Coffee Companion -- 5/13

Each morning, Monday through Friday, I'll hook you up with reading material to skim through as you slug down coffee and slack off at the start of your workday -- that way I'll have an excuse to do the same at the start of mine.

Running it back:

Rookie starter Zach Britton pitched nine scoreless innings Thursday, but it took extra innings for the Orioles to beat the Mariners. ... Despite allowing five runs in his past seven outings,  Orioles reliever Jason Berken says his shoulder feels great. ... Brian Matusz is scheduled to make a pair of rehab starts next week and could return to the Orioles soon. ... Maryland's 2011 recruiting class has dwindled from three members to zero now that Nick Faust, Sterling Gibbs and Martin Breunig have been granted releases from their letters of intent.

Hitting the links:

1. Mark Reynolds’ big drop in Ks might not be a good thing [Yahoo!]

2. Revisiting the Erik Bedard trade [Seattle Times]

3. Where is the Orioles' homegrown talent? [PressBox]

4. News, notes and random observations on the Orioles [Orioles Insider]

5. Mark Reynolds is not Garrett Atkins [B-more Birds' Nest]

6. These aren't last year's Orioles, folks [The Loss Column]

7. Jonathan Schoop is part of a talented group of Orioles shortstop prospects [Washington Post]

8. Are Ravens' rookie jerseys harbingers of fate? [CSN Baltimore]

9. Derrick Mason and the Ravens are planning workouts [ESPN]

10. The Ravens think rookie Pernell McPhee is "relentless" [Ravens.com]

11. Here's a Maryland basketball Q&A with Chris Knoche [Baltimore Sports and Life]

12. Coaching carousel unfairly spins past the players [Washington Times]

You said it:

"Kegasus is the perfect mascot for the Preakness. Half kegs, half assus." -- loyal reader Chris_in_Hawaii chimes in on Kegasus, who will reportedly attempt to be legendary at Preakness

Video of the morning: 

I wish this happened during rain delays in the big leagues [Hat tip to Hot Clicks]

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Send me your funny and/or interesting links, photos, YouTube videos, blogs, Tweets, comments, emails, ideas, leads, etc. If I deem them to be worthy for the blog, I’ll give you a plug. You can reach me at [e-mail] and twitter.com/mattvensel.