Tackling rumors, reports and rules

The Orioles will be facing Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Henderson Alvarez tonight. Let me know if you have a full scouting report. Don't skimp on the details. Jo-Jo Reyes will battle his former team. He's started against the Blue Jays once in his career and held them to one run over seven innings - and lost. I've been asked many times over the last few days about comments Michael Kay made on the YES Network during a recent Orioles-Yankees game. My head hurts from responding. And it's going to hurt a lot more when I start hitting myself with a hammer. Pitching coach Mark Connor's resignation in June has led to tons of speculation. I know the physical demands of the job became too great, and he hesitated to accept the position over the winter. I'm sure he had other frustrations. But I'm only interested if he's the one sharing them. I'm not slamming Kay here, but if he stated on the air that manager Buck Showalter toyed with the idea of bringing shortstop Manny Machado to the majors this season, that is 100 percent false. I don't know whether Kay said it. A reader here brought it up, but I wasn't listening to the telecast. I may as well tackle the report in USA Today that Andy MacPhail has decided to resign after the season, according to sources within the organization. Again, I'm not slamming anyone, but I should point out that it wouldn't be a resignation. MacPhail's contract runs out. The local media has written that he isn't likely to return in his current role. He could leave or assume another title. Nothing is official. MacPhail refuses to address the subject until the season ends. I've asked, The Sun has asked, MLB.com has asked. I'm fully prepared to cover a GM search this fall. Or a president of baseball operations search, which is a little too wordy for my taste. And yes, Brian Cashman will be high on the list of any team that has a vacancy if he's available. John Hart would be an obvious candidate for the Orioles, so I'd wait before printing those "Cashing In On Cashman" T-shirts. You might need to go with "You've Gotta Have Hart." There was some confusion last night over the official scorer's decision to award Ryan Adams a game-winning single on a ball that hopped the fence as Mark Reynolds raced home. A batter can't be credited with more bases than it takes to get the run in unless it's a home run. If Reynolds had scored from second, Adams would have been given a double. Apparently, there was a game earlier this season where a batter was credited with a walk-off triple - an extreme rarity - after the runner scored from first. But the batter had to be close to third base for it to happen, which meant he really turned on the jets. Also, one of the reasons that manager Buck Showalter left the dugout and huddled with his players on the mound before the Orioles appealed at third and second base in the 10th inning was to make sure that Robert Andino didn't stand in foul territory while taking the throw. Andino is fairly inexperienced at third, and Showalter explained later that the pitcher can be called for a balk if the infielder is on the wrong side of the line. Who knew?