RHP Chris Tillman tonight makes his Major League debut. The 21-year-old right-hander was acquired by the O's from Seattle on February 8, 2008 as part of the Erik Bedard deal. At 21 years, 106 days old, Tillman will become the youngest Oriole to make his Major League debut since Hayden Penn did so at 20 years, 228 days old on May 28, 2005. Tillman has had two excellent years pitching in the O's farm system and is among the best pitching prospects in all of baseball. This season with...

Chris Tillman allowed solo homers to Alberto Callaspo and Miguel Olivo in the second inning tonight. It's the first time this year he has allowed more than one homer in a start. In 96 2/3 innings at Triple-A, he gave up only five homers. Over his last six Triple-A starts before tonight, he had given up just one homer, a span of 36 2/3 innings. He has thrown 53 pitches through three innings with 15 in the first, 22 in the second and 16 in the third inning.

The Orioles have had now five pitchers make their Major League debuts this year. Chris Tillman was the first of the five to allow more than two earned runs, as he gave up three over 4 2/3. It was not a great outing by any stretch, but a start for a 21-year-old who has to deal with hype and high expectations. The five debuts added together produced an ERA of 2.77. That is impressive. Tillman left tonight trailing 3-2 and the O's still trail by that score after five innings. He can only...

On a night where Chris Tillman allowed three solo homers in his Major League debut, the Orioles rallied for five late runs to gain a much-needed win. The Birds topped Kansas City 7-3 Wednesday in front of 19,741 at Camden Yards. The O's came to bat in the 7th down by 3-2. But after 116 pitches, Zack Greinke was taken out of the game and the Orioles rallied for three runs and the lead vs. the KC bullpen. Robinson Tejada walked the first two hitters to hand the O's a rally. An Adam Jones...

He didn't pitch as well as he had been at Triple-A this year, but Chris Tillman can relax a little now. The first one is out of the way. "I had some nerves in the beginning but then I got my feet under me a little bit. I was just trying to get ahead of hitters but I hurt myself falling behind at times. The off speed wasn't there for me tonight. The mound was wet and I was slipping a little bit," Tillman said. After giving up five homers in 18 Norfolk starts, Tillman gave up three solo...

Chris Tillman got a no decision in his Major League debut. In 4 2/3, he gave up three runs and seven hits. He allowed three solo homers. He had given up just five homers in 18 starts at Triple-A. Tillman threw 93 pitches, 58 for strikes and has a one-start ERA of 5.79. Matt Albers got the win with 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. He threw just 22 pitches. After giving up a key homer last night, Jim Johnson pitched the last two innings to record his second save of 2009. Johnson, who...

Game Preview Kansas City (40-60) at Orioles (43-57) For the Orioles, it's 100 games down and 62 to go in this 2009 season. The O's are 43-57 at the 100-game mark after Wednesday's 7-3 win over KC. Adam Jones and Nick Markakis knocked in three runs each. Jones hit a first-inning homer for the third straight game in this series. The four-game set comes to an end this afternoon with a matinee contest set for 12:35 p.m. Brad Bergesen (6-5, 3.56) faces KC's Luke Hochevar (6-3, 4.84) The...

RHP Brad Bergesen (6-5, 3.56) today makes his 19th start of the year, his 11th at home and the 1st of his career vs. the KC Royals. Bergesen, who has just one win over his last five starts, last worked on Friday at Boston. He gave up nine hits and three runs over six innings vs. the Sox. Bergesen has been outstanding at home this year, going 6-1, 2.82 and the team is 8-2 in those ten home starts. The O's are 9-9 in Bergesen's 18 starts on the season. Right-handed batters hit .274 vs....

Brandon Snyder must finally be warming up to Triple-A pitching. He is 1 for 2 in Norfolk's game this afternoon. That extends his current batting streak to eight games. He has 12 hits in his last 29 at bats (.414) as his average has climbed from .200 to its current .245. Snyder has 69 RBI on the year to lead all O's minor leaguers. Earlier this year, he batted .343-10-45 in 58 games with Double-A Bowie. He began today hitting .241-2-24 in 38 contests with Norfolk.

Brad Bergesen gave up just one run over seven innings to get his 7th win as the Orioles beat Kansas City 7-3 to split the four-game series. Bergesen left the game in pain as Billy Butler's liner back to the mound hit him on his left shin. Catcher Matt Wieters would field the ball and throw Butler out to end the seventh. As of this writing, there was no further update on the extent of Bergesen's injury. He improves to 7-5, 3.43. He is now 7-1, 2.68 at home and over his last 12 starts is...