I exchanged text messages with Luke Scott earlier tonight, and it sounds like his injured hamstring is improving by the day. Scott has been rehabbing at the minor league complex in Sarasota. He took a "light jog" and hit today without experiencing any discomfort in his left leg. "I'm doing great," he wrote. "No pain. A little fatigue with all the repetition, but that's normal. Feeling good." Scott went on the disabled list retroactive to July 1 after straining his hamstring on a home...

Due to an unexpected illness to MASN's lead Nationals analyst, Rob Dibble, and the planned absence of Ray Knight, MASN will utilize a mix of contributors in the booth for tonight's telecast. Bob Carpenter will call the first, eight and ninth innings, in a one-man booth. He will be joined by: MASN contributor Phil Wood for the second and third innings; Nationals GM Mike Rizzo for the fourth and fifth innings; Nats Xtra host Johnny Holliday for the sixth and seventh innings. ###

Bring on Cliff Lee: Corey Patterson LF Miguel Tejada 3B Nick Markakis RF Ty Wigginton DH Adam Jones CF Jake Fox 1B Craig Tatum C Julio Lugo 2B Cesar Izturis SS Chris Tillman RHP Here's the Rangers lineup: Elvis Andrus SS Michael Young 3B Ian Kinsler 2B Vladimir Guerrero DH Josh Hamilton LF David Murphy RF Matt Treanor C Chris Davis 1B Julio Borbon CF Cliff Lee LHP

Let's hear it for hour naps! Actually, they leave me groggy and feeling like the day is being wasted, but it's raining here in Ocean Pines, I ate lunch and the game hasn't started. A nap seemed like a good plan, even if the original intention was to close my eyes for a few minutes and listen to Wall to Wall Baseball on MASN. A few minutes. Yeah, right. An hour later, Tom Davis and Dave Johnson were signing off and my mother was flipping through her Sopranos cookbook for that piccata...

Don't look now, but the offensively-challenged Orioles have scored 35 runs over their past six games with a team average of .316 during the stretch. They have scored 13 runs on 25 hits with four homers in the first two games of the series at Texas. Let's see if they can keep that going, or some semblance of it, tonight vs. Cliff Lee. It's been such a tough year for Chris Tillman that even when he gets to return to the O's mound, this time it's to face a former Cy Young winner. Here are...

The Orioles have announced that they optioned 3B Josh Bell to Triple-A Norfolk following last night's game, and today recalled RHP Chris Tillman from Norfolk. Tillman will start tonight's game at Texas. Bell joined the Orioles on July 1, making his major league debut and recording his first major league hit that night against the Oakland A's. Bell went 3-for-15 in five games for Baltimore. In three starts with the Tides since being optioned to Norfolk on June 22, Tillman is 3-0 with a 1.66...

You people are impressive. I posted an entry at 1:45 a.m. that attracted more than 40 comments before I finally shut off the laptop around 2:30 a.m. and stumbled upstairs to bed. I wondered if I was the only person still awake and interested in the outcome of a game involving the team with the worst record in baseball. Silly me. The Orioles will face newly acquired Cliff Lee tonight, and they'll be packing a short bench. Catcher Matt Wieters isn't available after straining his right...

It was scheduled to start at 8:05 Eastern Time on Friday night, but after a rain delay of two hours and 29 minutes, it started around 10:30 and when it was over it was closing in on 2:30 a.m on Saturday. Corey Patterson's Grand Slam with two outs on a 2-2 pitch in the top of the ninth tied the game and the Orioles got a solo shot from Jake Fox an inning later to post a wild, comeback, 7-6, 10-inning win over Texas on Friday and Saturday. Here are some stats and notes from this crazy...

Not the fans who have sat through a steady rain. Not the sportswriters who just want to file their stories and go back to their hotels or homes. I'm talking about Corey Patterson, who hit his first career grand slam with two outs in the ninth inning to tie the game, 6-6. Rangers closer Neftali Feliz kept pumping fastballs at Patterson, who launched a 2-2 pitch into the second deck. Patterson immediately pointed his right index finger in the air, the smile never leaving his face as he...

Orioles director of international operations, David Stockstill, confirmed in an interview tonight that the Orioles have reached agreement on a deal with 16-year-old Dominican third baseman Hector Veloz. "I can confirm we have agreed to terms," Stockstill said. "He's a third baseman with a lot of tools and some good power. He has a good arm and quick feet. "I'm really proud of our organization for getting this done. This is a player we have scouted for two and a half years. Felipe...