When David Hernandez pitched at Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park back-to-back and gave up just two earned runs in 13 innings, it looked like he was a pitcher on a roll. But over his last two outings, vs. Boston and Detroit, he allowed 7ER in 7 1/3 innings for an ERA of 8.59. He certainly bounced back well tonight, pitching the Orioles past Oakland, 3-2. Hernandez is now 4-4, 3.81. He gave up just six hits and two runs over 6 2/3, throwing 107 pitches. David Hernandez discusses his strong...

A rare type of win - Coming into tonight the Orioles had lost 19 straight games when scoring three runs or less. That streak ends with a 3-2 win over Oakland. Their last win in such a game was a 2-1 victory on June 21st at Philadelphia. The Orioles ended a nine-game losing streak vs. Oakland and beat the A's for the first time in over two years. Before tonight, their last win vs. Oakland was on July 22, 2007. The nine-game losing streak tied the Dodgers current nine-game win streak vs....

Game Preview Oakland (50-63) at Orioles (47-66) Now that the Orioles have ended a nine-game losing streak vs. Oakland, this afternoon they'll try to take the next step and win a series from the A's. The clubs have split the first two of this series and today, in the deciding game at 1:35 p.m. Jason Berken (2-9, 6.72) pitches for the Orioles vs. Vin Mazzaro (3-8, 5.70). The O's last win over Oakland before Tuesday's 3-2 victory came on July 22, 2007. That was also the last time the O's...

When the O's offense struggles, the message boards start buzzing with criticism of hitting coach Terry Crowley. But he can't go into the box and swing for the players. While he can and should provide help, doesn't it really become the responsibility of the guy with the bat in his hand? We could debate that for hours, but let's skip that for right now. Anyway, talking about the O's slumping offense right now is probably not at the top of Crowley's list of wonderful things. He did take...

RHP Jason Berken (2-9, 6.72) today makes his 15th start of this season, his 9th at home and the 2nd of this season vs. Oakland. Berken got that elusive second win on Friday at Toronto. He pitched six innings and gave up five hits and three runs. He allowed two homers and threw 91 pitches. That followed his worst start of the year when he gave up six runs in just 1 1/3 innings vs. Boston. Berken won his first Major League start on May 26th vs. Toronto, then went 0-9 over 12 starts before...

Jason Berken pitched shutout ball in four of his five innings Wednesday afternoon. But he gave up four runs in the fourth inning vs. Oakland and that was enough for the A's to hand him his 10th loss and win the final game of this series, 6-3. Oakland, which has won seven of its last ten games, takes the series, two wins to one. The A's are 10-1 in their last 11 games vs. Baltimore. Oakland took a 4-0 lead with a four-hit fourth inning that included two sac flies and Landon Powell's...

Some post-game comments from Jason Berken and Nick Markakis after the O's lost 6-3 to Oakland on Wednesday afternoon. Jason Berken on his outing - "I didn't feel like I had my best stuff, but I was able to make some pitches early in the game, but the big inning hurt me. For whatever reason, that's something that has hurt me all year. If you look over my starts, I've often had one bad pitch or one bad inning. You try to limit it to one or two runs if you can and try to stay out of a...

The Offense Again - Another day with just three runs for the O's on offense. They scored just seven runs in this series and have scored just 12 runs over the last five games and 24 runs over the last eight. The O's had nine hits today and have just one game of ten or more hits in the last eight games. They have homered just twice in the last seven contests. The O's hitters went 1 for 7 today, for the second straight game, when batting with runners in scoring position. The Orioles are...

It was not looking good earlier this week for the Orioles to sign their second-round draft choice, Florida high school shortstop Mychal Givens. Tonight it looks like the O's have closed the door on negotiations and will move on without signing Givens. O's scouting director Joe Jordan tells MASNsports.com "we no longer have an offer on the table." In the weeks leading up to the draft, the Orioles thought they had a handle on the dollar amount it would take to sign Givens. On draft day,...

Joe Jordan's track record as Orioles' scouting director is very good. We can all look at his drafts and see the talent he has added to the organization. His decision to withdraw a contract offer to second-round pick Mychal Givens was not made lightly. When I spoke on the phone with him Wednesday night he sounded pretty down about the whole thing. After all, he and his scouts put in a massive amount of time and effort in scouting and getting to know Givens. To not get the player signed is...