While the Orioles scouting director Joe Jordan is making some progress in signing some of the O's top ten draft picks, progress continues to move slowly when it comes to their top pick, prep shortstop Manny Machado. The O's selected Machado with the third pick in the draft. In a July 23 MASNsports.com article, Jordan said contract talks have begun with Machado and the sides have exchanged dollar figures. But since that time, no real progress has been made. That is not unexpected as most...

That's two in a row, but who's counting? The Orioles held on for a 9-7 victory after the Angels scored the last six runs of the game. "When you get to six innings, can we keep them from scoring eight runs before we get nine outs? I kind of break it down that way. And we did," said manager Buck Showalter. Special thanks to Torii Hunter for attempting to steal third base with no outs in the ninth inning after the Angels had reduced the deficit to two runs. He already was in scoring...

The O's got good post-game news on two of the three injured players that left Wednesday's game. Both Brian Roberts and Josh Bell hope to play tomorrow, but the news was not nearly as good for David Hernandez, who seems likely to end up on the disabled list. He suffered a left ankle sprain while covering home in the seventh inning. "I kind of had my landing foot, my left foot, I didn't feel it roll, it just kind of felt like the ligament went over the bone and went back. "They said...

Nationals pitcher Garrett Mock had a solid return to hill Wednesday in Hagerstown, his first game since neck surgery in April. Mock tossed three scoreless innings, allowing one hit, one walk and three strikeouts on 34 pitches. Mock then finished the evening with 15 pitches in the bullpen. The Suns shut out the Lexington Legends 2-0 at Municipal Stadium. "It went well. I kept the ball down in the zone, got some groundballs, it was very smooth." Mock said his pregame bullpen session did...

David Hernandez came out of tonight's game with a sprained left ankle, and the swelling is severe enough that he's a candidate for the disabled list. Manager Buck Showalter spoke to president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail about the possibility of a roster move tomorrow. Josh Bell left the game with some cramping, though we're trying to determine whether it's back or legs. Doesn't sound too serious, but it explains why he didn't swing at a 3-2 pitch in the seventh. Update:...

Brian Matusz picked up just his second win since April 18 and the O's scored nine runs in the first four innings in a 9-7 win over the Angels Wednesday night as they are now 2-0 for new manager Buck Showalter. Felix Pie, who had just one RBI over his past 18 games, had three hits, including a triple and 3 RBI. Luke Scott hit his 20th homer, a two-run shot and Adam Jones went 3 for 4 and scored three runs. Ty Wigginton added a two-run single. Scott has homered in three straight games. The...

We're trying to figure out why Josh Bell left the game in the top of the eighth. Ty Wigginton replaced Bell at third base, and Jake Fox took over at first. Shortstop Cesar Izturis is the only infielder at his original position. Bell struck out in the seventh. He didn't appear to sustain an injury. I can't imagine that he's being punished for loafing on his way back to the bench. We'll find out later. Koji Uehara struck out the side in the eighth and pumped his fist as he left the...

Julio Lugo has replaced Brian Roberts at second base. Don't say I didn't warn you. Roberts has a left shin contusion, according to a club spokesman. I thought the ball hit Roberts on the side of the foot, but I'm not a doctor. Matt Albers will try to hold a 9-1 lead. Update: David Hernandez will try to hold a 9-4 lead. Albers recorded only one out and allowed two singles and two doubles. Left fielder Felix Pie didn't touch the ball while Brian Matusz was in the game, despite the...

The tarp is on the field and the rain is coming down hard. Don't say I didn't warn you. Update: Now the tarp's off the field and play is expected to resume at 9:40 p.m. Tonight's attendance: 13,467. Brian Matusz was done for the night, no matter the weather. He allowed one run and seven hits over six innings, walked none and struck out three. He threw 93 pitches. On a night when he didn't need much offensive support, the Orioles gave him nine runs. He won't complain. I'm told that...

The game is in a rain delay with the O's leading 9-1 and batting in the last of the sixth. If it is called off at this point, the Orioles will win. Feel free to post some questions here during the delay which came at 9:16. Questions on any O's topic, majors or minors. Update: Could be one of the shortest delays ever. As of 9:27, they have taken the tarp off, the rain has stopped and they are raking the dirt areas. Now the word is play will resume at about 9:40. If you add any...