Nationals pitcher Tyler Walker has bounced back from a slow start to spring training. He put his latest resurgence on display Wednesday night during the Phillies 8-4 win. Walker retired six consecutive Phillies hitters in the 5th and 6th innings. During that run he prevented the Phils from tacking on to a 6-3 advantage. The line was impressive: 2 innings, no hits, no runs, no walks and three strikeouts of Jayson Werth, Shane Victorino and Jimmy Rollins. Shortstop Ian Desmond started his...

The Orioles, who went 17-22 in one-run games last year, have dropped two close ones to start the 2010 season after Wednesday's second straight, 4-3 loss vs. Tampa. Evan Longoria's solo homer in the 8th gave the Rays a 4-2 lead and insurance that offset a Garrett Atkins RBI double in the 9th. Longoria's two-run double in the 5th put Tampa ahead 3-2. The RISP stat tonight: The Orioles were 1 for 12 batting with runners in scoring position Tuesday and Wednesday were just a little better at...

Orioles manager Dave Trembley was encouraged by Jeremy Guthrie's outing tonight. Very encouraged. "The story for us is the way Guthrie pitched," Trembley said. "That's Guthrie of 2008 right there. He pitched a great game. Located, pitched down, was aggressive with his pitches. You liked the way he pitched and he'll win a lot of games if he continues to go out there like that. "If you see his arm angle, his arm angle is back to the way it was in 2008. If you saw him last year, he was...

Nolan Reimold said he didn't have a chance to catch Evan Longoria's fly ball that fell in left-center field for a crucial two-run double in the fifth. "It was placed pretty well," he said. "It was like 10 feet out of my reach or so, five or 10 feet, somewhere in there. It was just hit in one of those spots. Tough to get to." Reimold said he felt fine running on the turf. "Nothing unexpected," he said. He did concede that he lacks that initial burst since undergoing surgery on his...

Reliever Jim Johnson wasn't available tonight because of some tightness in his right arm. "He told me before the game," manager Dave Trembley said. Cla Meredith replaced Will Ohman in the bottom of the eighth and gave up Evan Longoria's home run on his second pitch. Johnson retired the side in order last night, plowing through the heart of the Rays' order and handing a one-run lead to closer Mike Gonzalez. I'll check on his availability tomorrow. He was missed tonight.

You can't complain about manager Dave Trembley not using his bench tonight. Felix Pie pinch-ran for Garrett Atkins, whose double with one out in the ninth scored Matt Wieters to reduce Tampa Bay's lead to 4-3. Ty Wigginton pinch-hit for the next batter, Cesar Izturis, and grounded to short. Brian Roberts flied out on the first pitch he saw from closer Rafael Soriano. Another tough loss, though not quite as big a kick in the gut as last night's ending. Here are the RSS links that a few...

There are not many people in the baseball industry that know new Bowie Baysox third baseman Josh Bell better than De Jon Watson. Watson is the assistant general manager in charge of player development for the Los Angeles Dodgers, the team that traded Bell to the Orioles. He has gotten to know the player and person well since Bell began his Dodgers' minor league career in 2005. This year, before Bell and Steve Johnson were traded to the Orioles for George Sherrill, the 22-year-old,...

Game Preview Orioles (45-63) at Toronto (51-56) After losing three of four games vs. first-place Detroit, the O's road trip moves on to Canada where tonight the Orioles meet fourth-place Toronto. The O's have lost six of seven, 13 of 17 and 26 of the last 39 games. They are 17-37 on the road on the year and have lost 17 of their past 23 road contests. Pitching Matchups at Toronto: Fri, 7:22p - Jason Berken (1-9, 6.93) v. Ricky Romero (10-4, 3.53) Sat, 1:07p - Chris Tillman (0-0, 6.75) v....

RHP Jason Berken (1-9, 6.93) tonight will make his 14th start of the season, his 6th on the road and his 3rd of the year vs. Toronto. Berken remains winless since beating Toronto in his Major League debut on May 26th. That night he gave up seven hits and two runs over five innings. His most recent start was his worst of the year. Sunday he took the loss vs. Boston and gave up six runs and seven hits in just 1 1/3 innings, throwing only 53 pitches. Berken is 0-9 over his last 12 starts and...

Some news and notes around the O's Minor Leagues. With all the players that have made their way from Norfolk to Baltimore this year, the Tides still have a good record at 61-51 and are three games out of first place. Brandon Snyder is hitting .424 with 13 RBI over his last 15 games. He has seven multi-hit games in that stretch. Justin Turner is batting .347 over 34 games. Jeff Fiorentino is 4th in the IL in OBP and 5th in batting and slugging. Joey Gathright is batting .389 during an...