O's game blog: Norris on the mound against Boston and a take on Machado's apology

It has been more than a month since the Orioles played an American League East opponent but that ends tonight as the O's host Boston to begin a three-game series and 13-game stretch against division opponents. They are 13-8 against AL East teams and that is the best record by a division team in division games. The O's last game within the AL East was May 8. The Orioles are 3-4 against Boston this year but are 27-17 versus the Red Sox since the start of the 2012 season. This year the clubs have played four one-run games, splitting those four. The Red Sox (28-34) have been streaky lately to say the least. They lost 10 in a row and followed that a seven-game win streak and followed that with a five-game losing streak that ended last night in Detroit. Boston had been involved in seven straight series sweeps and was 0-2 against Detroit until they pulled the game out last night in the ninth inning. The pitching matchup tonight has Bud Norris (4-5, 4.41 ERA) pitching against Jake Peavy (1-3, 4.72 ERA). Both have struggled a bit lately. Norris has allowed four earned runs or more in four of his last five starts with an ERA of 5.06 in that time. Peavy has an ERA of 7.04 and has allowed 44 hits over 30 2/3 innings in his last five starts. A couple quick notes from the minors: Steve Clevenger was today named batter of the week in the International League and his bat is sizzling hot right now. Clevenger went 0-for-11 in his first three games when he joined Triple-A Norfolk. But in five games since he is 16-for-23 (.696) with seven doubles and 13 RBIs. He is 6-for-11 with runners in scoring position for the Tides. Meanwhile the O's two teams in the Dominican Summer League are off to great starts behind solid pitching. Their DSL-1 team was 6-1 with a 2.29 team ERA heading into today and their DSL-2 team was 5-2 with an ERA of 1.89. They rank second and third in the league in team ERA and there are 36 teams in that league. Manny's apology: By now you have probably seen or heard about Manny Machado's apology today. Machado said: "I want to apologize to all my teammates, my coaching staff, the Orioles organization, and to Oakland and the fans also for the way I acted and overreacted." Machado was interviewed by MASNSports.com's Roch Kubatko in an interview that aired on the "Mid Atlantic Sports Report" today shortly after 5 p.m. Click here to watch that interview. Machado needed to apologize and now he begins the process of trying to move past this weekend. The O's players and Machado held a player's only meeting around the time Buck Showalter met with reporters here today. As I said earlier, if Machado starts playing better and the Orioles start winning more, this weekend will begin to drift into the rear-view mirror of a long season. But if the Orioles struggle coming off of this weekend's series, some will say Machado created an unnecessary distraction. It's been quite a day at Camden Yards. The rest of the season resumes in a few minutes with the Red Sox in town. Aberdeen's roster: Here is a press release from the short-season, Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds releasing their break-camp roster with a new season set to begin this Friday. Aberdeen, MD - The Aberdeen IronBirds, in conjunction with the Baltimore Orioles, announced their Break Camp Roster on Monday. The roster is subject to change before the IronBirds' season opener on Friday. Augey Bill, Garrett Cortright, Nick Cunningham, Eric Green, Alex Santana, and Janser Severino are all returning to the Aberdeen pitching arsenal. Between the six pitchers, they accounted for 144.2 innings pitched for last season's squad. Stephen Tarpley is a newcomer to the Aberdeen IronBirds. After being drafted out of Scottsdale Community College (AZ) in the third round of last year's draft, he spent all of last season as a member of the Gulf Coast League Orioles, where he went 0-1 with a 2.14 ERA in seven appearances, all of which were starts. Tarpley pitched a total of 21.0 innings last season, allowing 20 hits, six runs (five earned), and walked just three batters, striking out 25, making him the 10th best prospect in the Orioles' organization. Rounding out the IronBirds' pitching staff are Brady Adamek, Derrick Bleeker, Stefan Crichton, Dariel Delgado, Dinoi Dominguez, Ivan Hernandez, Nik Nowottnick, and Elias Pinales. Bleeker (37th rd.) and Crichton (23rd rd.) were selected by the Orioles in last year's draft, while Adamek and Nowottnick signed as minor league free agents. Delgado, Dominguez, Hernandez, and Pinales all were signed as non-drafted free agents. The IronBirds have two catchers on the Break Camp roster, Alex Murphy and Tanner Murphy. Alex Murphy comes to the IronBirds after a year in the GCL. He was a member of the 2013 championship winning Calvert Hall College High School baseball team. Tanner Murphy (22nd rd, 2010) returns to Aberdeen after playing in six games for the IronBirds last season before getting injured. The IronBirds' infield will include Ronarsy Ledesma, Byron Capellan, Cam Kneeland, and Cory Segui. Ledesma was a late-season call up last year for Aberdeen after spending most of the season with the GCL Orioles. He played in six games with Aberdeen last year, and had four hits, including a three-run home run on September 4th against Lowell in the regular season finale. Capellan, who was signed by the Orioles in 2010, played six games in Aberdeen last year as part of a minor league rehab assignment. Kneeland joined the Orioles after signing as a free agent on November 1, 2013. He spent the last two seasons in independent league baseball. Segui, the son of former Baltimore Oriole David Segui, appeared in one game last season for the IronBirds, a late inning defensive substitution. He spent most of last season with the GCL Orioles, appearing in 33 games. Manny Hernandez, Oswill Lartiguez, and Andrickson Zorilla will be patrolling the outfield for the IronBirds. Hernandez returns to Aberdeen for a third time, after playing 15 games as an IronBird at the end of the 2012 season and playing in 55 games for the squad last season. Lartiguez, who was signed by the Orioles in 2010, has spent each of the past two seasons as a member of the GCL Orioles. Zorilla, signed as a non-drafted free agent in January, 2013, batted .201 in 49 games for the GCL Orioles last season. The IronBirds open the season on the road this Friday, June 13th against the Hudson Valley Renegades. The team will return to Ripken Stadium for its home opener against the Brooklyn Cyclones; first pitch is scheduled for 7:35 p.m.