After being named South Atlantic League player of the week yesterday, today, shortstop Manny Machado of the Class-A Delmarva Shorebirds was named the Orioles' minor league player of the month for April. The 18-year-old that was the Orioles 2010 first-round draft pick hit .338 with four home runs and 18 RBI in the month. In 21 games in April, Machado also had 27 hits, including six doubles and two triples. He also showed great patience at the plate with 16 walks and only 11 strikeouts and...

Single-A Potomac Nationals center fielder Eury Perez will return to the lineup Wednesday against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans after being placed on the disabled list with a rib injury. Perez played in only nine games this season before getting hurt. He is batting .222 with seven stolen bases in 36 at-bats. In his last game April 18, at Frederick, Perez went 3-for-4. He does a good job of patrolling center field and utilizes his quickness on the base paths. "Eury brings speed to the table,"...

The Orioles retain some interest in veteran pitcher Kevin Millwood, but nothing is on the immediate horizon, according to one team official. The Orioles haven't ruled out bringing back Millwood, who opted out of his minor league contract with the Yankees, but it isn't something they'll jump into over the next few days. Millwood wants a major league contract and an immediate spot on a 25-man roster. He won't find it in Baltimore. The Orioles would only sign him to another minor league...

Since I brought up left-handed relief in this morning's entry, I wanted to drop a few names from Triple-A Norfolk, which is playing a doubleheader today against Louisville. Mike Ballard is starting Game 1, and the Orioles were prepared to purchase his contract on April 23 if Chris Tillman's sore groin had led to a stint on the disabled list. Ballard is 1-2 with a 4.74 ERA in four starts for the Tides, allowing 22 hits and walking 10 in 19 innings. Chris George impressed manager Buck...

Here is a bad stat that simply must get better for the Orioles and certainly should get better. Derrek Lee and Nick Markakis are batting a combined .133 with runners in scoring position at 6-for-45. Lee is 2-for-22 and Markakis is 4-for-23. I am going to go out on a limb here and say there is no way that number continues too much longer. There are signs recently both are starting to get their offense in gear and that would be pretty big for this team since they bat second and third in the...

Last night's game was one of the more frustrating losses of the year. The Orioles had baserunners in every inning, usually more than one. They had so many chances to score runs and just couldn't do it. It was a hard game to watch. But it's also the kind of game that, in retrospect, has a lot of positives to take from it. It's easy to say that the Orioles couldn't come through in the clutch, but the fact is that usually when a team gets 15 baserunners, they'll score more than two runs. So...

In Monday night's 2-0 win over the defending world champion San Francisco Giants, starting pitcher Tom Gorzelanny pitched a heck of a game, limiting the Giants to three hits over eight innings while striking out four. Most importantly for him, he didn't walk anyone, which has always been what has hindered him in his career and kept him from being a truly dependable starter in the league. After five starts for the Washington Nationals, Gorzelanny is 1-2 with a 2.93 ERA. Pretty impressive. I...

I guess a four-game sweep in Chicago was being greedy. Taking three of four is acceptable. Josh Rupe served up Paul Konerko's second home run last night, increasing the White Sox's lead to 6-0 in the eighth inning. He allowed two runs in 14 2/3 innings in spring training, but he's carrying a 7.59 ERA in 10 2/3 innings this season. Rupe also let an inherited runner score on Konerko's homer, which left Clay Rapada's ERA at 16.20 in 3 1/3 innings. If the Orioles make any changes to their...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter didn't seem concerned about Nick Markakis' right hand during his postgame interview with MASN's Gary Thorne. Markakis was hit by a Chris Sale fastball with two outs and left the game, but he returned to the bench and watched the final out. "It was more of a pinch than it was a direct blow, so we got lucky there," Showalter said. Markakis apparently banged his right knee on a sprinkler head while diving for a ball, which could present more of an issue than...

Sometimes you need a little encouragement from your teammate. Someone else who is going through the same battle you are, someone else who struggled like you did and then came through. Such was the scenario for Nationals teammates Michael Morse and Jerry Hairston Jr., Monday night as they took on San Francisco Giants left-hander Madison Bumgarner. Both Morse and Hairston had been unable to notch a hit off the talented young southpaw. In the fifth inning, Morse struck out looking and...