It's happening so quietly, it's barely making a sound. Imagine a mouse wearing fuzzy slippers, or a cloud wearing ... fuzzy slippers. OK, that's probably not working for you. Derrek Lee has raised his average from .209 to .255 in his last 11 games. He's got 15 hits during that stretch, and five multi-hit games in his last 10. Has anyone noticed? Perhaps it would be more obvious if baseballs were crashing into the bleachers. Lee went 2-for-5 last night in the Orioles' 6-5, 10-inning...

Before tonight, the Orioles' starting pitchers had posted a 3.43 ERA over their last 13 games, working at least six innings in 11 of those 13. They made nine quality starts in that period and had gone five innings or more in 17 consecutive games. The bullpen, however was 1-2 with a 6.86 ERA over the last 13 games. Brad Bergesen left tonight's game after five innings with a 5-4 lead. Jeremy Accardo replaced him and served up a leadoff homer to Jeff Francoeur. Bergesen was charged with three...

Luke Scott tied tonight's game, 3-3, with a three-run homer off Kansas City's Jeff Francis in the top of the fourth inning. Scott has six homers in his last 14 games, and four homers and nine RBIs in his last six. Yes, he can be streaky. Scott has two hits in 17 at-bats against left-handers this season - both home runs. Matt Wieters threw out another runner trying to steal and blocked the plate again while tagging out another runner. It's become routine. Update: A one-out error by Cesar...

With the Major League Baseball season being a 162-game marathon, every team strives to maintain consistency which hopefully leads first to being competitive and then to being a contender. And with consistency the goal, every team also has the same approach: Win as many series over the course of the six-month season as possible. Managers for all 30 major league teams follow the edict, "Let's take two-out-of-three and move on." Take a look at the starts to the last two seasons, and it's...

Here is a pretty surprising stat. The four hitters batting second through fifth for the Orioles tonight - Nick Markakis, Derrek Lee, Vladimir Guerrero and Mark Reynolds - are a combined 21-for-41 in their careers at gametime against Jeff Francis, who is starting for the Royals tonight. The rundown: Markakis is 2-for-3 with a homer Lee is 7-for-12 with a homer Vlad is 3-for-4 with two doubles Reynolds is 9-for-22 with two doubles So, of course, that foursome went 0-for-4 the first time...

Orioles pitcher Brian Matusz, on the disabled list with a strained left intercostal muscle, will follow up Sunday's bullpen session by throwing 30 pitches on the side tomorrow and 20 more against hitters at Twins Lakes Park in Sarasota. Matusz is still scheduled to pitch in an extended spring training game on Saturday before beginning his injury rehab assignment in the minors. The Orioles want him to make at least three starts before activating him. It's hard to believe we haven't seen him...

Cleveland Indians outfielder Shin-Soo Choo became the sixth major league player charged with a DUI this season. Good thing he wasn't tweeting or he might be facing a suspension. Here's the Orioles' lineup for tonight's game in Kansas City, which includes Nick Markakis one night after he hurt his right knee and right hand, but does not include Brian Roberts: Update: The Sun's Jeff Zrebiec tweets that Roberts had root canal surgery this morning and could be available off the bench...

After being named South Atlantic League player of the week yesterday, today, shortstop Manny Machado of the Class-A Delmarva Shorebirds was named the Orioles' minor league player of the month for April. The 18-year-old that was the Orioles 2010 first-round draft pick hit .338 with four home runs and 18 RBI in the month. In 21 games in April, Machado also had 27 hits, including six doubles and two triples. He also showed great patience at the plate with 16 walks and only 11 strikeouts and...

Single-A Potomac Nationals center fielder Eury Perez will return to the lineup Wednesday against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans after being placed on the disabled list with a rib injury. Perez played in only nine games this season before getting hurt. He is batting .222 with seven stolen bases in 36 at-bats. In his last game April 18, at Frederick, Perez went 3-for-4. He does a good job of patrolling center field and utilizes his quickness on the base paths. "Eury brings speed to the table,"...

The Orioles retain some interest in veteran pitcher Kevin Millwood, but nothing is on the immediate horizon, according to one team official. The Orioles haven't ruled out bringing back Millwood, who opted out of his minor league contract with the Yankees, but it isn't something they'll jump into over the next few days. Millwood wants a major league contract and an immediate spot on a 25-man roster. He won't find it in Baltimore. The Orioles would only sign him to another minor league...