Orioles relief pitcher Jason Berken said the pitchers in the Orioles' bullpen remain confident they can do the job and he said they are a close-knit group and continue to support each other. The 'pen and some of its members are going through a rough time after the bullpen meltdown Monday in Boston and the struggles of Mike Gonzalez that continued last night against the Yankees. Berken said the pysche of the bullpen is still strong. "I think it's good," he said. "Everybody goes through...

Blake Kelso is off to a great start to his season on a very talented first place Single-A Hagerstown Suns ball club. The talented third baseman has been leading off for manager Brian Daubach, and with good reason. Kelso is batting .358 through 38 games with 10 doubles, a homer and 22 RBIs. His on-base percentage is .411 and he has 12 walks and stolen six bases. Those numbers reflect consistency that Kelso showed with the Vermont Lake Monsters in the NY/Penn League last season. Kelso hit .309...

The tarp is on the field. That's not a good sign. Lots of stuff going on here, and I know how much everyone likes stuff. Brian Roberts' placement on the new seven-day disabled list is pending approval from Major League Baseball. It's reserved for players with concussion symptoms. Roberts seems to qualify. Roberts would be eligible to return Tuesday. He's on a DL no matter what, but the Orioles want to limit it to seven days. Derrek Lee is eligible to return on June 1 for the Orioles'...

Brian Roberts isn't in the Orioles' lineup tonight, and he could be headed to the disabled list with recurring headaches. For the Orioles: Robert Andino 2B J.J. Hardy SS Nick Markakis RF Vladimir Guerrero DH Adam Jones CF Felix Pie LF Mark Reynolds 3B Jake Fox C Brandon Snyder 1B Brad Bergesen RHP Update: The Orioles have decided to place Roberts and first baseman Derrek Lee on the disabled list and recall pitchers Chris Jakubauskas and Troy Patton from Triple- A Norfolk. Lee is headed to...

I'm set up in the press box and still waiting to find out whether the Orioles are making one or more roster moves. The over/under is one. My last entry has received 109 comments (hopefully no more duplicates), and many of them are aimed at left-hander Michael Gonzalez. Gonzalez has been scored upon in his last four appearances covering two-plus innings. And I'm not counting inherited runners. Two more crossed the plate last night on Robinson Cano's double. Gonzalez has allowed four...

Nationals left-handed pitching prospect Sammy Solis has fully recovered from a couple of injuries and is ready for what is expected to be his final start in extended spring training in Florida. Solis first injured his quadriceps running late in spring training. Then, he suffered a groin strain that the team's medical staff originally thought might have been a hernia. "It turned out it was not a hernia, so everything is fine," Solis said. If the 6-foot-5, 230-lb., University of San...

Orioles cleanup hitter Vlad Guerrero has a hot bat right now. He has produced four straight multi-hit games after going 2-for-5 last night. Over the four games, Guerreo is 9-for-19 with five doubles and three RBIs. He is batting .433 (13-for-30) over his last seven games, raising his average 31 points. In 39 games on the year, Vlad is batting .298 with four homers and 16 RBIs. I'm sure the Orioles are enjoying his hot bat and also hope the RBI production can increase. He did get a clutch RBI...

As the Orioles struggled to put up runs in a 15 innings struggle last night, it got me thinking that we really needed a Yankee killer to come to the plate and put this one away. Someone. Anyone to get that big hit. So who are/were the greatest Yankee killers in Oriole history? I looked up the Baltimore players who racked up the most big games against the Bronx Bombers in Orioles history Multiple HR games Boog Powell 4 Brooks Robinson 2 Ramon Hernandez ...

Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo told ESPN 980 yesterday that mega-prospect Bryce Harper would not play in the major leagues this year, despite the fact that he is currently playing well above the level of the league he is currently in. Through 37 games, Harper is hitting .366/.448/.657 with nine home runs and 31 RBI,s which leads all Nationals minor leaguers in just about every important offensive category. Still, Rizzo remains steadfast in his assertion that Harper, under no...

Maybe the most frustrating thing about the last two games is that the Orioles' starters gave up just one run - it was unearned - and they wasted those efforts by losing both games. Orioles starters have now pitched to an ERA of just 1.29 over the last eight games, but the Orioles have lost three of those eight. The starters have allowed two earned runs or less in seven of the last eight games. One of the best things about baseball is you get to play just about every day, so the Orioles...