays quickly found their way back to first place and that's where they reside right now with a 23-16 record. Others have much larger payrolls and boast more star power. Tampa Bay just keeps winning and playing sound, fundamental baseball under a great leader in manager Joe Maddon. Tampa Bay proved to the Orioles that...