The Orioles' 2010 minor league Player of the Year, Joe Mahoney, is not in the lineup for Double-A Bowie tonight due to a quad injury. He missed Sunday's game and is not playing this evening as Bowie is at Richmond. Mahoney went 1-for-7 with a double and two walks in the first two Baysox games of the season at Harrisburg. The injury is considered day-to-day. Right now, there are no plans to put him on the DL and O's officials hope he can return in a day or two. Mahoney was added to the...

Nolan Reimold homered in the fourth inning tonight in Triple-A Norfolk's game against the Gwinnett Braves. His solo shot increased the Tides' lead to 2-0. Reimold is batting .286 with two homers and two RBIs in five games. He batted .315 with three doubles, three homers, 10 RBIs and a .985 OPS in 24 spring training games. Josh Bell is 2-for-2 with a double and run scored tonight, raising his average to .333. Troy Patton shut out the Braves on one hit over three innings. He struck out...

Like their parent club, the Triple-A Norfolk Tides have not gotten their offense going much this year. But unlike the Orioles, Norfolk is winless and is last in the league in batting. The Tides scored just five runs in going 0-4 in their season-opening series at Charlotte. The Tides' team batting mark of .165 is last in the International League. Norfolk plays at Gwinnett tonight looking to avoid its first 0-5 start since 1993. Ryan Adams has begun the season at 1-for-12 while Brandon Snyder...

The Orioles, like any organization, would like to create a situation where they have solid depth throughout their minor leagues with prospects at both the lower and higher levels. While some fans right now would question the Orioles' minor league depth and may well be right about that, at certain positions the Orioles are becoming well stocked. Center field is one of those positions. When the 2011 season began last week the O's had a center fielder that will be batting leadoff at each of...

Brad Bergesen hasn't reported to Triple-A Norfolk and won't make tonight's scheduled start in Gwinnett. He's still in Baltimore, waiting to find out whether he'll be recalled to start Wednesday night in New York. A team official said a final decision hasn't been made, but it's fair to speculate that Bergesen will get the assignment. The Orioles can recall Bergesen in fewer than 10 days because he'll be replacing shortstop J.J. Hardy, who will go on the disabled list. An MRI today...

The Orioles begin their season series with the Yankees on Tuesday. The last time the teams met, the O's posted an improbable 4-3 victory in 11 innings at Camden Yards. Luke Scott homered off Mariano Rivera in the ninth, and the Birds used good fortune - and even better managing - to escape unscathed in the 11th inning after the Yankees put a runner on third with nobody out. It was a thrilling game, made more special for me by the fact that I was there with my dad and my wife. Dad and I still...

Nationals fans watch the team's hiccups as they happen. Those hiccups are what make Washington baseball worth cheering for from the stands of Nationals Park. It's that whole underdog thing the north side of Chicago knows so well - minus the Billy Goat and alleged curse. Kind of. I feel obligated to admit that I grew up five minutes, walking, from Wrigley Field. Ever since I can remember, my late father would take me to Wrigley all the time. And, when he didn't, we passed that ivy-covered...

The Orioles aren't playing tonight, so they'll need to wait a little longer to end the first losing streak of 2011. I'm still impressed that Jeremy Guthrie gave the Orioles six quality innings yesterday, less than a week after being hospitalized with pneumonia. That was one of the guttier performances we'll witness on this club in any season. If I had a vote, I'd want the Orioles to recall Brad Bergesen to make Wednesday's start in New York. I think he gives you a better chance to...

Potomac Nationals shortstop Rick Hague crushed a 10th-inning, walk-off double to lift the P-Nats to a dramatic, 7-6 victory over the Lynchburg Hillcats Sunday. It marked the first win of the season for the defending Mills Cup champions and involved big plays from Eury Perez, Destin Hood, Cutter Dykstra Stephen King, Brian Peacock, Jeff Kobernus and Steven Souza. The Rice University product from Spring, Texas, says the work the team did in Florida is showing off even this early in the...

One year after dealing with a miserable 2-16 start, these are better times for the Orioles. Even after losing the last two games against Texas, the club is off to a 6-3 start and in first place in their division. "I say it's good," O's outfielder Nick Markakis said of the club's start. "We've got a winning record and we just played a really good ballclub. It's not like we got blown out, we played close games with the exception of one. I think, overall in the first week we did pretty...