Orioles

The Orioles played one of their better all-around games of the young season Sunday, using three homers and strong pitching to shut out the Minnesota Twins, 6-0, while capturing their ninth series victory in 12 opportunities. And yet the Orioles fly out of Minnesota for an extended homestand with the potential of losing their most consistent starting pitcher - Taiwanese lefty Wei-Yin Chen - for a few weeks. “I don't even want to think about it,” said Orioles first baseman Chris Davis.

Here's what umpire crew chief Gerry Davis told me about the delay on today's replay review on Rays right fielder Matt Joyce's eventual home run ball in the Orioles' 3-1 loss to the Rays: "[Orioles manager] Buck [Showalter] wanted to know whether the ball was, in fact, fair. We got together as a crew to discuss whether the ball was fair or foul, whether any of us had anything differently than [first-base ump Dan Iassogna] had. We did not. So the ruling on the field was that it was a fair ball in play.

It was about this time last year - give or take a week - that it became apparent the Orioles had undergone some kind of karmic transformation. The exact date was May 6, 2012 and the team was at Fenway Park. Nobody has to tell a real fan the rest. Chris Davis came out of right field and shut out the Boston Red Sox for two innings. Adam Jones launched a three-run homer in the 17th to carry the Orioles back into first place in the American League East. That was the point in their turnaround season when everybody realized something really special was taking place.

Danny Valencia, who was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk before Sunday's game, contributed immediately in his first start in an Orioles uniform. In his first at-bat Sunday, Valencia opened the second inning with a double off Rays starter Matt Moore. In his third at-bat, he hit a deep fly ball that Showalter said would have been a home run at Norfolk's Harbor Park. “He had some good swings off a tough left-hander,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “It's kind of the resume he brings, so hopefully we'll see him again tomorrow and see how he does.” Valencia was hitting .306/.339/.600 in 40 games at Triple-A Norfolk, including a .356/.375/.991 stretch with seven homers, 13 runs and 17 RBIs in his last 10 games.

Advertisements praising Maryland's new gun control law will appear on Baltimore-area televisions soon after the measure is signed Thursday - the first volley in a two-pronged effort to defend the legislation and the politicians who voted for it. The gun control advocates behind the ads want to bolster support among Maryland voters in case there's a referendum next year. But they also want to counter a campaign to oust lawmakers who backed the bill in the General Assembly. "We know that the other side will be attacking the legislators who voted for it, and we want people to know those legislators were doing the right thing to save lives in Maryland," said Vincent DeMarco, president of Marylanders to Prevent Gun Violence.

The Orioles' top position player prospect, Jonathan Schoop, was placed on the seven-day minor league disabled list Thursday with a lower back strain. The 21-year-old Schoop, who raised his stock after strong offseason performances in the Arizona Fall League and the World Baseball Classic, is hitting .268/.331/.386 with three homers and 18 RBIs in 34 games at Triple-A Norfolk. The injury isn't expected to be serious. Schoop is the Orioles' No. 3 prospect according to Baseball America behind pitchers Dylan Bundy and Kevin Gausman.

SEATTLE - When Orioles rookie phenom Manny Machado lined a RBI double in the seventh inning Sunday against the Oakland Athletics, he ignited an important rally for the Orioles, again demonstrating his value to the bottom third of the team's lineup. His next at-bat in the eighth, his 131st since his surprise Aug. 9 call-up from Double-A Bowie, represented something a little more disappointing for Orioles fans. It pretty much guaranteed that the 20-year-old third baseman will not become the club's first American League Rookie of the Year since pitcher Gregg Olson in 1989.

May 12 has been a pretty important day for left-hander Mike Belfiore. Last year, on May 12, Belfiore was traded to the Orioles as the player to be named later in the deal that sent infielder Josh Bell to Arizona. And on Sunday, he was called up from Triple-A Norfolk to provide bullpen insurance after consecutive four-inning outings by Orioles starters. So Belfiore stepped into a big league clubhouse for his potential debut one year to the day of joining the organization. “It's pretty crazy because last year at this time I got traded the exact same day,” said the 24-year-old Belfiore.

MINNEAPOLIS - Dating back to last season, the Orioles often have struggled offensively when they can't hit the longball. On Friday, in a 9-6, 10-inning victory over the Minnesota Twins, they flourished despite not going quite deep enough. That's what happens when you get a season-high 18 hits and seven of your nine batters have at least two hits apiece, the first time the Orioles have done that since exactly two years ago -- May 10, 2011 against Seattle. Instead of homering on Friday, the Orioles smacked a season-high seven doubles, including four in a three-run sixth and two more in a three-run seventh to wipe out a 6-0 deficit.

This may come as a surprise to loyal Orioles fans, but the club is going to make a roster move on Sunday. I was kidding about the surprise part. The Orioles' Norfolk Express, which in the last three weeks has brought Josh Stinson, Zach Britton, Luis Exposito, Zach Clark, Steve Johnson, Freddy Garcia and Alex Burnett (twice), will be running again Sunday morning. Technically, the reliever that will be called up will be coming from Syracuse, where the Tides are this weekend.

Last season, Orioles manager Buck Showalter had the base of the right-field foul pole at Camden Yards painted black in order to help discern balls in play from home runs. Most stadiums have a yellow line on the top of the wall that serves as a marker in cases where there could be doubt. Camden Yards doesn't, and on most days here, you'll never notice. In the Orioles' 3-1 loss to Tampa Bay on Sunday afternoon, that anonymous nook of the ballpark was the point of focus in front of an announced 37,704 at Camden Yards.

The Orioles will try to snap their season-high four-game losing streak and salvage the series finale against Tampa Bay today at Camden Yards. This is the first time the Orioles have lost five straight games at home since June 28 to July 15, 2011 and it is the first time they've began a homestand with four straight losses wince April 9-14, 2010. The Orioles haven't been swept here at Camden Yards since the second series of the season last year, April 9-11 against the Yankees. Two of those losses came in extra innings.

In the end, the umpires got the call right. But it sure took long enough. And a rough five-game homestand for the Orioles got even rougher in the sixth inning Sunday when Tampa Bay's Matt Joyce hit a soaring fly ball down the right field line in the Rays' eventual 3-1 win. That's when all the fun started. Actually, it was only fun if your idea of a good time is a long game delay while both managers and all four umpires yak endlessly about whether Joyce's shot was a foul ball, a double or a homer.

May 23, 1991: Mired in last place, the Orioles fire manager Frank Robinson and promote Johnny Oates, 45, the team's first base coach and a former Baltimore player. Oates will manage nearly four years here (291 wins and 270 losses) before going to Texas, where he is named 1996 American League Manager of the Year. May 25, 1985: Del Dressel's three goals lead Johns Hopkins past Syracuse, 11-4, for the NCAA lacrosse championship. The four goals by the Orangemen are the fewest allowed in a title game, a mark that will stand until 2012.

The Orioles announced after Saturday's 10-6 loss to the Tampa Bay rays that they optioned infielder Ryan Flaherty to Triple-A Norfolk. Flaherty, 26, was hitting .133 with a .228 on-base percentage and a .233 slugging percentage in 90 at-bats over 30 games for the Orioles this season. He had two homers and six RBIs. Flaherty appeared in Saturday's game as a defensive replacement. The Orioles recalled Yamaico Navarro from Norfolk on Tuesday and he started the past two games at second base.

Right-handed hitter Danny Valencia has been called up from Triple-A Norfolk and will be with the Orioles at Camden Yards on Sunday, according to an industry source. The 28-year-old, who did not play for the Tides on Saturday, is batting .306 with 11 home runs and 35 RBIs in 40 games this season. In his past 10 games, Valencia is batting .356 with seven home runs and 17 RBIs. He hit two home runs last Tuesday against Lehigh Valley.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Orioles rookie T.J. McFarland, who has transitioned nicely from a starter in the minors to a long reliever in the majors, had never pitched in back-to-back games in his professional career. That changed this week when he pitched a scoreless inning Thursday at Camden Yards against the Kansas City Royals and then 2 2/3 scoreless innings against the Twins at Target Field on Friday. "He's kind of done it before, but not in a game," manager Buck Showalter said. "[Pitching coach Rick Adair]

The Orioles announced today that they will wear the above patch on their jerseys throughout this season in honor of Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver, who died last month at age 82 . The team will also honor Weaver with a pregame moment of silence and video tribute before Saturday's Grapefruit League opener against the Minnesota Twins at Ed Smith Stadium. In addition, Weaver's No. 4 will be stenciled onto the grass outside of the Orioles dugout in foul territory.    

Jim Johnson has now blown two consecutive saves after finishing off 35 straight in the regular season dating back to last July. My take: No big deal. Johnson is exceptionally reliable. But he isn't perfect. It was a little disconcerting that he walked two in a row Saturday night, I'll give you that, but it happens. Johnson has been successful because he throws strikes and allows the defense behind him -- mainly the infielders -- to do its work. He gave up four singles in his blown save Tuesday.

Frankly, Jason Hammel has been playing with fire all season. The Orioles' Opening Day starter hasn't been crisp - honest-to-goodness smooth and effortless like in early 2012 - at all in nine starts. Sure, he beat the Tampa Bay Rays on Opening Day in a quality start (three runs in six innings) and then beat himself up afterward for not having good command. Then there were his six innings without an earned run against Oakland on April 25 in which he threw only 59 of his 104 pitches for strikes, but got away with a lot of mistakes.