The pitcher's mound had to be a lonely place for Matt Albers in the top of the 13th inning on Sunday. Not only did he let in some inherited runs, but he gave up five of his own over just one inning. Earlier this year, Albers had a stretch where he did not allow an earned run in 17 of 21 appearances. His ERA was 2.12 during the stretch. But now he has been hit for 17ER over six innings over his last seven appearances. "I had a good talk with Rick Kranitz and went over a few things,"...

Vladimir Guerrero, struggling to hit homers earlier in the season, hit two tonight leading the LA Angels to an 8-5 win over the Orioles as the Angels won the final three games of the four-game series. After Maicer Izturis hit a solo homer to give LA a 3-2 lead in the 6th, Guerrero hit a two-run shot two batters later for a 5-2 lead. In inning later, he hit a three-run shot. It was Guerrero's 9th and 10th homers of the season and this is his 38th career multi-homer game. Losing pitcher...

The Orioles ended this homestand with two wins in seven games vs. Oakland and Los Angeles. They are now 30-31 at home on the year and 48-70 overall. Nick Markakis went 2 for 4 with a double, homer and two RBI. He now has 84 RBI. Markakis extended his current hitting streak to ten games. During the streak, he is batting .378 (17 for 45) with two homers and 8 RBI. For Markakis, 21 of his last 37 hits have gone for extra bases. He has now reached base in 37 consecutive games - the longest...

Game Preview Orioles (48-70) at Tampa Bay (63-54) After winning just two of seven games on a homestand that ended with Monday's loss to the Angels, the Orioles begin a nine-game road trip tonight at Tampa Bay. After three games with the Rays, the road trip takes to the Orioles on to Chicago and Minnesota. The O's are just 18-39 on the road this season and are just 3-18 on the road vs. the AL East. Series Pitching Matchups; Mon, 7:08p - Jason Berken (2-10, 6.63) v. David Price (5-5,...

RHP Jason Berken (2-10, 6.63) tonight makes his 16th Major League start of the year, his 7th on the road and the 1st of his career vs. Tampa Bay. Two starts ago, Berken gave up three runs in six innings vs. Toronto to get his second victory. In his last start, Wednesday vs. Oakland, he took his 10th loss. Berken gave up eight hits and four runs over five innings. In six starts since the All-Star game, he is 1-4, 7.85. Right-handed hitters hit .308 off Berken while lefties bat .319. He...

The Tampa Bay Rays hit three homers and beat the Orioles 5-4 Tuesday night. For the Birds, it was game one of a nine-game road trip. Gabe Gross hit a two-run shot in the 3rd and Pat Burrell and B.J. Upton hit solo shots in the 6th as the Rays won their third in a row. O's pitchers have allowed nine homers over the last three games. Jason Berken gave up all three homers and took the loss, falling to 2-11, 6.72. Berken gave up five runs and 11 hits over 5 2/3 innings. Matt Wieters hit a...

The O's began their nine-game road trip with a one-run loss at Tampa. The Birds are now 12-16 in one-run games and have lost seven of their last eight one-run decisions. Matt with a longball - Matt Wieters two-run homer in the 8th was his 4th of the season. He has hit two solo shots and a pair of two-run homers. It was his first homer since July 5th, Wieters had gone 28 games without a longball. Gary and Buck talk with Dave Trembley after the O's 5-4 loss to the Rays Nick Markakis...

Game Preview Orioles (48-71) at Tampa Bay (64-54) Orioles pitchers have been giving up the longball a lot in recent games and Tampa Bay hit three homers to beat the Orioles Tuesday night, 5-4, in the opener of a three-game series. Tonight, in game two of this series at 7:08 p.m. at Tropicana Field, Chris Tillman (1-0, 4.88) pitches for the Orioles vs. Jeff Niemann (10-5, 3.86). O's pitchers have given up nine homers the last three games and 34 in the last 21 games. The Orioles have...

RHP Chris Tillman (1-0, 4.88) tonight makes his 5th Major League start of this season, his 3rd on the road and the 1st of his career vs. Tampa. Tillman's first two starts: 6.75 ERA (8ER in 10 2/3IP) Tillman's last two starts: 3.38 ERA (5ER in 13 1/3IP) Right-handed batters are hitting .327 off Tillman while lefties are batting just .214. The O's are 2-2 in his four starts. Tillman has allowed nine of his 13 runs in the first two innings of his starts. In two road starts, he is 0-0,...

Chris Tillman showed some big-time poise in the bottom of the first inning tonight. Meanwhile, home plate umpire Mark Wegner is sure missing a good game, at least missing some good Tillman pitches. I give the 21-year-old right hander immense credit for keeping his poise while Wegner was missing pitches and forcing Tillman to work to the max to get out of a bases-loaded jam. But he was forced to throw 31 pitches. Will that catch up to him in the second inning tonight? Maybe the 5th or...