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...

Pitcher Alfredo Simon faced 19 batters and threw 64 pitches yesterday in an extended spring training game at Twin Lakes Park in Sarasota, Fla. Manager Buck Showalter told reporters in Chicago that Simon didn't allow a run, struck out six averaged 94 mph with his fastball. Simon will pitch again on Thursday, though the Orioles haven't determined whether it will happen in Sarasota or with one of their minor league affiliates, according to a team official. Also, Brian Matusz had a good...

I pointed out earlier today that Felix Pie is 5-for-9 lifetime against White Sox's starter Gavin Floyd. Orioles manager Buck Showalter saw the same stat. Look who's in today's lineup: Brian Roberts 2B Nick Markakis RF Derrek Lee 1B Vladimir Guerrero DH Luke Scott LF Matt Wieters C Mark Reynolds 3B Felix Pie CF Robert Andino SS Zach Britton LHP Pie is making his first start since April 17. He has three at-bats since that game in Cleveland.

Maybe it's just my sense of humor, but I think the Orioles should make Vladimir Guerrero walk to U.S. Cellular field today. No team shuttle, no cabs. Guerrero went the entire month of April without a walk. And without a 3-0 count. At some point this season, a manager will order an intentional walk with first base open, and Guerrero will swing at two of the pitches. Maybe three. The Orioles finished the month of April with a 12-13 record, their most wins in the first month since 2007. That...

A couple of Orioles stats and facts to check out as Zach Britton takes the mound in Chicago today in Game 3 of a four-game series in search of his fifth win. * When starting pitcher Chris Tillman gave up just one earned run over five innings last night, it was the sixth time over the last 11 games an O's starter allowed two earned runs or fewer. They have had eight quality starts in that stretch and the starters' ERA is 3.29 over the 11 games. * In this series, the Orioles' bullpen has...

Now that Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman is going to be out of the lineup for an extended period of time, what can the team do to add some punch to an offense that continues to struggle to put runs on the board? I started to think of possible solutions available right now on the current 25-man roster. One possible avenue is more playing time for Laynce Nix, who has had some big hits in limited duty this season. Nix has cranked game-winning home runs against the New York Mets and San...