We're not seeing the same Brad Bergesen who threw the complete-game two-hitter in his last start. Or the same Bergesen who allowed four runs in his last three starts covering 23 innings. Tonight, Bergesen has given up three runs and seven hits - including back-to-back homers by Russell Branyan and Jose Lopez in the third that tied the game. Branyan's ball traveled 436 feet. Bergesen has thrown 79 pitches through four innings. The Orioles twice failed to turn double plays in the fourth that...

The Washington Nationals today agreed to terms on a professional contract with left-handed pitcher Robbie Ray, the Nationals' 12th-round selection in the 2010 First-Year Player Draft. Nationals Senior Vice President and General Manager Mike Rizzo, Nationals Assistant General Manager and Vice President of Player Personnel Roy Clark and Nationals Director of Scouting Kris Kline made the joint announcement. Ray went 7-1 and posted a 7.3/1 strikeout-to-walk ratio en route to a 0.50 ERA as a...

Newest Oriole Rick VandenHurk is wearing No. 54. VandenHurk found out yesterday that the Orioles were calling him up to the majors - about two weeks after they traded for him. "You never know when it's going to happen, but I was happy getting traded, to come over here," he said. "There's going to be opportunities for me. It's going to be good. I'm going to try to make the most out of it." VandenHurk will be used in relief, but he could make some starts before the season...

The Orioles today announced that they have placed RHP Jason Berken on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to August 13, with right shoulder inflammation. RHP Rick Vandenhurk has been recalled from Triple-A Norfolk to take Berken's place on the roster. Berken was 3-3 with a 3.03 ERA (62.1IP, 21ER) in 41 games for the Orioles this season. His 62.1 innings pitched leads American League relievers. Acquired from the Florida Marlins in exchange for LHP Will Ohman on July 31, VandenHurk was 1-1...

The Orioles have now confirmed that they have come to terms with pitcher Matt Bywater, their seventh-round draft pick out of Pepperdine. The 6'3", 195-pound lefty went 6-5, 2.40 as a junior this past season. Over 97 2/3 innings, he allowed 88 hits with 30 walks and 83 strikeouts. The 21-year-old Bywater, from Thousand Oaks, California, pitched five complete games for Pepperdine with four shutouts. Early last season, he pitched a four-hit shutout with ten strikeouts vs. then 4th-rated...

The news on Jason Berken is more discouraging than we believed. Berken told reporters that the MRI revealed a tear in his labrum and some inflammation in his rotator cuff. Surgery still hasn't been considered and Berken didn't completely dismiss the possibility of pitching again this season, but it seems more unlikely. "There's time enough for some good rest, and hopefully that kind of calms everything down, and at some point start a rehab process," he said. "It could have been a lot...

On the challenges associated with losing David Hernandez and Jason Berken in the bullpen: "It's probably not something that's foreign here. This year's been a challenge physically, and I look at it as an opportunity to see some other people and see them rise to the occasion. (Armando) Gabino, we've heard so much about his slider and we've gotten to see that through necessity some. We've got other people. As the old scouts say, 'Never overlook an orchid while searching for a rose.' I...

As the O's return home for the start of a seven-game homestand, the Players Trust's annual Buses for Baseball program will visit the ballpark tonight to host children with cancer. Young O's fans from the Cool Kids Campaign will meet O's players Jeremy Guthrie, Ty Wigginton, Luke Scott, Brian Matusz, and Corey Patterson. Buses for Baseball provides the kids with roundtrip transportation to Major League ballparks, and once there, the kids receive free tickets, food, beverages, and...

The Orioles are making the expected move and placing Jason Berken on the 15-day disabled list with a sore right shoulder. Rick VandenHurk is joining the club from Triple-A Norfolk and will be available tonight. Manager Buck Showalter didn't want to discuss the MRI results until the doctor met with Berken, but he said it isn't a surgery situation. The Orioles are hoping that Berken can pitch again this season. Berken's DL assignment is retroactive to Friday. He's eligible to return on Aug....

Pepperdine pitcher Matt Bywater, the Orioles seventh-round draft pick, said he has had some phone conversations with club officials today, but he still does not have an agreement with the team as of a little after four this afternoon. "Not so much progress at this point," Bywater said. "I'd like to be optimistic, I guess we are kind of at a standstill," he said. The 21-year-old lefty went 6-5, 2.40 in college this year with five complete games and four shutouts. He fanned 83 in 97 2/3...