Jim Johnson retired the Tigers in order in the eighth inning - with a lot of help from his friends. The Orioles put on an amazing defensive display, beginning with Cesar Izturis' diving backhanded stop and throw to retire leadoff hitter Will Rhymes. Nick Markakis followed with a diving catch near the right field line to rob Austin Jackson and again bring the crowd to its feet. Johnson struck out Alex Avila to end the inning and preserve a 2-1 lead. The teams have combined for five hits,...

Tigers starter Armando Galarraga retired the first 10 batters he faced and checked to make sure umpire Jim Joyce wasn't working the bases tonight. His bid for perfection ended with one Nick Markakis swing in the fourth inning. Markakis drove a Galarraga fastball an estimated 344 feet to the flag court in right field to tie the game. Markakis, who placed third in the MVO voting, has 12 homers and 59 RBIs. Orioles left-hander Brian Matusz surrendered a bases-empty shot to Brandon Inge in the...

Luke Scott received a nice ovation before the game while accepting his award as Most Valuable Oriole. And it was obvious from the way he smiled and thanked reporters at his locker that the honor meant a great deal to him. "Good choice," manager Buck Showalter said. "And there are some other people you could make a case for, too, but Luke, I think he's starting to grasp that he doesn't have to defend a foul ball and he's OK with passing the baton a little bit. He gives us a lot of...

At the end of April, Luke Scott was batting just .194 with only two homers. Who knew then he would end the year being named winner of the Louis M. Hatter Most Valuable Oriole award. "For me, it's a tremendous honor. It has been a year of a lot of adversity but it's been a year of a lot of victory for myself and us as a group. We had the opportunity to cash it in and go through the motions the rest of the year. It says a lot about this group of guys in this clubhouse. The character that...

We are sending along best wishes tonight for Orioles long time umpires attendant Ernie Tyler, who became ill earlier today at the ballpark and was hospitalized. Ernie, who celebrated his 86th birthday in April, is currently stable and staying overnight at University of Maryland Medical Center for observation. His sons Jimmy and Freddy are with him. An O's official said doctors have not determined yet what caused Ernie to feel ill. Tyler began his 50 years of service to the Orioles in 1960...

As Andy MacPhail spoke to reporters at Camden Yards today he again mentioned the club's interest in acquiring a middle of the lineup bat. I asked him if now that some of the young pitchers have made the Major Leagues and had some success, if the club is more open to trading some of its young pitching to get a bat. "We always have to be open to whatever we think makes us better and we have to look at it on an individual basis. No grand pronouncements about whose not available, who is...

Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail said the club's vast improvement over the last two months hasn't changed his approach to the offseason. "It really hasn't had that huge an impact over those issues we think we need to address," MacPhail said. "There isn't anything that's, 'Oh gee, we don't need to address that now.' I think we're still trying to take as realistic a six-month view of this as we can. "We made no secret of the fact that the first thing we'd...

Brian Roberts remains out of the lineup tonight and he isn't expected to play tomorrow, ending his season after 59 games. Roberts has been bothered by headaches since the Tampa Bay trip. He's missed the last four games. Manager Buck Showalter has been vague when pressed for details about Roberts' condition, suggesting that reporters talk to the second baseman or a team physician. Roberts declined to meet with reporters today, but apparently will do so tomorrow afternoon. The medical staff...

Corey Patterson LF Nick Markakis RF Jake Fox DH Luke Scott 1B Felix Pie CF Ty Wigginton 3B Matt Wieters C Robert Andino 2B Cesar Izturis SS Brian Matusz LHP Still no Brian Roberts, who might end up being shut down this weekend.

Luke Scott has been voted the winner of the Most Valuable Oriole award for 2010 by members of the local media who cover the team on a regular basis. Nick Markakis and Ty Wigginton also received first-place votes. Jeremy Guthrie placed second and Markakis finished third. Adam Jones was the only other player to receive votes on the ballot. Scott ranks sixth in the American League with a .538 slugging percentage and a .904 OPS, and is 14th in home runs with a team-leading and career-high...