ty wigginton

At first glance, Orioles reliever Darren O'Day is just another fortunate jock who played top-shelf college baseball, married the beautiful blond, cruised to the majors and is now a millionaire.

The Orioles sent three players to the All-Star Game last season, just the second time since 2000 that they had multiple representatives. They could have even more this summer, perhaps as many as five or six.

The Baltimore sports scene is blessed with a bunch of talented bloggers who bring their unique perspective to the conversation. This week, we exchanged emails with Mark Brown, who blogs about the Orioles for the Camden Chat blog.

It seemed every seat was filled during the Baltimore Orioles exciting playoff run last season except for the one that belonged to Matt Hersl.

Halfway through the baseball season, how is it that the Baltimore Orioles are legitimate playoff contenders?

Matt Wieters' 10th-inning opposite-field RBI double gave the Orioles a 5-4 win -- their second walk-off victory in as many days -- over the Phillies on Sunday afternoon in front of a sellout crowd at Camden Yards.

The Orioles and Phillies played into the early evening, as the shadows crept over Camden Yards, until Adam Jones -- who snapped a 0-for-18 slump in his previous at-bat -- gave the Orioles a 6-4, 12-inning win with a two-run walk-off homer in front of 46,611 at Camden Yards, giving the Orioles their eighth win in 10 extra-inning games.

When Jake Arrieta was named the Orioles' Opening Day starter this season, he talked about the magnitude of the honor and the leadership responsibility it carried. But the 26-year-old right-hander has looked lost for much of the season.

Having never been on the disabled list in his career, Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis is finding it's almost as painful being away from the team as it is dealing with hamate bone surgery.

If you thought the Orioles would have a Josh Hamilton hangover today, they apparently just decided that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Ryan Flaherty, J.J. Hardy and Nick Markakis opened the bottom of the first inning with consecutive home runs off Texas Rangers starter Colby Lewis -- the first time back-to-back-to-back homer hat trick for the O's since July 20, 2010.

Brian Matusz throws five innings, gives up one run

President of baseball operations Andy MacPhail turned down owner Peter Angelos' request for him to stay

Orioles slugger Mark Reynolds has started the past three games at first base, something some fans called for in the season's first half when the third baseman was throwing balls away like he was a young Kyle Boller. Reynolds leads the American League with 21 errors, all of them coming at the hot corner, but he has been solid there since the All-Star break.

Mariners might have interest in Hall of Fame baseball executive, and he lives in Seattle

Matt Wieters made his first All-Star Game appearance on Tuesday night, grounding out in his only at-bat and letting a pitch squeak by him for a passed ball. Hopefully it didn't take the luster off a well-deserved spot in the Midsummer Classic. He wasn't a slam-dunk choice for the game, but it's hard to argue against his selection after he was strong defensively and serviceable at the plate in the first half of the 2011 season.

Mark Reynolds hit a grand slam in his first at-bat with the Orioles on Sunday. Sure, it came in a meaningless intrasquad scrimmage, but Orioles fans are hoping his homer was a sign of things to come once Opening Day rolls around next month.