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...

I'm headed to the ESPN Zone in Baltimore's Inner Harbor before too long for the first Orioles Q&A of the summer. If you can't make it out to meet Garrett Atkins from noon to 1:00 p.m., check back here later today for a few highlights and photos. Atkins will be answering questions from an O's broadcaster, as well as from fans, so this afternoon will be a chance to get to know the new Oriole a little better (and win some prizes if you know your Orioles trivia!). Atkins will also stick around...

In case you forgot or need to brush up on the terminology, it's called a "winning streak." Repeat those words out loud a few times and they will start to sound familiar. I kept saying "winnie steak" before I finally got the hang of it. I just caught the SportsCenter highlights from last night's game, including Cesar Izturis' miscue that prolonged the ninth inning. "That's Orioles baseball," exclaimed one of the network's anchors. At least he didn't say "The Oriole Way." That...

The Orioles started a six-game homestand with a stirring 5-4 win over the Yankees that featured Alfredo Simon's first Major League save, a Cesar Izturis 3-RBI night and a combined 0 for 10 evening from Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. Back-to-back firsts: Sunday Cla Meredith got his first Major League save in his 271st big league appearance. Tonight, Simon got his first in his 7th career big league outing. They are the first O's pitchers to pick up their first saves in consecutive games...