troy patton

Buck Showalter said he had been looking for a night off for shortstop J.J. Hardy, and Monday made sense, considering Hardy is 2-for-27 against Texas' Ryan Dempster in his career.

The big news coming out of Buck Showalter¿s press briefing today in Arlington is that designated hitter Jim Thome is ahead of schedule and will head down to Sarasota, Fla., on Wednesday to begin rehab.

Considering the caliber of lineups the Orioles were going to face on their six-game road trip to Detroit and Texas, manager Buck Showalter wanted to make sure his bullpen — the lifeblood of the team's success this season — was protected.

Left hander Zach Britton joined the Orioles in Detroit, ready to be officially recalled before Saturday's game to start that night against the Tigers.

Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette said the organization's move to make Brian Matusz a reliever fills a temporary need and that the left-hander still has a promising future as a starter.

The Orioles are considering moving left-handed starter Brian Matsuz -- who was sent down to Triple-A Norfolk earlier this month -- to the Tides' bullpen after lefty reliever Troy Patton landed on the disabled list Tuesday with a sprained right ankle.

Orioles manager Buck Showater said before Tuesday's series opener against the Red Sox that the Orioles are moving toward experimenting with making the 25-year-old Brian Matusz a reliever.

Orioles left-handed reliever Troy Patton is heading to the 15-day disabled listed after spraining his right angle while rolling it as he was walking in the parking garage of his hotel Sunday night.

The Orioles reunited with veteran reliever J.C. Romero Monday, acquiring the left hander in a trade with the Cleveland Indians in exchange for minor league infielder Carlos Rojas, the team announced.

On Sunday, Tommy Hunter pitched a decent game, giving up three runs in five innings, but wasn¿t great. No matter. Orioles manager Buck Showalter turned the game over to his bullpen in the sixth inning with the score tied at 3, and they didn¿t allow a hit or a run the rest of the way.

Orioles first baseman Mark Reynolds, who sat out the past two games, came through with the game-winning single, taking a slider from Royals reliever Louis Coleman to left field and allowing Adam Jones to score from second to give the Orioles a 5-3 win over the Royals.

Exactly 23 years to the day that Dave Johnson notched his first big league victory at Memorial Stadium for his hometown Orioles, his 24-year-old son Steve got his first major league victory.

Adam Jones' bases-loaded single in the 14th inning Tuesday night capped a four-hour, 55-minute test of survival, giving the Orioles their 12th straight extra-inning win, 8-7, over the Seattle Mariners.

Making his first start at catcher since July 28, Taylor Teagarden took advantage of Sunday's start, driving in the game's only run with a two-out, 10th-inning double off Rays reliever Joel Peralta to give the Orioles a 1-0 win over the Rays.

Orioles pitcher Tommy Hunter pitched well against the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday, falling just one out short of a quality start. But he made two fatal mistakes, a pair of solo home runs that proved to be the difference in a 2-0 Orioles¿ in front of an announced crowd of 18,410 at Tropicana Field.

Many years ago, on the first day of spring training, former major league manager John McNamara walked up to me during pitchers fielding practice (PFP). The California Angels were going through the motions on the drill in which pitchers cover first base on ground balls to the first baseman, and they were performing it flawlessly.

Orioles right-hander Chris Tillman credits the help of Matt Wieters and the O's offense for helping him to an 11-5 win over the Yankees on Tuesday.

Orioles catcher Matt Wieters didn't start Friday night's game against the Oakland A's, but it wasn't because he is mired in a 1-for-30 slump. Wieters was held out of the lineup because of a tight right bicep muscle.

Although the Orioles are focused on adding a starter and a hitter by Tuesday¿s non-waiver trade deadline, they are asking about left-handed relievers in the trade market as well.

The Orioles bullpen was forced to throw 6 1/3 innings Wednesday when starter Miguel Gonzalez couldn¿t get out of the third. So will a move be made this morning?

Right-hander Justin Masterson pitched masterfully, the Orioles made a key baserunning error and the Indians snapped the Orioles¿ five-game winning streak with a 3-1 victory.

The Orioles are 38-0 in games that they are leading after seven innings. That's about as shutdown as it can get.

Zach Britton threw six shutout innings and the Orioles escaped rally in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-3, for their fifth straight win.

Chris Tillman was good enough to stifle the Indians, and Jim Thome and Ryan Flaherty both homered for the second straight night to provide all the runs the Orioles needed.

Tommy Hunter gave the Orioles their longest start in 10 games, holding the Twins to one run on six hits over 7 1/3 innings in a 2-1 win before 33,195 at Target Field.

In the biggest baseball moment of his roller-coaster career, Gonzalez dominated his former organization, holding the Angels to one run on three hits through seven innings leading the Orioles to a 3-2 victory in front of an announced crowd of 42,716 at Angel Stadium.

Robert Andino can't squeeze a sure out and the Orioles bats go cold after third inning as skid continues.

For the fifth straight game, an Orioles starter turned in a less-than-stellar performance, this time from lefty Dana Eveland, who was making his first start since May 11, adding to the Orioles' troubles on the mound.

Friday night, during the hottest day of the season so far ¿ the game-time temperature at Camden Yards was a sweltering 100 degrees ¿ the Orioles' bats finally started to heat up.

It's not exactly a surprise, but the Orioles' top prospects, right-hander Dylan Bundy and shortstop Manny Machado, have been named to the prestigious 14th annual SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game.

Wei-Yin Chen tossed seven scoreless innings and allowed just six hits, leading the Orioles to a series-clinching 2-0 win over the Braves in front of an announced crowd of 29,530.

That's the number of runs the Orioles bullpen allowed in the three games in 14 innings of work this series. With two extra-inning games, the teams played 31 innings this series. Their starting pitchers went seven innings just once and the pen had to account for five innings in Friday's series opener, something that usually leads to trouble later on.

The Orioles (31-24) extended their Fenway Park mark to 4-0 this season ¿ three of those wins coming in extra innings. The teams have now played 49 innings at Fenway this year ¿ the equivalent of roughly 5 ½ games.

A look at what some other media outlets are saying about the Orioles:

Orioles bullpen falters in 8-6 loss to the Red Sox. Boston scores two off Kevin Gregg in the seventh and another off Troy Patton an inning later.

Kevin Gregg allowed a one-out single, double and then intentionally walked David Ortiz. Adrian Gonzalez broke the 5-5 tie with a sacrifice fly and Will Middlebrooks added a RBI single to give the Red Sox a two-run lead.

Nick Markakis leads the Orioles to victory with home run in 11th inning

The Baltimore Orioles' 9-8 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays -- which ended with the game-winning run on second base -- ended this series in bittersweet fashion.