*The newest Oriole, Corey Patterson, grounded out in the first in his first at bat. In 14 games with the Tides, he was batting .368-0-2. He was three for six in stealing bases. He began 2 for 16 with Norfolk, but hit .463 in his last ten Tides games. He batted .250 vs. lefty pitching and .400 vs. right handers. *Tonight's Seattle starter, lefty Ryan Rowland-Smith is the only player in Major League history with a hyphenated last name. He was born in Sydney, Australia and pitched for that...

Following a 24-minute rain delay... The first ball put in play tonight headed directly to Corey Patterson in left field. I'd say something about Patterson getting his feet wet, but that happened during his jog from the dugout. Patterson caught Ichiro Suzuki's line drive for the first out, and Brad Bergesen retired the next two Mariners for a routine inning. He needed 10 pitches to get out of the rain. Patterson almost led off the bottom of the first with a bloop hit down the right field...

Corey Patterson finally made it to Camden Yards, though he still hadn't changed into his uniform as he spoke to reporters outside the clubhouse. I asked Patterson whether it felt strange to be back here after leaving the Orioles following the 2007 season. "Yes and no," he said. Glad we cleared that up. OK, seriously, here's the rest of his quote: "You always think when you leave an organization whether you'll get back, and you see it happen occasionally. I'm happy to be back here....

The only thing stronger than the Nationals spectacular start to the 2010 season is their record-setting television ratings on MASN. The last two Nationals games on MASN (May 10-11) earned the highest television ratings of the team's six-year history in Washington. The Nationals scored a 2.0 household rating in the Washington, D.C. market, which translates into more than 40,000 homes tuning in to the games. In the key demographic of men aged 25-54, the Nationals game also delivered a 2.0...

I am not sure what is was all about, but a video of O's president Andy MacPhail appeared on MLB.com today. It seems to be his update to the O's fans. Here is the transcript of what he said and the video link. "I wanted to take an opportunity to talk to you a little bit about where we are at this stage of the season. As you know, we've all had to endure a terrifically horrendous start. That first 18 games were terribly problematic for us and really a miserable way to start the season. I...

The only thing stronger than the Nationals spectacular start to the 2010 season is their record-setting television ratings on MASN. The last two Nationals games on MASN (May 10-11) earned the highest television ratings of the team's six-year history in Washington. The Nationals scored a 2.0 household rating in the Washington, D.C. market, which translates into more than 40,000 homes tuning in to the games. In the key demographic of men aged 25-54, the Nationals game also delivered a 2.0...

Even though Corey Patterson had not yet arrived when the media was allowed in the Orioles clubhouse today, Nolan Reimold was already gone. He was hitting just .205 in 25 games. Not far from where Reimold had his locker, Adam Jones talked about Reimold's departure. "It's kind of sad. Everybody knows the process of getting sent down, you have to go down there and work your way back here. There is no other outlook on it. "I'm just hearing it, wow. Let it sink, in. Wow. That's part...

It sounds like Corey Patterson will get a chance to seize the leadoff role when he's in the lineup, though manager Dave Trembley wasn't ready to make any grand declarations without first speaking to the outfielder. "We need to get somebody to spark our offense," Trembley said. "I'm not putting it all on Corey, but he has been a leadoff guy in the past. He was playing very well in Triple-A. Nolan (Reimold) wasn't playing well here. "It's unfortunate that these things happen, but they...

I had a chance to visit with Potomac Nationals pitching coach Paul Menhart and we talked about a few of his pitchers this season and how they are doing. Menhart, as you know, was the pitching coach for Stephen Strasburg during the Arizona Fall League and has been working with the Nats younger pitchers for years. We began with a focus on a pair of Dominican righthanders: Robinson Fabian and Marcos Frias. 21-year old Frias is a 6'2", 190 pound right hander out of Los Llanos, Dominican...

Manager Dave Trembley was in a solemn mood as he met with reporters before the game. Trembley is still waiting for Corey Patterson to arrive at the ballpark. Nolan Reimold already had left the clubhouse. "We'll try to get him some success in Triple-A, and hopefully his stay in Triple-A isn't very long," Trembley said. "We held on as long as we possibly could with him. This was a discussion that had been going on for a while. I was hoping that he was going to hit himself through it, but...