Corey Patterson

Orioles manager Dave Trembley has effectively kept his composure throughout this train wreck of a season, answering the same questions day after day about his club's inability to win close games, hit in clutch spots, keep key players healthy and stay away from mental mistakes that continually haunt the team. After Sunday's 4-3, 10-inning loss to the Washington Nationals, Trembley's frustration -- and perhaps the pressure of being on the hot seat as his club enters a day off with a majors-worst 14-31 record -- boiled over.

Chicago Cubs Record, finish: 89-73, 3rd. Manager: Dusty Baker, 3rd season with Cubs, 13th overall. Payroll: $100 million. Hot seat: Jeromy Burnitz. Leaves altitude of Denver for challenge of replacing Sammy Sosa. Best case: Everything clicks and they become this year's Red Sox. ... Kerry Wood and Mark Prior combine for 38 wins and 450 innings. ... The ill vibe of last season gives way to the sort of "Dustiny" they were feeling in 2003. ... Derrek Lee finally overcomes his April bugaboo and strings six solid months together.

Adam Jones' shoulder discomfort has returned, and this time it's more intense than the pain that kept him out of five games last week. "Before it was just kind of sore," the Orioles' center fielder said. "This is actual pain. " Jones was hit in the back, near his left shoulder, by a Gavin Floyd pitch on Aug. 24. He didn't play again until Tuesday. In the fifth inning Wednesday, Jones swung at a Jon Lester pitch and immediately winced. He ending up striking out, and didn't hit again.

Once again, there was frustration emanating from Camden Yards on Sunday afternoon, a manager wondering whether his club could reach any lower and a star player publicly searching for answers to the continual losing. But take solace Orioles fans, pop the corks, in fact, because all that head shaking was going on in the visitors' clubhouse. After the Orioles' 4-3 win against the regional rival Washington Nationals, the home clubhouse was filled with the suddenly common blaring of rock and country music -- a sound perhaps nearly as sweet to the beleaguered Orioles as the "sweeeep" chant from the announced crowd of 22,951 in the ninth inning.

JUPITER, Fla. -- Melvin Mora was expected to be in the Orioles' lineup against the Florida Marlins yesterday, but those plans changed about two hours before the first pitch, when manager Sam Perlozzo learned that the third baseman wasn't even with the team. An apparent mix-up led Mora to stay in Fort Lauderdale yesterday morning to work out and take batting practice. Perlozzo said Mora probably misread the travel sheet posted inside the clubhouse and didn't realize he was playing in yesterday's exhibition, although the manager hadn't spoken to the player as of yesterday afternoon to get an explanation.

If the Orioles don't trade for a young center fielder in the coming weeks, they will likely turn their attention to last year's Opening Day starter, Corey Patterson. "I have had discussions with his representative, Scott Boras, and they are familiar with our interest," Orioles president Andy MacPhail said. "We have agreed we will touch base a little later." A month ago, it seemed unlikely Patterson, 28, would return to Baltimore. The Orioles hadn't pursued him, and a half-dozen teams were actively searching for a starting center fielder.

David Hernandez felt no pain in his throwing shoulder during a side session on Tuesday, meaning he will make his scheduled start Friday in Washington. "It went really good," said Hernandez, who had his start Sunday skipped because of a pinching discomfort in his right shoulder.  "I threw what I'd normally throw in any given side day. I had no pain, so that's good. The Orioles expected Hernandez to miss just one start, but wanted to make sure Hernandez was pain-free.

As his loss total mounted and his ERA soared, Orioles left-hander Brian Matusz maintained that he still had time to salvage a rookie season that had once held such promise. This was precisely what he had in mind. Matusz authored his second consecutive dominant start and the fourth in his past five outings, allowing just one run in seven innings as the Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-2, on Wednesday night before an announced 23,733 at U.S. Cellular Field. Matusz held Chicago to just three hits and a walk while striking out five.

Matt Garza's vow that he would "shove it down" the Orioles' throats Friday night proved to be more rhetoric than reality. The Tampa Bay Rays starter's performance was more of a gentle nudge, yet it was still plenty good enough to quiet an Orioles team that continues to struggle against the American League East. Garza allowed one earned run in 52/3 innings as the Rays dealt the Orioles their third straight defeat, a listless 4-1 decision in front of an announced 13,507 at Camden Yards.

It was another chance to win a series, and another opportunity lost as the Orioles' 6-4 defeat to the Boston Red Sox tonight featured the kind of play that has been mostly absent under the Buck Showalter regime. There was first baseman Ty Wigginton's error that contributed to the five-run second inning by the Red Sox off Brad Bergesen. There was the infield's failure to turn a double play in the eighth on Mike Lowell's groundball, leading to an important Red Sox insurance run a half inning after the Orioles scored four times to get back in the game.