All year, it seems, the Aberdeen IronBirds have had a penchant for late-inning offense and comebacks. The last two nights, the IronBirds have produced walk-off wins at Ripken Stadium. Wednesday, they beat Hudson Valley 7-6, scoring twice in the ninth. Last night, Aberdeen's Kipp Schutz hit a one-out, RBI triple in the bottom of the ninth to tie Hudson Valley 2-2. One inning later, Austin Rauch homered on the second pitch of the last of the tenth for a 3-2 sudden death win. Aberdeen, now...

You can win a lot of games. The O's starting pitching has probably been the biggest reason the Orioles are 11-6 since Buck Showalter took over. The stats say that Orioles starting pitchers had pitched to an ERA of 5.61 before Buck. In the 17 games since he's been with the club, the starters' ERA is 2.82. It's been quite a roll for the O's starters: *They have 13 quality starts over the last 17 games. *They have pitched six innings or more in 15 of the 17 games and have gone seven...

Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg has made a statement with his pitching. He also made a statement about Bryce Harper before the signing deadline last week that really defines where this team is at right now, how they feel about themselves, and what they expect people outside the organization to think about the Nats: "If he wants to play here, then he is going to play here," Strasburg said. "He doesn't need any advice from anybody. You don't need to convince him otherwise. If he...

Potomac Nationals first baseman Tyler Moore continues to have a career year with 28 homers and 102 RBI, guiding the P-Nats to challenge for the Northern Division title in the second half of the season. The franchise record for RBI is 113 by Troy Farnsworth in 2000. Moore has 16 games remaining to break that record. It is hard to believe this is the same guy that was hitting .195 almost three months into the season. Since then, he has hit 18 homers and won the Carolina Player of the Week...

Before closing my laptop for the final time tonight, I wanted to pass along some quotes from Brian Matusz following tonight's gem. You might recall that Matusz was 1-1 with a 10.95 ERA in three career starts against the Rangers before tonight. In two outings this year, both in Arlington, he pitched into the third inning in one and finished three in another. That's it. "It definitely felt good out there today, especially coming off two bad outings against Texas this year," he said. "I...

Harrisburg Senators second baseman Steve Lombardozzi is off to an outstanding start following his promotion to Double-A last week. Lombardozzi is hitting .346 with two doubles in his first seven games for Harrisburg, after hitting .293 with 71 runs and 38 RBI for Potomac. His manager at Potomac, Gary Cathcart, says Lombardozzi is pretty special. "He is probably as focused a minor league player that I have seen at any level in all my years of coaching. "He is 21. The thing I would say...

Ty Wigginton didn't want to elaborate on his altercation, if you want to describe it as such, with the Rangers' Andres Blanco. No sense inciting the players in the visiting clubhouse. We still have three more games left in this series. "The guy did a nice piece of hitting, got the ball in the gap and thought he was going to make a triple and we had a nice relay and he was out," Wigginton said. How big was the play? "There's nobody out and the guy hits the ball in the gap. You've got a...

Not only did the Orioles string together three straight starts of eight innings or more for the first time since May 2005, it's only the second time that the club has accomplished the feat in the 2000s. "I guarantee those guys in the clubhouse want to try to make it four," manager Buck Showalter said. "They're trying to pass the baton now and give us a chance to win. I think this time of year, to see guys getting a little stronger instead of going in the other direction is really...

Nationals right-hander Garrett Mock battled Erie through five innings, scattering six hits, allowing four runs, two walks and no strikeouts in his first rehab start at Double-A since neck surgery in late April. Mock took the loss as Erie won the game 5-3. Mock had done very well at Single-A with Potomac and Hagerstown, compiling an 0-1 record with a 3.27 ERA, 12 strikeouts and just one walk. How Jason Marquis does Friday night for the Nats against the Phillies may go a long way in deciding...

This time, Brian Matusz got the better of the Texas Rangers. In two starts earlier this year, Matusz had allowed 11 ER and 14 hits over 5 1/3 vs. Texas for an ERA of 18.56. His career ERA over three starts vs. Texas was 10.95. Those numbers will come down now after Matusz pitched eight shutout innings vs. the AL West leaders Thursday night as the Orioles beat Texas 4-0 to start a four-game series. The Orioles turned two double plays and made several nice plays behind him as he gave up just...