Chris Tillman is pitching tonight for Triple-A Norfolk, and he's trying to turn in back-to-back quality starts. Tillman allowed three runs and seven hits in eight innings in his last outing against Charlotte, with no walks and five strikeouts. He threw 90 pitches, 62 for strikes. He's taking on Gwinnett tonight. Corey Patterson has joined Norfolk's roster after signing a minor league contract and reporting to extended spring training in Sarasota. Josh Bell has hit safely in eight of his...

I raced back down to the clubhouse to check on Brian Roberts, who hasn't been seen here all day, and realized he's gone. Roberts is scheduled to undergo an endoscopy tomorrow because of persistent gastrointestinal discomfort that has become the latest health crisis to strike the Orioles' leadoff hitter and second baseman. "He told me that he's had bad flu-like symptoms during the time that his back's been bothering him," manager Dave Trembley said. Roberts visited back specialist Dr....

The Orioles aren't committed to removing two pitchers from the 25-man roster when Saturday's starter, expected to be Brad Bergesen, and reliever Koji Uehara rejoin the club. They could slice off a position player, but that presents a separate issue. Who would go? Julio Lugo is the backup middle infielder. Sending down Lou Montanez would mean more starts in left for Nolan Reimold and Luke Scott and leave the Orioles short an outfielder - and a more mobile one in Montanez. They don't want...

When Kevin Millwood was traded to the Orioles in December, he joined the club with 155 career wins to his credit. Despite pitching well in five starts so far where he has kept his team in the game, he doesn't have a single win yet this year. He is 0-3, 3.38 in 32 innings. But he doesn't sound the least bit discouraged by his personal record at this point. "There is really not much you can do about it. Any time I pitch, I try to give us a chance to win and that's all you can do. I...

Knowing that manager Dave Trembley usually despises lineup questions, I eased into one this afternoon concerning Adam Jones. Actually, it was the second question he fielded after we received an update on reliever Alfredo Simon's availability. But I did preface it by saying, "I know you hate lineup questions..." Well, here it comes. Why is Jones still batting first while mired in a slump that's lowered his average to .211 and raised his blood pressure? "I think he is our best option...

Alfredo Simon says his arm feels good and he's available to pitch tonight. Now the ball is in manager Dave Trembley's court, so to speak. "We'll have to see how the game plays out tonight," Trembley said. "I'd like to see him play catch, see how he feels. I think we have to be cautious with him, using him a lot early because he has not been a reliever. He's been a starter and just recently has been pitching out of the bullpen. He pitched on Sunday, had a day off and pitched yesterday....

For the Orioles: Adam Jones CF Nick Markakis RF Ty Wigginton 2B Miguel Tejada 3B Matt Wieters C Garrett Atkins 1B Nolan Reimold DH Lou Montanez LF Cesar Izturis SS Jeremy Guthrie RHP For the Yankees: Jeter SS Johnson DH Teixeira 1B Rodriguez 3B Cano 2B Posada C Granderson CF Swisher RF Gardner LF Sabathia LHP

Today's Garrett Atkins Q&A provided a first look preview of a summer of O's events to come. Atkins arrived at the ESPN Zone shortly before noon and sat down center stage with the event's host, MASN O's broadcaster Jim Hunter. "So Roch Kubatko tells me you're the most talkative guy in the clubhouse, and you're going to make my job easy for me today," Jim joked to start off the afternoon. Atkins admitted that Roch might have been exaggerating a bit, but the first-baseman seemed...

I wanted to share Double-A Bowie pitching coach Kennie Steenstra's observations of right-hander Koji Uehara, who tossed a scoreless first inning last night against Erie. "He looked good. He mixed his pitches well. Everything was down in the zone," Steenstra said. "I don't think he's going to blow the ball by anybody, but he knows how to change speeds and he knows how to locate, and when you know how to do those things, you're going to get a lot of people out." Uehara gets his...

Here's a strange thought. At 4-16, the 2010 Orioles look less overmatched by the Red Sox and Yankees than the 2009 Orioles did. They went a combined 7-29 vs. New York and Boston last year and now are 2-2 vs. the big two in a stretch of 12 straight against them. Perhaps it won't be long before those teams assert their usual and expected dominance over the Birds of Baltimore, but the Orioles have sure gone toe to toe with them the last four games. They are 2-2 in this stretch and the O's...