X-rays taken on Vladimir Guerrero's right hand revealed a small crack in a bone, and he's out of the lineup again tonight.
Guerrero didn't play last night, and he couldn't swing a bat earlier today without experiencing pain in the hand.
Guerrero was hit by a pitch from Red Sox rookie Kyle Weiland during Sunday's game at Fenway Park. The three-day All-Star break didn't improve the condition of his hand or his availability.
It was a good first half of the major league baseball season for many former Tulsa Drillers and players with Oklahoma connections.
Ex-Drillers Matt Holliday, Troy Tulowitzki, Michael Young and C.J. Wilson played in Tuesday's All-Star Game. Several others, such as Mark Teixeira and Colby Lewis, were near-misses.
The All-Star Break comes to a close tonight at 7:05 as the Orioles are back in action at Camden Yards. Before the second half starts, I wanted to grade every Oriole for the first half of the season, like an Orioles report card.
1B Derrek Lee: D+/C- Lee has been very disappointing. Besides a stint on the DL, he hasn’t made much news for the O’s. With a .235 batting average (in the number 3 spot) and only 9 home runs and 28 RBI he isn’t living up to his offensive expectations. The only reason he gets the C- is because of his great defensive play at first. But, I’d rather have Ty Wigginton back (he’s hitting .239 with 13 homers and 37 RBI with the Rockies and it was always fun calling him Wiggy).
With a single to right against Cleveland’s Josh Tomlin with two outs in the third inning Friday, Nick Markakis picked up his career 1,000th hit.
The milestone was recognized on the video scoreboard and the fans at Camden Yards gave him a standing ovation. In typical Markakis fashion, he didn’t acknowledge the cheers. Just fist-bumped first base coach Wayne Kirby and then took his lead at first.
The trading season began rather bizarrely, with the Mets rushing to trade Francisco Rodriguez, their star high-priced closer with the scary vesting option, a new agent and a missing no-trade list. K-Rod's previous agent failed to submit his 10-team no-trade list, and Mets higher-ups became concerned that his just-hired agent, Scott Boras, might try to rectify this situation. Although there was seemingly no way to submit a list that was already two years late, Mets GM Sandy Alderson didn't think it was worth taking a chance a trade could be stalled by a debate over the missing list.
Bragging rights for TCU and Texas Tech are on the line tonight when the Orioles' Jake Arrieta takes the mound against the Indians' Josh Tomlin.
OK, there's a lot more at stake than college pride.
Arrieta has made two starts since being skipped in the rotation because of an inflamed right elbow. He's allowed nine earned runs (10 total) and 12 hits in 9 1/3 innings, with six walks and six strikeouts.
The Orioles became the first team last night to score four earned runs off Indians starter Justin Masterson since June 3, and they did it over six innings.
The end result was another loss for the Orioles, their eighth in a row.
I preached all winter that they could finish .500 or slightly above if a lot of things fell into place. They would have to avoid injuries to key players, their young starters would have to take the next step and certain veterans would need bounce-back seasons.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Tampa Bay placed Evan Longoria on the 15-day disabled list Sunday with a strained oblique muscle in his left side.
The injury could sideline the all-star third baseman a minimum of three weeks, manager Joe Maddon said before the Rays lost to the Orioles for a three-game sweep.
"There's never a good time. . . . It's just unfortunate," Maddon said. "We're having a hard time scoring runs out of the chute. We're on pace to score 162 runs this year, which might be a major-league record. . . . (Longoria's) probably our best run producer and now we don't have him."
By Ian Casselberry | MLive.com Contributor MLive.com
AP Photo Detroit Tigers starter Max Scherzer allowed six runs on Sunday against the New York Yankees, including four home runs.
• Looking at the box score from Sunday's outing against the New York Yankees, it doesn't appear that Max Scherzer pitched very well. He allowed six runs and nine hits in five innings of work. Scherzer also served up four home runs, two of them hit by Jorge Posada.
I'll pass along a few notes before the Orioles kick off the home portion of their schedule. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy bringing them to you.
Luke Scott is still hoping to play Wednesday after sitting out yesterday's game at Tropicana Field with a strained groin muscle. He's not in today's lineup, but he's available to pinch hit if needed.
The Houston Astros about halfway through last season decided to enter rebuilding mode by trading both Lance Berkman and Roy Oswalt.
However, there is one more expensive piece currently on the team that could offer some quality pieces in return to help the rebuilding process, and that is Carlos Lee.
Jim Caple talks with Torii Hunter about the Best and Worst Places to play in the Majors. Tags: MLB,Torii HunterTorii Hunter on the Best and Worst Place to Play
Major league logos used to be a lot more fun.
RememberBaltimore's Cartoon Bird? He was the Orioles official logo during their greatest era from the mid-1960s through the '80s, when they won multiple World Series and pennants. You can almost see him driving a pitch into the seats at old Memorial Stadium. The Cartoon Bird was fun and a winner. But after the Orioles started the 1988 season 0-20, Baltimore flipped the Bird to an ornithologically correct Oriole in 1989. And they haven't won been to the World Series since or been remotely close in a dozen years.
, Johnny Damon and Andruw Jones . That's three players in their mid-to-late 30s who might not make the Hall of Fame, for various reasons, but all deserve to be included in the discussion.
AP Photo/Jeff Roberson Scott Boras could be on the phone for a while looking for landing spots for three of his biggest clients.
While wondering whether Brett Favre texted pictures of his feet to Rex Ryan ...
I saw the mlbtraderumors.com post ranking each club according to its offseason spending and braced for the inevitable Orioles bashing. I knew it was coming, so I may as well address it.
(It also allows me to mention Adam LaRoche again, keeping my streak intact.)
