In the quiet of the Orioles clubhouse, Rhyne Hughes was gracious enough to talk about the news he got after the game, that he has been optioned back to Triple-A. "I'm just going back down to Norfolk, I'll meet those guys I guess on Tuesday. "He told me to go down there and find my swing again. Hopefully I'll just go down there and do what I was doing before and get things going again. Just be ready when they are ready for me to come back, that's all." Hughes was batting .213-0-4 in...

So, about that ninth... "We made real good pitches up until that point in time, but we didn't close it out," manager Dave Trembley said following tonight's 8-2 loss to the Indians, which is going to sting long after the lights are turned off at Camden Yards. "(Brian) Matusz made quality pitches in the seventh. Koji (Uehara) got a real big third out for us after a walk. (Alfredo) Simon hung a split and (Austin) Kearns hit a home run." That pretty much sums it up. Dave Trembley talks...

The Orioles optioned first baseman Rhyne Hughes to Triple-A Norfolk after tonight's game. A corresponding move will be announced tomorrow. Hughes hit .213 (10-for-47) with four RBIs in 14 games. He was 5-for-31 with 14 strikeouts in his last 10 games.

Talk about a ninth-inning meltdown. After getting out of jam after jam for eight innings, the O's pitching staff, living on the edge, toppled over the edge in the top of the ninth. Alfredo Simon, who had been five for five in save chances, came on to try and preserve a 2-0 win for Brian Matusz. With one out, he gave up a single, walk and RBI single to Shin-Soo Choo to cut the O's lead to 2-1. Then he made a huge mistake, serving up a fat 0-2 pitch that Austin Kearns hit out to left for a...

Is it really going to take five pitchers to wrap up a 2-0 victory? If the Orioles hold on, it will be the first time they've allowed one run or fewer in back-to-back games since Aug. 8-9, 2008. They defeated the Texas Rangers 9-1 and 9-0. Alfredo Simon will need to get the last three outs and record the save to make it happen. Unfortunately for the Orioles, they'll turn over the Indians lineup after Cleveland sent five batters to the plate in the eighth. Simon will face the ninth, first...

The Orioles have runners on the corners with one out in the bottom of the fifth inning, and Corey Patterson's at the plate. A fly ball delivers their second run and gives left-hander Brian Matusz a little more room to breathe. So why is Cesar Izturis trying to steal second? Indians catcher is Lou Marson is 2-for-2 in these challenges tonight after cutting down Izturis with a perfect throw. Naturally, Patterson lifted a fly ball to center field, but it resulted in the third out. Were the...

Ty Wigginton's 11th homer of the year, which came on a 414-foot shot to left in the second inning, has the O's up on Cleveland 1-0 through four and a half innings. Brian Matusz, touched for six runs in just 3 2/3 Sunday at Minnesota, has not been scored on through five tonight. Matusz has pitched out of the stretch in each frame and Cleveland has left seven on base through five. Matusz has thrown 79 pitches and stranded two runners each in the third and fourth. The O's tonight are...

Colorado Rockies swept a day-night doubleheader from the Washington Nationals on Saturday, 4-3. The Rockies got to Luis Atilano with a pair of homers in the third inning, and a costly error by Ian Desmond (that could have been charged to Adam Dunn for not handling the throw) in the seventh gave Colorado the 4-3 lead that would hold. Manager Jim Riggleman on Atilano's outing: "Luis did a good job. A couple of times he walked some guys. He was behind a lot of guys, whether he walked them...

Brian Matusz has a shutout through four innings. He's allowed five hits, which means he's scattered them. Matusz's six strikeouts match his total over his last three starts. He fanned Travis Hafner to open the fourth on a knee-buckling curveball, and Jhonny Peralta swung through a 92 mph fastball. The Orioles aren't giving him much support. The game's only run came on Ty Wigginton's 414-foot homer. Down on the farm, St. Paul's grad Steve Johnson is pitching for Double-A Bowie against...

Ty Wigginton hit 11 home runs in 410 at-bats last season. He just belted No. 11 this year in his 116th at-bat. I don't want to jinx the guy, but I like his chances of surpassing last year's total. Wigginton gave the Orioles a 1-0 lead in the second inning by crushing a 78 mph changeup from Cleveland starter Mitch Talbot. Wigginton swung at the first pitch and launched it 414 feet to left field. Adam Jones has the other hit off Talbot, a single in the first inning. He was cut down trying...