Last night for the Baltimore Orioles was huge as they defeated the New York Yankees, 3-2, thanks to a walk-off homer by Nate McLouth in the tenth inning to snap a painful six game losing streak.

As well, reserve outfielder Chris Dickerson hit two homers against his former team; however, more notable, closer Jim Johnson pitched again last night.

Unlike his previous three outings, he did not come into a save situation. He was entrusted to hold a 2-2 tie in the top of the tenth inning. He got three easy outs and his inning of work seemed to be no big deal; then again, it was a breath of fresh air to see him not endure any more drama.

Hopefully, the past week for Johnson was just a bump in the road. I’ve got to give him credit, Johnson spoke to the media after every game and it really didn’t seem to bother him – at least from what he projected.

I’m sure Johnson had a bit of a poker face on after being interviewed the past few days, but as a fan, it was nice to see him pitch a clean inning for a change.

The Orioles got strong performances on the mound from Miguel Gonzalez (in his first start off the DL) – who went seven innings and gave up two runs, plus Tommy Hunter’s two scoreless frames in the bullpen.

However, the biggest news from Orioles yesterday came very late last night and they will be getting help from the minors.

Last night, reports came out that Kevin Gausman will be promoted from Double-A Bowie and will start Thursday’s game on the mound in Toronto against the Blue Jays.

Fox Sports' Jon Paul Morosi sent out this tweet last night:

Kevin Gausman expected to make MLB debut Thursday for Orioles, sources tell http://FOXSports.com . @MLBONFOX

Considering the precarious state of the starting rotation, the Orioles may not have had a choice.  They need arms in a bad way, and dominant ones that can perhaps pitch with some consistency.

Here's this bit from Ken Rosenthal from his article on FoxSports.com this morning:

The Orioles will promote right-hander Kevin Gausman from Class-AA Bowie to make his major league debut Thursday against Toronto, major league sources told FOXSports.com.

Gausman is reaching the majors less than one year after the Orioles selected him in the first round of the 2012 draft. He is 2-4 with a 3.11 ERA in eight starts for Bowie. Sources say the Orioles are comfortable with the move because of Gausman’s ability to throw three pitches for strikes, as evidenced by his otherworldly ratio of 49 strikeouts to five walks.

The Freddy Garcia’s of the world will only get you so far.

However, the Orioles could use a solid arm like Gausman’s in the rotation. Although Guasman has been a professional for less than a year, he has pitched well in Bowie and also turned heads during Spring Training.

Could they be rushing him up too soon? Who knows? At this point, the team needs a game changer and don’t forget they took a chance on Manny Machado last summer to fill void.

I’m sure that Buck Showalter, his staff and the front office will watch Gausman closely. I would not worry about him being overworked; however, there’s always a chance of a pitcher being injured, especially at his age.

Alas, it is the nature of the business.

The Orioles are in it to win now and there’s no time like the present to promote talent that will help this team improve.

Hopefully Gausman is ready for the next level.

Wow.

Baltimore closer Jim Johnson has had a memorable week – for all the wrong reasons. He blew two saves last week, culminating in two critical losses for the Birds.

With the Yankees coming in to Camden Yards last night to play a three game set, the Orioles were primed to snap a five game losing streak and defeat their rivals.

With Baltimore leading at the start of ninth inning, 4-3, and having gotten the best of New York starting pitching C.C. Sabathia, it seemed like they would win on the night. Chris Davis homered in the game, Nick Markakis drove in two runs, and J.J. Hardy had two hits.

Oriole starting pitcher Freddy Garcia looked like he was going to implode early; however, he came through with a quality outing, going six innings and giving up only two runs. Garcia’s start was typical of him – nothing great or noteworthy, but the job got done.

It is a performance that Baltimore sorely needed, considering the state of their starting pitching as of late.

All seemed to be going right for the Orioles.

Then Jim Johnson came in last night in the ninth.

He blew another save – again. The New Yorkers would tie the game at four; in the tenth inning, the Orioles would give up two more runs and the Yankees wound up winning, 6-4.

Mariano Rivera got the save for the Yankees and his 70^th against the Orioles.

The story of game obviously centers on Jim Johnson. He blew his third save in a row and people – for good reason – are not happy with him.

The court of public opinion wants him yanked from the position. Considering where the Orioles are and want to be, every loss is critical -- even in May.

Johnson was one pitch from perhaps snapping a losing streak for Baltimore. Travis Hafner – a seasoned veteran – saw an offering from the Orioles’ closer and crushed it.

Johnson missed his spot and Hafner made him pay.

However, let’s be honest. Every closer will have a clunker at some point. Usually not three in a row, but they will have times of struggle at some point in their career.

Johnson was a huge reason why the Orioles won 93 games last year and ended up in the playoffs; therefore, he should remain the closer for the time being.

Then again, Johnson will only close for so long if he is blowing critical games.

On Sunday, the Baltimore Orioles lost their fifth in a row, as the Tampa Bay Rays defeated them, 3-1.

They have lost their second straight series and fell to 23-20.

Have things gotten bad for the Orioles? No. They are pretty resilient and seem to not get too high – or too low; however, at times, they have been beating themselves.

The pitching was not horrible for Baltimore, and actually Chris Tillman put forth a nice effort on the afternoon; however, the Orioles lost thanks to the impressive Matt Moore, who upped his record to 8-0 and a stingy bullpen.

Yes, the Orioles were not helped out by Matt Joyce’s controversial home run to right field in the sixth inning that was reviewed by the umpires; alas, in the end, the offense could not solve Moore.

By the way, Joyce’s disputed home run was indeed a legit one.

If the right field wall only had a more padding on that portion of the wall to match the rest of it, Joyce’s show  would have been a double – or perhaps a long single.

The Orioles hit balls hard and squared them up … but they always ended up into the hands of Tampa Bay fielders. They just did not make the most of their scoring chances, as they only went one-for-seven with runners in scoring position. As well, the Orioles left five runners on base.

That won’t get you anywhere when you are facing a pitcher of Moore’s caliber. Baltimore's only run came off a Jones' RBI-single in the fourth inning.

Moore went seven strong innings, gave up and earned run on five hits. He struck out three.

Tillman – who took the loss for Baltimore – went six innings and gave up three runs on five hits. He actually had a good start for the Birds; however, he might have needed to pitch close to a flawless game to give his team any shot of winning on Sunday.

The Orioles have the New York Yankees in town for the next three days.

The New Yorkers surprisingly lead the American League East with a 27-16 record. Everyone predicated their demise because of old age and injury, but they seem to find ways to just keep winning year after year.

The Orioles face C.C. Sabathia tonight. We all know that he has dominated the Birds throughout his career and they have yet another test in front of them.

The Orioles needed a bat since Ryan Flaherty was demoted to the minors.

I feel bad for Flaherty, but it was a long time coming and the second base position offensively has become a black hole.

I would think that Buck Showalter and the Orioles will give Yamaico Navarro a chance at second base. Honestly, he could not do much worse than Flaherty with the bat..

***

Orioles recall INF/OF Danny Valencia from Triple-A Norfolk

The Orioles today announced that they have recalled INF/OF DANNY VALENCIA from Triple-A Norfolk.

Valencia, 28, is batting .306/.339/.600 with 14 doubles, 11 home runs and 35 RBI in 40 games for the Tides this season, including seven home runs in his last 10 games and a line of .324/.381/.838 with six home runs in 37 at-bats against left-handed pitching. He has hit .316/.359/.472 in 326 plate appearances against southpaws in his major league career.

Valencia batted .311/.351/.448 in 85 games with the Twins in 2010, finishing third in the American League Rookie of the Year balloting. In three seasons with Minnesota (2010-12) and Boston (2012), he has batted .257/.297/.389 with 25 home runs and 133 RBI in 283 games. Valencia will wear #35.

This move was a long time coming...

Ryan Flaherty today was demoted to Triple-A Norfolk. The fans' wishes have come through. I was at the game on Wednesday, and boy, was he railed bad by them.

Buck Showalter gave him every chance to succeed as his name was penciled more often than it should have been. Flaherty was just not hitting, and while the offense has done it's part throughout the season so far, the bottom of the lineup has been struggling. Sadly, Flaherty was a major part of it.

Once Flaherty starts hitting at the lower level, he'll be back. He came through big at points last season and Showalter seems to like him; however, right now, he seriously needed a change of scenery.

***

Orioles option INF Ryan Flaherty to Triple-A Norfolk

The Orioles announced after tonight's game that they have optioned INF RYAN FLAHERTY to Triple-A Norfolk.

Flaherty, 26, is batting .133/.228/.233 in 30 games for the Orioles this season.

A corresponding roster move will be announced tomorrow.

Losers of three straight, after last night’s failed comeback, Birdland fans are getting their first taste of struggle in 2013. Miguel Gonzalez has missed starts, Freddy Garcia has been middling at best in the rotation; Jason Hammel has gotten rocked his last couple of starts, and Jim Johnson blew his first save of the year.

Some Orioles fans may be wondering if this might be the beginning of a deeper decline, especially when you look at the struggles of the starting rotation recently. What these fans need to remember is that the baseball season is remarkably long and the Orioles, like every team, will likely have at least couple bad weeks scattered throughout the season. The important thing for the Orioles to figure out is to somehow stabilize the starting rotation. Jair Jurrjens is making a start today for the Birds and Miguel Gonzalez should be back Monday or Tuesday but Hammel’s struggles are a real concern.

Jason Hammel had a breakout season in 2012 and was a major reason for the team’s sustained success. Hammel right now is striking out 6.4 batters a game, more than two fewer than where he ended last year. His last three starts have been particularly rough. He gave up four runs against the Angels in LA; six runs facing the Twins in Minnesota, and last night against Tampa Bay he gave up seven runs. All said and done that is 17 runs in 14.2 innings, a 10.43 ERA over his last three starts.  Is a testament to the Orioles’ offense that the team has only lost one of those games, but Hammel needs to be better.

People continued to scoff when the Orioles picked up as many arms as possible over the offseason, but this is precisely the reason they did it. Jurrjens by far was a great pick-up. If he can get anywhere close to where he was in 2011 with Atlanta then the Orioles found a more than reliable arm. As always Orioles mega-prospect Kevin Gausman is still sitting there in the minors waiting for a call-up at any time.

The Orioles still lack a true “number one” type pitcher and while the offense and bullpen is more than good enough to win many game it is stretches like this one that make a person realize how much better this team would be with that ace-like arm in the rotation. As we approach the trade deadline the Orioles will most likely be linked to teams looking to move some older, veteran players. And once again the Orioles will have to make a decision regarding their desire to deal from their, admittedly thin, minor league system. Jake Arrieta has not performed at a strong enough nor consistent enough to bring anything significant back in a trade, neither has someone like Nolan Reimold.

Despite these struggles the Orioles are still sitting in good shape thus far. The Red Sox and Yankees sit ahead of them. Last night the Orioles started a 10-game stretch against the AL East. We should know a lot more about the makeup of this team after this stretch.  

Birdland Summer 6-Pack offers fans six games at discounted prices

Includes two prime and four non-prime games, all at the non-prime price

Summer isn't complete without Orioles baseball, and the team's new Birdland Summer 6-Pack ticket offer gives fans the opportunity to watch the Birds take on a variety of opponents, including the Yankees and Red Sox, at a discounted rate over the remaining months of the season.

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"We have designed this offer to reward Orioles fans willing to make a commitment to attend as few as six games this season with discounted tickets to the most in-demand games on our schedule," said GREG BADER, Orioles Vice President of Communications and Marketing. "This program represents the perfect opportunity for Orioles fans to help paint the park orange and make their presence known when we take on our division rivals from New York and Boston."

For more information or to purchase a Birdland Summer 6-Pack, fans should visit www.orioles.com or call 1-888-848-BIRD.

Well, the Baltimore Orioles lost last night to the San Diego Padres, 3-2, in a thrilling game that didn’t end very well.

They rallied in the eighth inning, breaking a 1-1 tie, thanks to a stolen base and heads-up base running by Alexi Casilla, followed by an RBI single from Steve Pearce.

Baltimore was stifled for much of the night by San Diego starter Andrew Cashner; however, it looked like that they were perhaps headed for another win as Jim Johnson took the mound in the ninth inning.

I did not realize this, but Jim Johnson had 35 consecutive saves heading into Tuesday night. Johnson’s feat is a team record and we all know that he had been a rock at the end of the game for the past several seasons.

Although his performance in game three of year’s ALDS was a night to forget, he has been reliable – until last night. Everyone knows that the closing profession in baseball is volatile one and his number came up.

It happens to everyone.

He would take the loss last night and give up two runs against San Diego in the ninth inning. He just gave up hit after hit and it just was not Johnson’s night. Every hit San Diego earned off the closer were pretty much all singles, not hard hit liners, or bombs over the wall.

Johnson’s trademark sinker was working – sort of; sadly, the Padres got the hits through holes in the field and the defense just could not do anything about it.

Johnson will look ahead and forget what happened like last every closer seems to do when they blow a game; however, despite the lack of national attention, Johnson has become one of the premier closers in the game.

He does not have the gaudy strikeouts like some other relievers and pitches to contact; however, Johnson gets the job done.

On a side note, you’ve got to be impressed with Chris Tillman. It looked early on as if he was going to throw a clunker, especially in the first three innings. He got his pitch count up there and I was worried that the bullpen would need to be called before the fifth.

Tillman would calm down and go seven strong innings. He seemed to make adjustments in the final three frames that were pitched on the night and looked like an ace.

Overall, Tillman made last night’s contest into a pitching duel and the Orioles need more nights like that from him.

It looks like Wei-Yin Chen will be on the disabled list. I figured that would happen, it did not look good for Chen when he was on the mound Sunday. He was diagnosed with an oblique strain.

Considering that Chen is perhaps the most consistent starter on the team, it remains to be seen what will happen with the Orioles.

From the Baltimore Orioles: Orioles place LHP Wei-Yin Chen on 15-day disabled list

RHP Alex Burnett and INF Yamaico Navarro recalled from Norfolk

The Orioles today announced that they have placed LHP WEI-YIN CHEN on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to May 13, with a right oblique strain. The club has also recalled RHP ALEX BURNETT and INF YAMAICO NAVARRO from Triple-A Norfolk.

Chen was injured during his Sunday start at Minnesota in which he picked up his third win of the year with five scoreless innings. Chen is 3-3 with a 3.04 ERA (47.1IP,16ER) in eight starts for the Orioles. Chen led the Orioles with 32 starts in 2012.

Burnett, 25, joins the Orioles for the third time this year (also April 22-24 and May 9-10). He appeared in one game, allowing one hit and striking out one in a scoreless inning May 9 against Kansas City. In seven games with Triple-A Norfolk, Burnett was 1-0 with a 1.86 ERA (9.2IP, 2ER) and eight strikeouts.

Navarro, 25, returns for a second stint with the Orioles as he was with the club April 5-6 but did not see game action. In 34 games with Norfolk, Navarro was batting .303 (37-122) with two homers and 13 RBI. He scored 28 runs in those 34 games and posted a .395 on-base percentage for the Tides.

Also, Ken Rosenthal tweeted this a bit ago. The Orioles will bring up a familiar name to a lot of fans. Yes, Jair Jurrjens will probably be promoted to the Orioles and will start against the Tampa Bay Rays this Saturday.

Sources: Jurrjens will make #Orioles debut Saturday against #Rays. 3.14 ERA in 8 starts at AAA, 36 Ks, 15 BBs, 2 HRs allowed in 51 2/3 IP.

I wrote about him this winter. Again, if Jair Jurrjens is healthy and shows any of the ability he had in Atlanta, then the Orioles will be very well off.

However, I am still a bit concerned about his numbers during the 2012 season, but who knows if he suffered through injuries, or whatever else. His numbers in Norfolk were okay but for everyone’s sake, let’s hope gambling on him will work wonders. With the starting rotation struggling at points so far this season, maybe he can deliver a solid start. We hope.

The Orioles face the San Diego Padres for a two-game set starting tonight. Chris Tillman is on the hill on tonight, and Freddy Garcia will go on Wednesday.

The Baltimore Orioles had another successful weekend, taking yet another series against the Minnesota Twins. They won two out of three games, thanks to the offense and work by the bullpen. The starting pitching has not been great; however, on Sunday, Wei-Yin Chen was rolling and perhaps headed another brilliant performance until the fifth inning.

Towards the end of the frame, Chen looked to be in pain. From media accounts, he exited the game with an oblique strain and it is unknown the severity of the injury at this time. It was a moment that made me wince and say to myself, “oh s**t, please tell me he’s not gone for a long time…”

So far, Chen is the one starter who can be counted on to go deep into games. The other arms in the rotation – while they have not been horrendous – have not been nearly as consistent as Chen.

Based on that, as well as injuries, the Orioles once again having relying on spot starts and using the depth in the minor league system to patch things together. They are 23-15 and trail the surprising New York Yankees by a game in the division -- which is great; however, if the Orioles are to keep up their successful start to the season so far into the summer, they’ll need to address those problems if they become serious.

If Chen is hurt and on the shelf for a significant amount of time, Chris Tillman and especially Jason Hammel will need to step it up. I believe pitching is 90 percent of the game and the offense can’t carry them a team all of the time.

The organization handled their roster brilliantly last season and may need to follow the same script again in 2013.