Bowie

The Bowie Baysox will shell out $20,000 to repair Prince George's Stadium after the storm on June 29 damaged parts of the ballpark, according to a report by the Gazette of Montgomery County. The damages are largely cosmetic, but the outfield wall in right-centerfield is visibly caved in. In addition, three tents along the concourse were damaged, including one that was completely destroyed. The Baysox have been able to play home games since the storm, despite what general manager Brian Shallcross called the “the most damage that we've had.” The Gazette reported that repairs for the outfield wall were planned to begin on Tuesday, and the tents are scheduled to be repaired or replaced later this month.

The problem with talent like Manny Machado's is it's hard to accept that it can sometimes fail. And baseball is a game of failure. Machado, recently ranked the ninth-best prospect in the minors by Baseball America, represented the Orioles on Sunday during the MLB Futures Game, going 1-for-3 with two RBIs. And same as any other time Machado plays, expectations were high. "People come out and expect Superman instead of looking at a guy who's a baseball player," said Gary Kendall, Machado's manager with the Double-A Bowie Baysox.

Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis (wrist surgery), playing in his first minor-league rehab game on Saturday, hit two homers for Double-A Bowie in a 7-1 win over Akron. Markakis, who batted second and started in right field, was 2-for-3 with three runs scored and four RBIs. He struck out looking against Akron knuckleballer Steven Wright, then hit a 3-0 pitch from Wright in his second at-bat for a two-run home run in the third inning. In the seventh, he hit a two-run homer off reliever Tyler Sturdevant.

The knock on Orioles right-hander Chris Tillman had been his inability to work deep into his starts. Even in his best moments at Triple-A Norfolk this season, Tillman's high pitch counts raised doubt whether he'd be able to give the Orioles the quality innings they need at the major league level. The 24-year-old Tillman took it as a challenge. Called up to make his first major league start in nearly 11 months, he wanted to show he belonged after spending most of the previous three seasons moving back and forth between Baltimore and the minors.

It seemed to be a a well-timed coincidence when Manny Machado went 3-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs on Thursday, the day he and Dylan Bundy were named to the All-Star Futures Game in Kansas City. But the Orioles' top position prospect has remained hot, and he continues to raise what had been a disappointing set of numbers that followed him around for much of the first half of the season. Machado went 2-for-4 with a homer, three RBIs and two runs Tuesday night as Double-A Bowie won, 10-1, at Binghamton.

Orioles reliever Matt Lindstrom, who has been on the disabled list since May 11 with a partially torn ligament in his right middle finger, will pitch two innings at Double-A Bowie on Friday and one inning on Sunday as part of his minor-league rehab stint. If everything goes well, Lindstrom could be activated from the DL as early as Tuesday, when the Orioles host the Los Angeles Angels for two games. Lindstrom, who had a 1.29 ERA in 13 games for the Orioles, allowed one run on two hits in one inning pitched Wednesday for the short-season Class-A Gulf Coast League club.

Almost 50 years after its 1964 Broadway opening, composer Jerry Bock's and lyricist Sheldon Harnick's "Fiddler on the Roof" continues to touch hearts with its hero's adherence to cherished religious traditions. The 40-member cast assembled by 2nd Star director Brian Douglas brings fresh life to the story of dairyman Tevye and his family, playing at Bowie Playhouse in Whitemarsh Park. Having previously co-directed at 2nd Star, Douglas assumes his first full-fledged 2nd Star directing assignment with this production.

A Prince George's County lawmaker used public dollars to pay an employee of her law office after the bank closed her law firm's depleted account, the state prosecutor told a jury Tuesday in opening remarks in the criminal trial of Del. Tiffany Alston. But Alston's attorney countered that the employee did work as a legislative clerk last January for the freshman delegate and that politics are driving the charges. State prosecutors allege that Alston, a Bowie Democrat, paid the employee $800 in state money, and the worker didn't set foot in Alston's office after filling out state employment paperwork.

The long, strange odyssey of Brian Roberts continues. On Sunday, the rehab tour of the Orioles' second baseman had him at Prince George's Stadium, one of those new-ish minor league ballparks that somehow manages to feel like something out of "Bull Durham" at the same time. (My favorite outfield sign juxtaposition: a Wawa billboard showing a huge sub sandwich stuffed with meat under an Anne Arundel Medical Center sign that says "These are the doctors you want. " Wonder if one's a cardiologist?

Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis missed his first game of the season Wednesday night, forced to watch his team's series finale against the Toronto Blue Jaysfrom the dugout with his right hand and wrist wrapped tightly. The extent of Markakis' injury, which occurred on the second-to-last swing of his final at-bat in the Orioles' 8-6 loss to Toronto on Tuesday night, will be known Thursday , when Markakis is scheduled to have an MRI and see a hand specialist in Tampa, Fla. Markakis, who has missed just 10 total games over the past five seasons, is one of the most durable players in the game, but he knew early Wednesday he wouldn't be able to play.