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Orioles reliever Jamie Walker was fined an undisclosed amount Thursday by Major League Baseball for his comments about umpire Angel Hernandez, who called a balk against Walker that negated a pickoff Tuesday in a loss to the Los Angeles Angels. Among other things, Walker said: "I don't know if he had money betting on the game or what, but that's a horses - - call." In a prepared statement, Bob Watson, MLB's vice president of on-field operations, called the comments "an inappropriate, unnecessary attack on umpire Hernandez's professionalism.

Let courts do work Bill Kline The Morning Call Let's get this straight. The people of Arizona elect their legislators and their governor and they in turn establish a law — for Arizona only — that enforces something that already is illegal. And now others across this nation are calling for Major League Baseball to bigfoot the people of Arizona by pulling the 2011 All-Star Game out of Phoenix. What's next? Should baseball pull the Twins out of Minnesota because the Mall of America emits too much carbon dioxide?

Top pitching prospect Dylan Bundy finally got into a major league game Sunday, making his major league debut in a relief appearance in the eighth inning of the series finale between the Orioles and Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Bundy was recalled from Instructional League early Wednesday morning as bullpen insurance after the Orioles needed 18 innings to vanquish the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field. He was not needed that night and there was some speculation that he might not pitch at all during the final two weeks of the regular season.

Wild-card round Friday, both on TBS NL - St. Louis Cardinals at Atlanta Braves, 5:07 p.m. AL - Baltimore Orioles at Texas Rangers, 8:37 p.m.   Division Series All games on TBS Saturday ALDS Game 1 - Oakland Athletics at Detroit Tigers, 6:07 p.m. NLDS Game 1 - Cincinnati Reds at San Francisco Giants, 9:37 p.m. Sunday ALDS Game 1 - New York Yankees at Baltimore/Texas NLDS Game 1 - Washington Nationals...

Orioles designated hitter Luke Scott understands the purpose behind Major League Baseball's recent directive prohibiting guns and other deadly weapons from clubhouses, and said he'll abide by it. He just doesn't agree with the ban. "I don't think that everyone else should be pay for the mistakes of a few," said Scott, one of baseball's most vocal gun rights proponents. "There is a good reason behind the rule, I can't deny that. The reason is you cannot trust 25 guys in a locker room to have the same respect and training as I do with a weapon.

Major League Baseball has not made an official ruling regarding Mark Reynolds' umpire-bashing comments in Detroit as of early this afternoon. A decision should come today or tomorrow. It is expected that Reynolds will be fined but not suspended. Reynolds went off on the umpires following Friday's game after he was ejected for tossing his glove to the ground when an out call at first was overturned. To paraphrase, he said there should be more accountability from umpires, that they didn't take their mistakes seriously enough and that he felt, at times, they were purposely against the Orioles.

A second Orioles minor-league catcher has been suspended for violating the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Progam. Michael Ohlman received a 50-game suspension for his second violation of the drug policy, the office of the commissioner of baseball announced Tuesday. The suspension was for a drug of abuse, which means it was not for use of a performance-enhancing drug. This spring, catcher Brian Ward also received a 50-game suspension. Ohlman's suspension will begin immediately, but he is currently recovering from a shoulder injury sustained during an automobile accident during spring training.

Orioles first baseman Mark Reynolds has been fined an undisclosed amount of money for his comments following his ejection Friday in Detroit , according to an industry source. But he will not be suspended, which the Orioles had feared after Reynolds ripped the umpiring crew's credibility when it overturned an out call at first base in the fifth inning. Reynolds was pulled off first by a difficult Manny Machado throw, but replays showed that Reynolds appeared to hang onto the base for a moment before lunging forward.

Amid indications that an agreement may be at hand, Orioles owner Peter Angelos traveled to New York yesterday for another meeting with Major League Baseball president Bob DuPuy. Angelos has been negotiating with baseball since September over how the Orioles will be financially protected from the effects of sharing the Baltimore-Washington market for the first time in 34 years after MLB relocated the Montreal Expos to the nation's capital. Angelos, reached on the train on his way back to Baltimore, declined to comment on yesterday's talks.

Negotiators for the Orioles and Major League Baseball spent all of yesterday trying to finish an agreement that would compensate the team for the losses it expects because of the new competition it faces, but no deal was reached. "We continue to negotiate, and we'll be back at it in the morning," MLB president Bob DuPuy said last night. "I continue to be optimistic." Orioles owner Peter Angelos declined to comment. The talks recently have centered on a resale value guarantee for the Orioles - said to be about $365 million - and around how much the Orioles Television Network would pay to the Washington Nationals for the rights to show their games.