Coffee Companion -- 5/16

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:

Shortstop J.J. Hardy hit a grand slam Sunday as the Orioles beat the Rays, 9-3, to win their three-game series. ... Starters Chris Tillman and Zach Britton will make their first appearances at Fenway Park this week. ... Five days after he accepted an offer to coach at Maryland, Mark Turgeon accepted his first verbal commitment with the Terps. ... George Bolton looks to return to the Preakness winner's circle with Astrology. ... Michael Phelps finished his weekend at the Charlotte UltraSwim by beating Ryan Lochte in the 200-meter backstroke. ... Maryland stormed past North Carolina, 13-6, to advance to the quarterfinals of the NCAA men's lacrosse tournament. Johns Hopkins beat Hofstra on Saturday.

Hitting the links:

1. Dumb luck brought Zach Britton his out pitch [Yahoo!]

2. Brad Bergesen gave us his best outing of the season on Saturday [Orioles Insider]

3. The Orioles are closing in on the 40-game mark [The Loss Column]

4. Check out this Orioles hat [Baltimore Sports Report]

5. Former Oriole Michael Aubrey hit four home runs in four minor-league at-bats [Baltimore Sun]

6. Ozzie Newsome thinks Ravens fans are "second to none" [Ravens Insider]

7. Hunter Cantwell is eager to show the Ravens what he can do [Pro Football Weekly]

8. Terrell Suggs does the Cannes Film Festival [Ravens.com]

9. Mark Turgeon is making friends in Baltimore [Recruiting Report]

10. Peter Schmuck: Want to fix the Preakness? Fix Pimlico first [Baltimore Sun]

11. Kevin Cowherd: At the Preakness, focusing on the actual race is easier said than done [Baltimore Sun]

12. How the horses of Preakness get their names [Baltimore Sun]

You said it:

"Reminds me of a slow pitch softball player. If there is such a thing as professional softball, that’s probably where he belongs." -- reader johnnolte322 is not impressed with Mark Reynolds

Video of the morning: 

Maryland busted out the hidden ball trick in Sunday's win over North Carolina in the first round of the NCAA lax tournament

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.