I told you earlier that interim manager Juan Samuel will give the ball to David Hernandez tonight if he's confronted with another save situation. Here's more from Samuel: "Of course, of course. Stay with the hot hand," Samuel said. "He showed some poise last night. He came right after those hitters. Hopefully, if we're in the same situation tonight, he'll be the guy. "It's not an easy role. We're talking about a very young guy thrown in the fire. To me, he showed last night that he...

Less than 24 hours after posting his first Major League win and beating the Yankees, Jake Arrieta was concentrating on the TV in the O's clubhouse. His college team, TCU was taking on Texas in the NCAA's Super Regionals. Jake was as calm watching that game as he seemed on the mound Thursday night. Since he got that win, his phone has been blowing up, as they say. "I had 40 or 50 texts and a bunch of calls. You know it's just great to have the support from friends and family throughout...

Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail has interviewed two candidates this week for the full-time managerial job: Eric Wedge and Bobby Valentine. He hasn't lined up a third interview. The next one most likely will wait until the Orioles return from next week's interleague excursion in San Francisco and San Diego. MacPhail is making the trip, and it doesn't appear that he'll meet with the next candidate until returning to Baltimore. MacPhail won't discuss specifics of the...

Some fans have been wondering about the exchange last night in the O's dugout in the last of the sixth inning. Luke Scott tripled on a ball that hit off the wall in right field. He appeared not to be running hard out of the box and ran harder after he got around first base. After he scored, he was seen talking in the dugout with O's manager Juan Samuel. On the MASN telecast, play-by-play broadcaster Gary Thorne was critical of Scott. Audio: Luke Scott comments on his dugout...

Second baseman Brian Roberts received an epidural injection in his lower back in St. Petersburg, his third since reporting to spring training, and will be shut down until undergoing a follow-up examination on Tuesday. Michael Gonzalez threw one inning today in an extended spring training game, which amounted to only seven pitches, and his velocity increased slightly. We're told that his fastball was clocked at 87 mph after topping out at 85 mph during his previous trip to the...

For the Orioles: Corey Patterson LF Miguel Tejada 3B Nick Markakis RF Ty Wigginton 1B Luke Scott DH Adam Jones CF Matt Wieters C Scott Moore 2B Cesar Izturis SS Jeremy Guthrie RHP For the Mets: Reyes SS Pagan CF Wright 3B Davis 1B Bay LF Carter DH Barajas C Francoeur RF Tejada 2B Dickey RHP

The Orioles intended to use Nolan Reimold's demotion to Triple-A Norfolk as an opportunity for him to grow comfortable at first base. They wanted him to get hot at the plate and acclimated to a new position - baseball's version of multi-tasking - so they could occasionally quiet his barking Achilles by removing him from the outfield. Reimold has made three starts at first base, none since May 30 against Pawtucket. He's been playing left field (including the last five games) or serving as...

Don't look now, but lefty Zach Britton, last year's Carolina League Pitcher of the Year, is really starting to pitch well for Double-A Bowie. Britton is the starter tonight when the Baysox (30-30) open a series at Harrisburg. Britton is now 5-3, 2.96 on the year and leads the Eastern League in groundball ratio at 3.19. He is 7th in the league in ERA. Over his last five starts, Britton is 3-0, 1.41, allowing just 5 ER over 32 innings. He also has 60 percent of his wins this year vs....

Don't forget, the Nats will host a blood drive on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at Nationals Park. All blood donors will receive two tickets to a future Nationals game, a limited edition Build-A-Bear Workshop bloodhound and the opportunity to take an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of Nationals Park. Inova Blood Donor Services supplies lifesaving blood and blood products to 15 different hospitals in the Washington, D.C. metro area. Donations help cancer and trauma patients, newborns...

On this day in 1999, Cal Ripken Jr. became the first Oriole to go 6-for-6 in a game, as the O's scored the most runs in franchise history (at that time) on their way to a 22-1 win over the Braves. Cal's six-hit game is still an Orioles single-game record, as are the five runs he scored off of his six hits in that game as well. Miguel Tejada was the last Oriole to come close with a five-hit game on July 9, 2005 versus the Boston Red Sox at OPACY. The O's topped their single-game run...