Stephen Strasburg's latest Triple-A start has generated strong ratings in the Washington, D.C. market. While MASN has televised all four of Strasburg's starts for the Syracuse Chiefs, Monday night's game was the first live broadcast of the top prospect this season. The ratings peaked at a 0.9 HH rating, meaning more than 21,000 households in the Washington market tuned in to watch the young flamethrower. Since Strasburg only pitched five innings, the entire-game rating was a 0.5 HH...

The Orioles found out today whether infielder Justin Turner cleared waivers and could be outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk. He did not, and he can not. I just checked with president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail, who confirmed that the Mets claimed Turner this afternoon. The news won't come as much of a surprise in the press box. We were discussing that possibility once Turner was designated for assignment Friday to make room for Scott Moore. Former Orioles executive Wayne Krivsky...

...and married ladies too! Each year, the Nationals host a few "Ladies Night" events for female fans. What could be better than a night with the gals at the ballpark? Well, last year the event just happened to overlap with Randy Johnson's 300th win, so that was just a little better. This season, the first Ladies Night is scheduled for June 10th when the Nationals face the Pittsburgh Pirates. It would be a potential Strasburg start if he happens to make his debut on June 4th, so that...

Don't forget there's an O's event and a promo night at OPACY both coming up tomorrow, Wednesday, May 26. The Second Annual Orioles Cook-Off will take place tomorrow afternoon at the ESPN Zone in Baltimore. Participants Brad Bergesen, Luke Scott, and Kevin Millwood will have 30 minutes to prepare their own signature dishes. When the meals are complete, a panel of judges will score the culinary creations based on taste, presentation and creativity. Doors will open at 11:00 a.m. for the...

Jake Arrieta has returned to the mound for his third inning today at Triple-A Norfolk. He's thrown 42 pitches through the second. It doesn't appear that the Orioles will purchase Arrieta's contract and give him the ball on Saturday. He would be working on short rest, so Tides manager Gary Allenson would have needed to restrict his pitch count today. Chris Tillman is the overwhelming favorite if the Orioles move David Hernandez to the bullpen. As I posted last night, Tillman has allowed one...

MASN will televise Stephen Strasburg's next expected start at Triple-A Syracuse, the network announced today. The Nationals prospect will take on the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees on Saturday, May 29th. MASN will air the game on tape delay following Nats Xtra at approximately 12:00 a.m. It will re-air on Sunday evening at 7:30 p.m. MASN has televised each of his four previous starts for Syracuse. The highly touted prospect is 3-0 for Syracuse with a 0.39 ERA and 27 strike outs in just...

Did anyone else find it interesting that Strasburg pitched only five innings and 52 pitches against Toledo Monday? Are the Nats trying to slow him down a smidge for the long haul from June through October? It did not seem that Strasburg was being overworked Monday night. He took care of two of the innings on just 15 pitches. Are the Nats telling us they want to save the longer stints for when Stephen arrives in D.C.? The Mud Hens did get a couple of good base knocks against him but...

The Orioles have gone through three closers this season if you count Jim Johnson. All three have come down with injuries - shoulder (Mike Gonzalez), elbow (Johnson) and hamstring (Alfredo Simon). The next guy will probably get appendicitis or a really nasty cold sore. If I'm Will Ohman, I'd be hiding from manager Dave Trembley today. Rip the bullpen phone off the wall after the eighth inning. Ohman actually has told pitching coach Rick Kranitz that he'd like the opportunity to close. He...

Here is a stat that is not good for the Orioles minor leagues. All four O's affiliates lead their respective leagues in errors. Norfolk has made 47 errors, most in the International League. Bowie leads its league with 49; Frederick tops the Carolina League with 58; and Delmarva has committed a whopping 77 errors. That is the most in the Sally League. The shortstop position has become an issue on the O's farm, but the club has taken some steps to fix the problem. Pedro Florimon, a member...

We are at a point and time in sports cyberspace where fans on message boards can be nastier than ever. Sometimes when the home team loses they want to extract a pound or two of flesh. Some just need to vent and bash and the message boards are there for them. If you are part of the Orioles organization, it should come as no surprise that your team is getting crushed on those boards and on our own MASNsports.com blogs as well. No one should be surprised. At 14-31, the Orioles have...