take a look at chris ray's stats down in triple-a norfolk a2.25 e.r.a., much better there. he pitched 12 innings and struck out 13 batters. it looks like chris ray is back on track. he has rejoined the team and he is ready to contribute out of the bullpen today here in miami. tom? >> great job, amber. amber rejoins us during the game and also on the post-game show. >> it was a weekend to remember in south philly. we're going to pick up some of the memorable moments here beginning friday night when rich hill came through with an rbi single to break a 2-2 tie in the second. >> who says hitting is tough? he get as slider on the outside and drives it and plates the runner for an rbi single! he helps his own cause out. >> and the orioles were down to their last strike when brian roberts came through with a two- run homer to give the orioles the 6-5 victory. >> this is nothing new, mr. clutch. it doesn't matter how many strikes he has on him. he just relaxes and hits the ball out of the ballpark. >> and sunday brian robertth inning rbi scores robert andino to give them the lead.

chris ray had the right attitude when he went down to pitch in norfolk. he went down there with one thing in his mind is to get handle on his mechanics. get the ball down in the zone and make the better quality pitch. so far, we've seen that. >> jim: low, 3-2 ton bonifacio. ground ball, base hit, left field.

we begin with the norfolk tides against pawtucket. snider went 3-4 a-coupleever -- couple of rbi's, two doubles in the victory over pawtucket. bowie lost to binghamton with a loss of 5-had -- 5-4. elsewhere, aberdeen a final in 10 beating staten island 4-3. i guess it's elizabethton. i'm not sure on that. they beat bluefield 4-16789 i'll say bluefield loss 4-1. one other series in the gulf coast league, the other game that we have would be the twins 5-0 over the orioles a final in the gulf coast league. here is david ortiz coming through with a three-run homer against the nationals to give the red sox a 3-1 advantage for david ortiz. his seventh home run for the season. then, jason varitek came through with a two-run shot. his 11th. the boston red sox able to beat the washington nationals 6-4. red sox continue to roll real well as ortiz came through with a 2-3 performance much. his hit -- hit his seventh home run. the new york yankees, 7-4 lead in the top of the ninth inning. alex rodriguez, a single home run. the toronto blue jays wo

oscar will be brought up from the minors from norfolk to replace him. the or joels have to make a roster move because of the emergency anen connectmy. the orioles will have to use robert at shortstop now. pretty much the rest of the way probably over the next three to four weeks. go back to oakland where amber is standing by with the orioles relief pitcher david hernandez. >> did you know going into this game they were considering you out of the bullpen? were you ready for that? >> yeah. they told me on thursday i would be coming out of the bullpen for this series. i wasn't up yesterday by they told me i would definitely be up today or tomorrow. i was ready. >> how different was that for you? looking back through your minor league career you hadn't been a bullpen pitcher. >> definitely a different situation. coming out of the bullpen i was able to have enough time to get ready, get loose and go out there. >> did you feel lyric obviously had a good outing, did you feel it put you in a good position? >> yeah. you have to be ready right away. i was able to

how about hernandez, 3-2 at norfolk. >> just his second start in his career.eeing is fastballs. we don't have that much on him, but he was throwing fastballs in the low 90s. had both outings over five innings, gave up 10 hits his first outing, five hits his second outing. just one earned run in his last outing. so he's getting his, as my mother would say, a little wet behind his ears. >> so the nationals with a loss tonight, they fall to 21-51. 34-40 for the orioles with the win tonight. and they'll go again tomorrow. see if they can salvage game three of the series. >> john lannan will pitch tomorrow night and he'll keep us in the ballgame. i don't know what we're going to do about the hitting. just keep on going out there trying. but got to have a better stronger approach. >> and there's always tomorrow. and tomorrow would be sunday. thanks so much for joining us here in our "nats xtra" post- game tonight. be sure and join us tomorrow beginning at 1:00 on masn. it will be jim hunter and jim palmer and bob carpenter and rob dibble. good night, see you tomorro

chris ray had the right attitude when he went down to pitch in norfolk. he went down there with one thing in his mind is to get handle on his mechanics. get the ball down in the zone and make the better quality pitch. so far, we've seen that. >> jim: low, 3-2 ton bonifacio. ground ball, base hit, left field. so, bonifacio is on with a leadoff single and now look out. >> buck: he's one of the fastest guys in the big leagues and he's done a nice job. >> jim: don't forget, sunday, first 20,000 fans 15 and over against the nationals at 1:35 receive an orioles cap presented by dap plus kids 14 and under can run the bases after the game. tickets run as low as $9. tickets at 888-848-bird or on- line at orioles.com. hanley ramirez fouls it back. ramirez had another good night at the plate. rbi single and a run scored in the third then a double and a run scored in the fifth. he's having a heck of a home stand. now 9-21 with a couple of home runs and nine rbi's. slider for a strike, good pitch. >> buck: he's had seven rbi's against the orioles including the grand s

when we come back, we'll take an inside look at chris tillman who is pitching at norfolk.e headed to baltimore sometime later there season. -- this season. >> chris tillman pitched six innings abdid not walk a batter and struck out three tonight for the norfolk tide. the tide, of course, the triple- a farm team of the orioles. that's where tillman is pitching and pawtucket was leading tide 4-3 when we last heard the score. tillman now, 5-4 for the season. a 2.59 earned run average. 66 innings. less hits than innings pitched. 59. he has 18 walks and 70 strikeouts, and, of course, he was acquire immediate the trade. day hillman will be in the starting rotation. obviously no later than next year. tom davis and rick dempsey welcome you back here to our masn studios after the orioles lost in 12 to the florida marlins. rick, you have this blog on masn sports. some fans think -- >> here we go. >> some fans actually think you wrote on the blog that you're -- you have the impress to trade brian roberts. >> you have to go on masnsports.com to see exactly what was said out there. i n

he said it was pretty self- explanatory why hernandez was pulled from the game in norfolk last night.> jim: as dave trembley was asked that, he looked at the reporter about david hernandez and he said, well, he was pulled after four innings. i think you can figure that out as amber said, self- explanatory. hanley ramirez swings through it. it's no balls and two strikes. >> buck: obviously, the president of baseball separations -- operations is on the trip andy macphail. there's a lot of conversation going on about preventative moves and whatever you might have to do should the news not be good after the examination tomorrow. >> jim: 0-2, he got him. what a start for rich hill. three strikeouts, three swinging strikeouts, and marlins go in order, three up, three down. so, rich hill looking for his fourth win gets them in order in the first. and a few things we want to pay for. on top of it all, we're still trying to put away some money for the future. with the wish list, we can save up for anything we want. and still have enough to cover the day-t0-day. plus, the savings engine helps o

able to make the start on sunday, it's likely that david hernandez will be recalled from triple-a norfolk to get the start. he was pulled as we reported in last night's game after just the fourth inning. he started the game. he threw only 40 pitches and was removed. today, dave trembley said we will need a backup in case koji can't go and it's pretty self- explanatory why hernandez had to leave the game early last night in norfolk. >> our thanks to amber. she'll be rejoining us during the game also on our post-game show. here is a look at the orioles starting lineup. ty wigginton hitting cleanup while nick markakis bats second and adam jones third. reimold plays right field, luke scott has the night off. rick, what are your thoughts on ty wigginton batting cleanup in dave trembley's lineup? >> i think it's his time to come on strong. you look at some of the numbers that he's had in the past. he's had 23 home run seasons. he's had 24 home run seasons. he's a guy who can put up big power numbers once he gets back into the lineup on a more regular basis. with the orioles, and really, let's g

at norfolk. matusz allowed just one unreverend run in his bowie debut.th will manage the u.s. team. jake arrieta was on it last year and jake was on it in 2006. matusz now 5-2 for the season. tilghman at 2.59, 5-4. 59 hits and impressive numbers and 70 strikeouts and 85 strikeouts for brian matusz. last year's number one draft choice. time to take a loot at our down on the farm report on the scoreboard. norfolk lost to pawtucket. snyder had a big night. 2-4, a triple and a double. bowie,-bingham top. 2-0, bowie in the top half. liz drops down to bowie pitching elsewhere tonight, frederick winning over winston- salem 5-4. delmarva down lakewood 4-2. other games in the orioles minor league system, aberdeen lost to brooklyn 8-0 and bluefield a loser 8-2 tonight. major league baseball highlights from the red sox- nationals game. pick it up. jon smoltz american league debut. first inning. anderson hernandez drives in dunn and josh willingham to give the nationals a 4-0 lead on a two-run single by hernandez in the first inning. moving into the sixth inning, ba

also want to mention, troy patten was promoted to triple-a norfolk, he did get the loss, six innings pitched. gave up five earned runs. >> jim: how about our number one draft choice from last year, brian matusz. >> gary: heading north. yes, he is. >> jim: then troy patten, along with the seven hits, i get three home runs. he still pitched into the sixth inning. mr. bobblehead in a tie game. >> gary: he's due here on his night. he will work against parnell who delivers that fastball. this is one of those man know y man know situations. leading off here, bottom half of the 7th inning. a walk, a run scored, a ground ball and a fly ball out. the pitch is taken outside for a ball. >> jim: when you're a young pitcher and you miss with a breaking ball, you know adam's sitting on a fastball. you trust your stuff or you come back with another slider. that's going to be about 98. so johnson throwing 98. >> gary: that's something adam jones can drive. >> jim: it's got to be out over the plate a little more. >> gary: gets the arms extended. >> jim: you're hitting off bobby parnell's fastball any

in, this year, throwing the ball harder than he did, ich 't translate into pitching down to aaa norfolk, being smoother, ting the ball sink. >> gary: he worked in the first game of the series an inning, and gave up a couple of hits. one run game, top of t9th. and it will be castillo leadig it off, # for 3 about a single in the game, and it will be the top of the orwith cora and if you are minoleagues coming up --and murphy coming up. feliciano charged with a run. not going to get that one. castillo will make a turn and stay. scott was playing so shallo. no chance for him to get two, but he is on with a single. 2-4 in the ballga. >> jim: highest hitter ever at camden yards cos in, it by melvin mora. here is over the front sidd not a bad pitch, just a bad result. >> gary: let's see how jerry manuel plays this. his leadoff batter, core cora is looking for : if he do bunts, and you walk murphy, i don't thk if you'll do that to get to bell tram, but i would think with your closer warming up, they want to get as many runners as you can. >> ga

he was hitting well for triple- a norfolk. games with the orioles last year. >> buck: he did a pretty good job filling in. and throwing a little bit at third base and a little bit at first base and had some production at bat. off to a great start in triple- a. 10 home runs and 4 rbis in those few games. >> jim: and a strike. 1-2 the count. salazar is one of those guys, but because he can hit sh you know he'll find a job. he was not on the orioles roster, but just a phone call away at triple-a. hit toward second base and a bad bounce but kennedy stays with it and just get it's to first base. two men down. >> reporter: matt weiters is 2 for 13 on the road trip andine though he's getting used to hitting at the big league level, dave frem -- trembley is encouraged by what he sees. >> he's not swinging at bad pitches or chasing bad pitches and he's working the count and not taking it behind the plate. >> reporter: and tonight the orioles hope he brings the ability to get the bullpen through the next couple of innings. jim. >> jim:

if somebody is going to come up from the minor leagues, there are four players currently at aaa norfolkcome up and it in at shortstop. rojas is probably the truest field another this group. you see he is batting just .160 for the tide. cabrera is the oldest for the group. the veteran guy, utility guy. turner, a second baseman but he may be able to play shortstop a couple of days. and dorya. one of these four might have to join this veteran team. you can't go into a game without a backup shortstop and right now robert andino is the only true shortstop. andino is looking at extended play at shortstop. he had a fine play. >> rick: he had an outstanding play. you see how he turned the big double play. that's one the best plays we have seen at shortstop all season long. seeing it again, quick, out of the glove to brian robert, over for the double play and there, throwing to his left, up the middle, pitch to robert. get an easy double play. you see it again. south standing back hand. this guy really knows what he is doing with consistent play. every now and then, he will have a bad shot at th

he and nolan reimold were the heart of the order for the norfolk triple-a team. >> jim: andino leading from first. none down. salazar. that ball is trouble and that ball is going to fall in for a base hit. andino picked it up and he makes it all the way to third. three straight hits for the orioles. when you get your bat on the ball and put it in play, sometimes good things happen. that ball is just a bloop and it just hit and stayed fare. >> buck: salazar has a knack for getting a hit. that's what you want a guy off the bench put it in play. you never know what might happen. not necessarily beautiful, but effective. andino, as jim mentioned, that he picked up quickly that it was going to fall safely. the orioles have something going here in the eighth. >> jim: adam jones, and salazar gets one off the end of the bat the other way. here is roberts. here is a foul back. 0-1. so the orioles through the first seven innings against andrew miller, one run on one hit. in this inning, three consecutive hits. >> buck: they're thrilled miller is out of the game. 0-1 on roberts. lined down the ri

not a lot of run support down at triple-a norfolk. >> rob: the one thing i do like, 18 walks. not just a power pitcher. >> jim p.: i watch his windup. he's one of these guys that fans on the first base side. pretty good balance. >> jim h.: high fly ball, right center field, chasing jones back but he has a play. adam has it for the out. let's welcome in amber. >> the orioles minor league catching coordinator has been up with the club. i was talking with him about matt wieters. he said overall he's very impressed of the way matt has been handling all aspects of the major leagues. but the one area he wants to see improvement on is matt throwing out runners on the base pads. right now 12 runners have attempted to steal, he's only thrown out one, don said he thinks it's because he's rushing a little bit. up here he feels like the ball exchange is too quick, he's not getting a good grip on the ball and he's noticed his footwork is off. he wants to see those changes, but he's pretty confident that matt will get back to the guy he was throwing runners out in the minor leagues. >> jim

has been pulled after the first inning and thrown four pitches with no apparent injury in triple-a norfolkeer. maybe th're i thghi'd bring it >> jim: amber starting intrigue. here is a hit the other way by @jeremy hmia. %%<-t-nicet8p he went with it. hermida has a one-out double. that's his first hit othe home stand. he's 1-3 tonight.>> buck: stayi he dr down the left- field line. watch how he stays extend out over the plate. pretty good pitch. you can see the location down and away. he's able to keep it fair inside the bag at third. then slices down into the cornerment one out for hermida. his eighth of the season. >> jim: now, a runner in scoring position for florida. one down for dan uggla. >> jim: that's a strike. >> buck: mark hendrickson last pitched saturday night. he had two big outs. he came in in the eighth inning against the phillies and got matt stairs to line out to third and then got jayson werth on a 4-6 fielder's choice to end the eighth. obviously, that setup the comeback in the ninth inning. >> after 2/3 of an inning, he was the winning pitch her in that game after za

he was called up from triple-a norfolk. 1 ---the 1-0 is fouled off. >> buck: the marlins after being shut down effectively in the four innings have 10 ways runners now in the -- 10 base runners now in the last two and a third now with the force out at second base. >> jim: 1-1 on bonifacio. bouncer towards the middle. andino steps ton the base, throws to first and not in time and safe at second base. the second base umpire said that andino's foot never came down on the base. so no outs recorded arun in and florida has the lead. >> buck: the second base umpire standing right on top of the play and andino did stretch trying to make contact. the ball took him past the bag and behind it. and now trembley is coming out to support andino with his argument, but that was going to be a tough play. bonifacio runs it so well. watch andino reach for the bag with his right foot. his momentum has taken him away from 2 bag. he reaches for it and comes up well short of the bag. another good call by a veteran umpire at second base. >> jim: and that is a situation in where if you're robert andino, know

norfolk drummond the information power house. and there they are.2nd, holiday at 1st and giambi in the box to face hill. and it's low, ball one. well hill, he has been a strikeout pitcher. he has averaged a strikeout person inning in his four start this is year, however he's also averaged five walks per nine innings. giambi who is very patient, get as head green bay gets -- gets ahead, two balls and no strikes. that was a vicious cut. giambi came through the athletic system and left as a free agent, went to the yankees in this seven year deal expired and then came back. rich hill has loaded the bases after back to back walks. 2-1 on giambi. inside, ball three. >> and after a bases clearing double in the third against berken yesterday. and a high, fastball down into the corner, with two outs. >> nowhere to put him. bases loaded, one down. and 3-1, it's high. ball four. he's walked three in a row and he forces in a run. and as cabrera comes to the plate, jogging to the mount for a first inning visit. >> this is the concern that they had, was it takes

. >> 3-2 at norfolk for this kid hernandez. 24 years of age, both guys with tremendous up sides as far as looking down the road. >> we saw bergesen first night, and we know that we have four, five, six, seven, when you get on down to balancister who is pitching lights out down there in triple-a, orioles are building a tremendous young ball club there, too. you look at adam jones, wieters, they have really done a great job in the draft. >> a couple of names have popped up as far as possible trade situations. one, a pirates outfielder we saw when pittsburgh was in town, nyjer morgan, the other jordan shaffer, a braves outfielder. >> i love speed. both these guys have speed, but nyjer morgan, you said to me as we were walking around, you said, how about that guy playing left field. >> does he move. >> i said, he really does. i watched him the rest of that game. he's played double-a in center field. but he can flat out fly. if you're looking at the top of the line-up type hitter, a guy that can get on base, put tremendous pressure

. >> jim: matt has been terrific since he was recalled from norfolk. the labrum tear last year, rehabbed it. he didn't have surgery. the velocity is up. he is still trying to command the overhand curve ball. >> rob: so he didn't elect for the surgery? >> jim: no. he tried to rehab it. i think early on his arm, because of all of the rehab, he is actually throwing harder. you can see he's much better -- >> rob: and he has a big whip action to his arm. >> jim: he does, yeah. >> jim: christian guzman is hitless on the night. >> jim: chad moeller, albers is much better away to lefties, hardly ever comes in. it is going to be an adjustment. he to come up with some way to get the lefties in. >> rob: a lot of guys are throwing front door sinkers, front door breaking balls right on lefties. it blows my mind. back in the day your coach was don't throw anything like that. if he has a good enough sinker, he needs to throw it right at the right leg of the lefty. >> jim: christian guzman gets on in a lead-off single here in the eighth inning. the first 10,000 fans 1

you can see salazar, he was flat out airing it out down in norfolk at .372. >> rob: if you're lannan and the nationals, you have to minimize the damage. so even if you've got to give up two runs, you'll take a few outs. >> jim h.: salazar does hit very well the opposite way. he has seven hits since joining the orioles. all seven are singles. >> jim p.: you stand behind the cage when you watch the teams hit, they go, okay, runner at third, less than two outs. hate ball to the right side. can you do it in the game? the reason it's more difficult, you've got john lannan saying, hey, i'm going to throw you maybe a cutter inside, maybe slow curveball, get you to roll over. but the good teams, they move the runners. >> jim h.: ground ball towards the hole, base hit for salazar. and the orioles get on the board, reimold scores, and a 1- 0 orioles lead. so salazar did pull it, the one infielder who was in was zimmerman but he hit it past him for an rbi single. >> rob: give salazar a lot of credit, they were trying to pitch him in, so he just turned it around and said, i'll just pull it. he p

i think that was the good thing about going back down to norfolk having an opportunity to really getd get a few more innings pitched. he's able to relax down there and not worry about the outcome of these ballgames. you'll see now that he's starting to be able to hit thepositions that he's looking for. at least he's on the same side of the plate where the glove is. that's one problem he had early on in the season. his location was terrible. that's something to be expected after you have an operation of that magnitude. alongside of that early in the season when it's cold and you're not that loose out there, you'll suffer a little with velocity. it started to warm up a little bit and his velocity has come back. i expect him to be one of the kind of guys that will push george sherrill for closer role again in the future. we have jim johnson out there, too. it's nice to have three guys out there who can do that same role. i think he's getting back to where he was. such a violent delivery before he had the operation. now everything seems to be smoothing out. still a little bit of that whi