Last night, the Orioles returned home to Camden Yards start a nine-game homestand and defeated the Tampa Bay Rays, 5-4.

Jake Arrieta had another typical start on the mound; however, despite walking five batters, he struck out seven and gave up a run in six innings. Watching the game last night on MASN, I figured he was headed for disaster early as he gave up a leadoff home run to start things; furthermore, he was all over the plate last night and seemed to have little control of his pitches.

By a small miracle, he managed to get his first victory of the season Tuesday night. I wonder how long of a leash Arrieta will get if his struggles continue on the mound. Pretty much everyone in baseball knows he has the goods to be a very good pitcher; however, if Arrieta can’t be consistent as a pitcher with the Orioles and put it all together, there will be others to replace him soon.

Then again, he did battle through his start and hold the Rays to only a run during his stint on the mound. I also don’t think Arrieta – if he keeps up his shaky performances – could possibly be as lucky as he was on Tuesday.

The offense bailed out Arrieta as the offense came through early and Matt Wieters’ home run broke a 1-1 tie in the second inning. The Orioles seemed well on their way to victory, as they held a 5-1 lead heading into the eighth inning; however, reliever Pedro Strop nearly wiped that way.

Like Arrieta, Strop is another guy who has the goods to be a successful pitcher, but seemingly cannot put things together for a stretch. He nearly blew the lead for the Orioles as he gave up home runs to Kelly Johnson and Evan Longoria in the eighth inning; however, Brian Matusz and Darren O’Day helped closed out the frame.

Jim Johnson would earn his sixth save of the season and help the Orioles to a 7-6 record on the season by closing out the ninth inning.

Manny Machado, Nick Markakis and Ryan Flaherty each drove in runs.   

Finally, the eyes of the world are on New England as the city of Boston – and the surrounding region – is trying to overcome the horrible events of Monday.

I personally think at the times people read way too much of what happens in sports and how it correlates with healing tragic events on a personal, as well as a public scale; however, it can serve as a diversion and bring people who sometimes share little in common aside from their pain together.

Although I don’t care for Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline”, it was touching that the New York Yankees and other teams around the majors last night played that particular song to show solidarity with the city of Boston.

Of course, the Boston Red Sox have since 2002 traditionally played that song at Fenway Park during the latter half of their games.

Speaking from personal tragedy I’ve endured in the past two years with passing of friends and loved ones, sports does not heal the pain of loss, but softens it – for a little while.

Life will go on, and there will always be trials and tribulations to face; however, sports will be there for us. From time to time, events - no matter how insignificant they are in the grand scheme of life brings us together.

Naturally, many people want to know how and why something like what happened on Monday would ever take place?

The next few hours, days, months and perhaps years, we'll try to rationalize the unfathomable.

Speaking from experience, you many never ever know.

Sometimes, there are no answers.

For those affected by this tragedy, my heart is with you.

After the first 12 games of the season the Orioles sit at 6-6. Their record is such after a lackluster performance in the Bronx that was capped off by a disappointing showing on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.

One could make the argument that the Orioles should have taken that series. One could make the argument that they have no business losing to a much weaker version of the Yankees. One could make the argument that the Orioles are sputtering out of the gate and need to find consistency and quickly.

One could make all of those arguments, but please “One” – keep your head about you.

Since the Orioles’ magical 2012 has come to an end the ever present fatalist streak of the Orioles fan is back. Every miscue, every bobble, every loss seems to send a certain segment of the population into the full-on howling fatnods. Kids, I am here to tell you it is way too early to look into anything you are seeing right now. 

The Orioles are 6-6, so it goes. They have won some important games, they have lost some bad games. They have lost a game they should have won (game two in TB); they have given away some games on bad defense or poor hitting, and sometimes they just got beat. Chen last night just got out-pitched. Sure, wail on about how he tires too early – maybe, but the problem last night was not a perceived inability to go deeper into a game, no rather it was the offense scoring him zero runs.

Chen has given up five earned runs in his two starts. He is 0-2. That really isn’t his fault. Huroki Kuroda is a good pitcher that had pretty filfthy stuff last night. He was impressive, sometimes in this game you are on the other side of a performance like that. It will happen to your team, they will get shutout.

It was game 12 people.

My suggestion, take a breath and don’t look at every game as being so ridiculously important. We are in the part of the season where the first month could easily mean nothing by October. Still, my advice is to chill out and enjoy the games right now. Let’s re-evaluate the team at the end of the month. Who is hot? Who is struggling? Matt Wieters had a great first week, but an awful road trip. Davis and Jones continue to tear it up. Machado looks to be getting comfy. Flaherty has been abysmal, and no starter has made it to the seventh inning. If all of those things are still happening in a couple weeks, then you may have some more legitimate concerns. Until then Orioles fan, calm the heck down would you? 

From the Orioles...

***

"A Celebration of Earl" moved to 6:00 p.m. on April 20

In an effort to allow more fans to honor EARL WEAVER, the greatest manager in the history of the franchise, the Orioles have announced that "A Celebration of Earl" will now begin at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 20 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The memorial was previously scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m.

"A Celebration of Earl" will include a video tribute and a collection of notable guest speakers, including JIM PALMER, BROOKS ROBINSON, FRANK ROBINSON, BUCK SHOWALTER, National Baseball Hall of Fame President JEFF IDELSON and Earl's son, MIKE WEAVER.

One of six Orioles Legends to receive his own larger-than-life bronze sculpture at the ballpark last season, Weaver passed away in January at the age of 82. The Orioles are wearing a patch on their right uniform sleeve throughout the season in honor of the legendary manager. Fans are encouraged to visit www.orioles.com/4earl to share their memories of Weaver.

From the Baltimore Orioles...

***

The Orioles and Major League Baseball Launch 5th Annual Honorary Bat Girl Contest

Fans encouraged to submit nominees before April 22 deadline

The Orioles are proud to support Major League Baseball in the launch of the 5^th annual Honorary Bat Girl Contest designed to celebrate the stories of fans who are "going to bat against breast cancer."  The club invites Orioles fans to join in spreading awareness and support for the breast cancer cause by making nominations and voting in the contest to determine who will be this year's Honorary Bat Girl at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

All fans of the Orioles who are age 18 and older are encouraged to submit stories about how they, or someone they know, are "going to bat against breast cancer" in their daily lives and why they would like to be an "Honorary Bat Girl" when the Orioles take on the San Diego Padres on Tuesday, May 14 at 7:05 p.m. The winner will receive two tickets to the game, the opportunity to throw out the ceremonial first pitch, a Louisville Slugger Pink Bat engraved with the winner's name, a commemorative package including a jersey, pink wrist bands and pink decals, and the opportunity to watch batting practice from the field.

Submissions for nominations can be made until April 22 at www.HonoraryBatGirl.com. A winner will be selected based on criteria including originality, quality of writing, demonstration of commitment to breast cancer awareness and a public vote. Past contests have resulted in thousands of unique story submissions, over four million votes and countless inspired fans. The Orioles are proud to stand with all women, men and families affected by breast cancer.

The Honorary Bat Girl contest was developed to raise additional awareness and support for the annual Going to Bat Against Breast Cancer program, a joint program between MLB and Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world's largest breast cancer organization.

After a hiccup this weekend with Minnesota Twins, where they lost two out of three games, the Orioles hit the road and faced the Boston Red Sox this week.

Fans of the Orioles were worried that the 2013 Orioles were starting to look like the team circa 2011 and further back; however, they figured out at Fenway Park and took two out of three games from the Red Sox.

The offense fell silent on Tuesday as Wei-Yin Chen put forth a workman’s effort on the mound, but one pitch in the seventh inning – to Daniel Nava, who would then hit a three-run homer – changed everything for the Birds.

They would take the next two games, as the offense and bullpen came together in the latter stages of the game. Two men, who we all know – Adam Jones and Chris Davis – supplied much in the firepower in the three-game set.

Davis hit two more homers – one on Wednesday and Thursday - and Jones looks like a man possessed at the plate. Both men seem to be in some kind of zone, and although they are known for striking out in large numbers, they have not done much of that at late. They are making contact and being put into situations where they can succeed, coming through in the clutch when needed – so far.

Jones is scorching at the plate. He is 18 for 39, batting .432 with 10 RBIs and 11 runs scored.

And Davis … he is batting .400 with six home runs and 16 RBIs right now. He has three hits – two homers – in the last five games.

I know most of us whined and complained about the lack of moves made in the offseason, but it looks to be that Jones and Davis have improved greatly at the plate.

Then again, the season is barely two weeks old, but right now I feel very, very good about this team right now. The division is wide open and really no one in the division right now is making me say, “wow”.

You can only conclude so much from only nine games with any team, but it still feels weird after all these years to see the Orioles as contenders and not wallflowers.

It’s funny to see the Orioles now as peers with the Red Sox and Yankees rather than being bullied around by them.

The New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles meet for the first time since the American League Division series. It’s still early on in the season; however, if the Orioles can take the series – or better yet, sweep the Yankees – it will give them a lot of momentum heading into the rest of April.

The Yankees are without many of their stars, but they have managed to play to a 4-4 record.

They are weakened, but I truly believe they cannot be taken lightly as they still have solid starting – and let’s face it: they are still the *Yankees*.

New York ace C.C. Sabathia faces the totally unflappable Miguel Gonzalez tonight in the Bronx. It is supposed to be a soggy, chilly, grey weekend, however, let’s hope all the games can be played.

As we all know by now, Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis has a torrid – as well as historic – start to the 2013 season.

Over the past few seasons, he has become not only a star, but an endearing presence to the Orioles fan base not only because of his freakish power and six-foot-three physique, but his ever-improving ability at the plate.

The baseball world saw that during the first four games of the season and brought Davis and the Orioles a lot of positive attention. It seemed that Davis single-handedly willed the Orioles to three wins as he hit four home runs and plated in 16, including a dramatic eighth-inning grand slam in the home opener.

In that period, Davis made baseball look like a video game and literally a one-man team.

The burly slugger made what should be a very, very hard game that most utterly fail at look easy.

For his efforts, he was named the American League Player of the week on Tuesday afternoon.

Davis once again delivered at the plate as he hit a ninth-inning homer that helped to spark a five-run rally and helped the Orioles defeat the Red Sox, 8-5, last night in Boston.

Overall, this season, he has five home runs and 18 RBIs in eight games; in addition, he has struck out only once.

>>> Read More

Chris Davis was the talk of the baseball word this week as he perhaps single-handedly helped the Orioles win three games in the first full week of the season. His run so far has been historic and a delight for us as Orioles' fans to see.

Well, this afternoon, he was rewarded for those efforts...

***

From the Baltimore Orioles:

Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles named the American League Player of the Week

Baltimore Orioles first baseman Chris Davis has been named the American League Player of the Week for his historic performance during the period ending April 7th. This marks Chris' second career weekly honor, having split the final award of the 2012 season with Detroit Tigers ace Justin Verlander on October 1st. Hall of Famer Eddie Murray was the last Oriole to win consecutive Player of the Week honors, accomplishing the feat on September 13th and September 20th in 1981. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.

Davis batted .455 (10-for-22) with three doubles, four home runs, 17 RBI and five runs scored in six games. For the week, the lefty-hitting slugger led all Major League hitters in RBI and slugging percentage (1.136) and was second overall in total bases (25). Among A.L. batters, Chris tied for second in homers, was fifth in batting average and was tied for sixth in on-base percentage (.500).

In Tuesday's season-opening tilt between Baltimore and the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field, Davis launched a three-run homer to cap a five-run seventh inning as the Orioles went on to defeat the Rays, 7-4. With two runners on and two outs in the inning, the 27-year-old deposited the first pitch he saw into the right-field seats to give the O's a four-run advantage en route to their first win of the year. The Longview, Texas native continued to swing a hot bat on Wednesday, notching a career-high-tying four hits, including two doubles, a homer and four RBI, but his offensive exploits were not enough as the Rays edged the Orioles, 8-7. Davis, a product of Navarro College (Corsicana, Texas), blasted a three-run homer in the first inning, lined a run-scoring single in the sixth and doubled and scored in the eighth in the loss. On April 4th, the fifth round pick in the 2006 First-Year Player Draft (by Texas) went 2-for-3 with a double, a homer and four RBI as Baltimore defeated Tampa Bay, 6-3, in the rubber match of their three-game set. In Baltimore's home opener against the Minnesota Twins on Friday, the sixth-year veteran crushed a grand slam in the eighth inning to break a 5-5 tie as the O's went on to win, 9-5, at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. After his 2-for-4, five-RBI night on Friday, Davis had more RBI (16) than 17 Major League Clubs. In addition, he became the first Oriole and fourth Major Leaguer to homer in each of the first four games of a season (also Willie Mays in 1971, Mark McGwire in 1998 and Nelson Cruz in 2011) and, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, he was the first Major Leaguer with a home run and at least three RBI in each of four consecutive games - at any point in a season - since Bill Dickey accomplished the feat over five straight games for the New York Yankees in June 1937.

Other noteworthy performances included Seattle's Mike Morse (5 HR, 8 RBI); Boston's Will Middlebrooks (3 HR vs. Toronto on April 7th) and Jon Lester (2-0, 1.50 ERA, 13 SO); Cleveland's Mark Reynolds (4 HR, 7 RBI); and Yu Darvish (2-0, 1.98 ERA, 20 SO, allowed 1 H in 8.2 IP on April 2nd at Houston) of the Rangers.

In recognition of his American League Player of the Week Award, Chris Davis will be awarded a watch courtesy of Game Time, the leader in licensed sports watches, available at MLB.com.

On Sunday night, a couple friends and I decided to watch the replay of the Orioles game at my place.

We had a gathering of five – including a couples – and we sat around, drank a bit and chilled out. There was nothing on television that night for a while, and since we were waiting to watch the season premiere of AMC’s “Mad Men”, we just wanted to kill time.

Well, we were watching a game we knew the results of already; however, it was painful to see again.

While sitting down, we came to the portion of the game that might was a sight for sore eyes.

The Adam Jones misplay in the third inning. We all know what happened. Although the Orioles still had the lead, 3-2, at the end of the frame, it was a sign of trouble ahead.

One of women in the group remarked, “boys, boys, boys…”

It was her way of saying, “what the hell is going on?”

“How could HE make that mistake?”

It was juat galling to see a Gold-Glove outfielder that make type of mistake in the field.

For much of the weekend, Jones was the anthesis on how I felt about this team.

The Orioles seemed to be playing on the margins during their series with the Minnesota Twins, as they coughed up two of three games. The sad thing is they could have won every game after their Friday home opener.

As of now, the Orioles are 3-3.

They could easily be 5-1; however, much like what we have seen in the past decade, the Orioles have managed to give away games they could have won.

Sunday’s game was a prime example of what I just mentioned with the Jones misplay in the outfield, pitcher Jason Hammel walking batters at inopportune times (especially during the two-run seventh inning for the Twins, which decided the game) and not scoring runs when needed.

The Orioles – as we know – put forth an amazing run in 2012. We all know that they had a ridiculous record in one-run games, going 29-9 during the last season.

Right now in one-run games, they are 0-3.

Their record in those contests was somewhat of an aberration, but they all counted and propelled them to magical run.

However, this season, mistakes have cost them. There are only 156 games left in the season and the Orioles are certainly a better team than what we have seen this weekend.

When it comes down to it, you have to beat the teams you need to. The Orioles should have taken two games during the weekend series, and Twins are not that good – on paper.

Of course, the Twins are a professional baseball team and they made fewer mistakes than the Orioles on Saturday and Sunday.

Hopefully, the Bird will turn the tide this week as the face the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees on a six-game road trip.

If the Orioles are to compete, they know – as we do – that mistakes like what happened on Sunday with Jones will cost them in the long run.

Well, if there was any good news to come from the weekend, baseball is back in Baltimore and is a bigger sports town than ever. Opening Day was sold out, but 40,000 plus showed up on Saturday and close to 35,000 on Sunday.

Good job.

Now, the Orioles just have to keep everyone’s interest and win.

Once again Opening Da has come to Baltimore. There are few things in the world like Opening Day. There simply are not many annual events that take place that legitimately feel different every year. Even one’s birthday, over time, rings hollow at points but not Opening Day.

Every year a new Opening Day brings with is a new set of possibilities that may unfold. E very Opening Day brings with it the hopes a winning season; the playoffs, or even a championship. That is what makes it so great, the promise of a new year; the promise of another Summer of memories. And in a world of broken dreams, it is a promise that is virtually impossible to break.

The Orioles opened the 2013 season like they did last year, on the road. The delayed home opener gives us fans a chance to catch a glimpse of what our summer hopefully has in store. The Orioles took two of three from the Rays in three very hard-fought, extremely entertaining, baseball games. The story of the series was Chris Davis, the Orioles’ first baseman and default middle-of-the-order bat. If there was anyone doubting the ability of Chris Davis to be that middle-of-the-order-guy Davis has announced his presence with authority by hitting a homerun in each of the three opening games against the Rays. The only way he could top it would be to hit a game-winning grand slam at the home opener.

Chris Davis, of course, did just that. He hit a grand slam to take the lead in the bottom of the eighth inning during the home opener. Davis has hit four homers in four games and has hit a homer in each of his last 11 games dating back to last year’s regular season. Now, it is absolutely absurd to think Davis could sustain anything in the same solar system as this pace, but he has definitely proved that he is the “bat” that so many felt the Orioles needed to obtain.

Jake Arrieta started today, his third home opener in a row, and it was a frustratingly typical Arrieta start. Jake gave up five runs and seven hits over five innings, but in true Arreita fashion four of the five runs came in one pretty bad inning. The top of the fourth undid Arrieta; Jake gave up a double and a walk to start the inning. He rebounded to get two very impressive strike-outs before giving up a single to the Twins’ Chris Parmelee followed by a triple from Brian Dozier and then a single to Eduardo Escobar.

Arrieta would get the no-decision in the game after the bullpen came in and go the job done, mostly. Luis Ayala rebounded nicely from his bad outing against Tampa. He did allow an inherited runner score in the top of the sixth but that was all the Orioles’ pen would allow. Ayala, Troy Patton and Pedro Strop combined for four innings of three-hit, scoreless ball.

The Orioles’ offense kept the game close and continued to scratch out runs throughout the day. Adam Jones, Manny Machado and JJ Hardy all had RBI today, but the true hero was of course the simply untouchable Chris Davis. Davis’ homer came in the bottom of the eighth just after the Twins ordered the intentional walk of Matt Wieters to load the bases, to bring up Adam Jones. Jones made manager Ron Gardenhire pay by lacing a single and once again bringing the game even at five runs a-piece. Then Chris Davis strode to the plate. Gardenhire elected to go to the pen and brought in lefty Tyler Robertson to face the lefty Davis. Davis, of course, deposited the first pitch he saw into the opposite field stands giving the Orioles the lead and eventual win.

What can one take away from all of this? Nothing really, it is far far too early to begin to see any real trends or make any predictions. It is useless to try and divine any sort of future from these first few games. It is much better to be 3-1 that 1-3, that is certainly an agreeable fact and the team has gotten to 3-1 while looking solid. The offense, defense, pitching, everything has looked solid. Not fantastic, not flawless but solid. The Orioles have played thus far like a team that one looks at and says: “If they play like this all season, they will win many games.”

Who knows what the 2013 season will bring, all I know is that baseball is back in Baltimore and the capacity crowd at Camden Yards went home happy with another thrilling victory. Not a bad start to the year at all. 

In a few hours, the home opener will take place at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. This will be my tenth one in a row I’ve attended, and each one is like a holiday from life – if only for a few hours. The original forecast for today called for rain; however, driving into work on I-695, the skies started to clear and you could see a hint of blue peeking through the air.

I figured sitting out in the cold and damp rain was going to suck, but I do think things will clear up by game time and the view at the ballpark will be a picturesque one.

So far, the season has started out a high note for the Orioles and they did a good job against the always pesky Tampa Bay Rays. Chris Davis seems to be singlehandedly willing the Orioles to victory with three homers and 11 runs batted in during his first three games; Adam Jones has been hot at the plate, the starting pitching has been solid and the bullpen – with the exception of Wednesday night – has been dependable.

The bad news out Florida was that Brian Roberts got injured – again. That’s bad to hear considering how will he played in spring training and in the first three games of the season. Hopefully, he’ll be back on his feet on the field soon; however, with him – who knows?

That being said, Oriole Park should be rocking this afternoon. Unlike in year’s past where were accustomed to expecting the team to underwhelm over the course of the season, in 2013, expectations are different.

Fans expect a winner, and we’ll what happens over the next few months. The Orioles have played very well this week, and it is up to them to prove the naysayers wrong. Few – especially in the national media - believe that they can repeat what they did in 2012, and we as fans hope the magic returns.

The statistics will say that the Birds can’t win 93 games again, and experts are pegging the Toronto Blue Jays to win the division.

Well, one can’t predict baseball. The games are not played on paper or via speculation.

The game is sold out on today and local media has already treated the day as a holiday with wall-to-wall coverage, plus full of pomp-and-circumstance with the pre-game ceremonies, and people will be excited to baseball back in own.

The bars around the stadium will be buzzing, there will be a lot of alcohol flowing, and there will be a lot of fans dressed in black and orange to partake in another start of the year for the Orioles.

Kids will be skipping school, many like myself will be playing hooky from work for some of the day, and others have just taken the day off completely.

Whether they make the playoffs this year – or not, I’m just glad baseball – for real – is back. Considering everything that we all have to deal with in life, the good and bad, baseball is a great diversion from the reality of life – at least for a few hours.