Bats

On the eve of this year's Winter Meetings, Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette re-emphasized that the team's top priority this week is acquiring a middle-of-the-order power bat. Speaking to reporters Sunday night at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center, Duquette said the Orioles are more likely to address that need via trade, but they will continue to monitor the free agent market. Duquette fell short of saying he believed he could work a trade here in Nashville, but he sounded optimistic.

Trayvon Robinson, the 25-year-old outfielder the Orioles received in Tuesday's trade with the Seattle Mariners for infielder Robert Andino, is an intriguing player, though the reality is he may never become a big league regular. The Orioles view him as someone who can battle for the fourth spot in the outfield in 2013. Robinson was called a “veritable toolshed” by Baseball America a few years ago as he was climbing up the ranks in the Los Angeles Dodgers system because of his speed-power-defense potential.

Here's a roundup of what other media outlets are saying about the Orioles' win over the New York Yankees in Game 4 of the American League Division Series and more: ** CBSSports.com's Danny Knobler says that the "fun-loving" Orioles have nothing to lose in Game 5 of the ALDS . They want to win. They even expect to win, no matter what anyone else might say about Game 5 Friday afternoon in the Bronx. But this isn't must-win, not for them. They did that last week in Texas . "I tell you what, that play-in, there's no more stressful game than that," Darren O'Day said.

The Orioles apparently left their bats back in the visitors' clubhouse at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas. They enter tonight's game against the New York Yankees with just six runs in their past three games, which is obviously a pretty big reason why they are trailing the Yankees, 2-1, in the American League Divisional Series. But it's not just that they aren't having any success at the plate. It's which hitters haven't yet come through when they need to. Center fielder Adam Jones, catcher Matt Wieters and shortstop J.J. Hardy are a combined 4-for-38 with six strikeouts in this series.

In 33 years of coaching football, Dean Pees has heard a lot of ideas and theories. One that continues to make him chuckle is the notion that defenses hone their ability to create turnovers by practicing tip drills. “It always kills me when I hear guys commentating on TV talking about strip drills and tip drills. 'Oh, they practice that every day.' We haven't practiced a tip drill in 20 years,” the defensive coordinator said during his weekly media briefing Thursday. “I mean, come on. I mean, first of all, who wants to go out and teach a defensive guy to tip it?

NEW YORK - The Orioles have done the improbable so many times this year that it would be foolhardy to assume that the odds are now stacked so high against them that they cannot get out of Yankee Stadium with their title hopes alive. They have certainly created another situation that calls for more than the usual dose of Oriole Magic. They need to pick themselves off the grass after another painful pinstriped loss and win tonight's Game 4 just to earn the right to stare down Yankees ace C.C. Sabathia in a climactic Division Series-deciding game Friday.

There was some speculation that New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi might drop Alex Rodriguez in Wednesday's lineup because the aging star is 1-for-9 with five strikeouts in the series so far. But the lineups are out and Rodriguez is batting third as the Yankees' designated hitter. “I trust our guys. I am with him every day. I'm with their approach every day and it's important that they trust me,” Girardi said. “We played playoff baseball the whole month of September and the first three days of October and Alex hit third and we won a lot of games with a lineup that we kept consistent … I think there's something to be said for that.” The Orioles lineup has no surprises against right-hander Hiroki Kuroda.

Orioles catcher Matt Wieters, who was away from the team yesterday for the birth of his first child, Maverick Luther, is back with the team. He's in the starting lineup, batting cleanup and catching. Also back is Lew Ford, who had been dealing with a hip injury since Sunday. He will be the team's DH. Here's the Orioles lineup versus the Red Sox on Saturday: McLouth 7, Hardy 6, Jones 8, Wieters 2, Davis 3, Reynolds 3, Machado 5, Ford dh, Andino 4, Steve Johnson 1.

[ Down the stretch is a daily Orioles Insider blog that will set up the coming day for the O's and their American League competition as the push for the postseason continues. ] About last night O's match team record with 7 homers in 12-2 win J.J. Hardy plays through pain in throwing hand Wolf out for season with ulnar collateral tear Showalter: Hammel could pitch in postseason Deion Sanders hangs out with Orioles pregame Veteran Bill Hall called up, takes Wolf's roster spot Wednesday's win in photos Wednesday's full scoreboard AL East Standings NYY       90-65     -- BAL       89-67    1.5 TB         85-70    5 AL Wild-Card Standings BAL          89-67      -- OAK         88-67         -- LAA          86-69      2 TB            85-70      3 CWS         82-73      6 Today's game Off-day   Other games that matter Royals (Mendoza)

With the way the Orioles have mixed and matched this season, bringing in rookies and former All-Stars, once-weres and never-have-beens to form an eclectic group that keeps winning when it's supposed to fall back to reality, perhaps Wednesday's 12-2 pummeling of the Toronto Blue Jays shouldn't have been a surprise. But anytime a club hits three home runs in an inning - including two by players more than 20 years apart in age - and a franchise-tying seven in one game, it's noteworthy, even for this crazy season.