Orioles farmhand Josh Perrault served up a two-run homer to White Sox prospect C.J. Retherford in the bottom of the eighth inning, giving Peoria Javelinas a 5-4 win over the Phoenix Desert Dogs in the AFL championship game. The Desert Dogs had won five straight titles before today. Perrault was charged with two runs and three hits. He also struck out two. Matt Angle, leading off and playing center field, was 2-for-4 with a triple and run scored. Third baseman Josh Bell, batting sixth, went...

The Rays keep playing that exaggerated infield shift with Matt Wieters at the plate. Second baseman Sean Rodriguez drops into shallow right field, shortstop Jason Bartlett swings around to second and third baseman Evan Longoria occupies the shortstop position. It's an interesting perception of Wieters, considering that one of the most common questions posed to him last year was, "When are you going to pull a ball for a home run?" He kept going to the opposite field. Wieters flied to...

It looks like we'll start on time tonight. The tarp's off the field, players are warming up and the lineups are being introduced over the PA system. Closer Mike Gonzalez is the proud father of a baby girl, Arianna Marie Gonzalez. She's 6 pounds, 14 ounces, and she's 19 1/2 inches long. Gonzalez claims that she's "gorgeous." Aren't they all? Manager Dave Trembley commented on Monday's record-low crowd at Camden Yards. "I think it's always nice to have a lot of people, but you...

Is Mike Gonzalez the closer tonight? Not if his mechanics still need to be ironed out. I wouldn't count on Gonzalez getting the ball in the ninth inning unless the Orioles have a comfortable lead, but you decide. "I'm not sure when I would use him, whether that be the seventh inning or eighth inning or ninth inning," manager Dave Trembley said. "He came here to be the closer. Like I said before he left to attend the birth of his child, I thought it was in his best interest and in the...

This might comes as a total shock to many of you, but the lineup was the primary topic in manager Dave Trembley's pre-game media session. No lie. "Let's do what we can to get the offense started and score some runs," he said. "Changing it up is a good idea. Change the routine a little bit." Trembley won't commit to batting Miguel Tejada second, Matt Wieters fourth and Adam Jones fifth for an extended period. He's taking it on a game-by-game basis. In fact, you can expect Craig Tatum...

Matt Wieters is a pretty low key guy with his interviews. No matter how much reporters tried today, he was just not going to make a big deal out of batting cleanup in tonight's batting order. He's batted fourth before in college and the minors, but tonight is in that four spot for the first time ever in the Majors. "It's just a new spot. Go out there and try to get hits and try to put runs up on the board. No change at all, just have to square balls up and find holes tonight. ...

All season long, MASN will bring viewers two can't-miss features on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Every Wednesday, the crew will wire up a Nationals player or coach for Wired Wednesdays. Adam Dunn and Jim Riggleman will make frequent appearances because they also blog here at MASNsports.com. Tonight, catch Adam Dunn on MASN's exclusive Wired Wednesday. Each Thursday, Debbi Taylor, Bob Carpenter and Rob Dibble will take an in depth look at a certain player for Covering the Bases. They'll...

Here's the Orioles lineup: Felix Pie LF Miguel Tejada 3B Nick Markakis RF Matt Wieters C Adam Jones CF Nolan Reimold DH Garrett Atkins 1B Ty Wigginton 2B Cesar Izturis SS Brian Matusz LHP Koji Uehara was scheduled to throw another bullpen session today in Sarasota. He was expected to throw 25 pitches, duplicating Sunday's count. Here's the Rays lineup: Bartlett SS Rodriguez 2B Zobrist RF Longoria 3B Pena 1B Upton CF Aybar DH Navarro C Kapler LF Niemann RHP

The Delmarva Shorebirds have gotten off to a great start under first-year manager Ryan Minor. They are 4-1, in first place, with four wins in a row and putting up some big offensive numbers. Delmarva scored six runs in the 9th Monday to beat Greensboro, 11-6. Tyler Kelly, a 13th-round draft pick last June, has nine RBI the past two games and 10 for the year to lead the South Atlantic League. In his first three games, he went just 2 for 12. In the last two, he is 5 for 11 with a homer and...

The strained abdominal muscle that forced Brian Roberts out of Friday's home opener has improved enough that it's no longer a concern for him. His lower back, however, continues to disrupt the first month of his season and leave a gaping hole atop the order. Roberts received another epidural yesterday to ease the discomfort in his lower back. He's been told to rest before being re-examined by a specialist in three days. "Initially, I came out of the game because of my stomach, but the...