Monday was a huge day for the Orioles as they not only beat the Seattle Mariner, 5-4, off an Adam Jones’ RBI-bunt that plated Nick Markakis for the winning run, but also signed a potential part of their future.

After losing two straight against the Rays this weekend, the Orioles picked up the win last night and are now 10-4 under Buck Showalter, plus are 11-3 in extra inning affairs.

O’s starting pitcher Brad Bergesen was solid on Monday, but nowhere as immaculate during his last start. He went 5 1/3 innings and gave up three runs. The bullpen kept the game in check until Seattle scored in the top of the tenth – that is until Baltimore scored in the bottom of the inning.

The Orioles are 42-77 on the season.

The big news of the day in baseball aside from the games decided was that Monday was the final day for players selected in the 2010 Draft to sign with their teams.

The Baltimore Orioles came to terms with Manny Machado, a high-school shortstop from Miami, chosen as the third park in this year’s draft. He signed a deal worth a little north of $5 million and with Scott Boras as his ‘advisor’, everything was done with only minutes to spare before the midnight deadline on Monday.

The Orioles according to MASN’s Steve Melewski have signed 39 out of their 49 picks in 2010.

Imagine if Buck Showalter had been with the Orioles earlier…

In all seriousness, the Orioles won their 9^th out of 11 games since Buck Showalter took the helm of the team, as they defeated their American League rival, the Tampa Bay Rays, 5-0. The shutout on Friday was only the second on the year for the Baltimore.

Jeremy Guthrie pitched six shutout innings and the bullpen – Koji Uehara and Mike Gonzalez – preserved the lead.

Adam Jones had a two-run triple in the first and Felix Pie had a RBI-double in the first inning off James Shields – who started for Tampa and took the loss – for a quick three run lead.

Josh Bell added an RBI-single in the fourth and Luke Scott hit his 22^nd homer in the seventh (just imagine if he was traded).

It’s good to see Uehara and Gonzalez healthy and productive – obviously, they both have had a tiny role in the surge of the Orioles as of late. As well, Luke Scott has not been in a prolonged slump for a good long while and has been hitting for the better part of two months. In fact, it would be safe to say that Luke has carried the team at times.

Well, it’s good to see the Orioles are climbing in the loss column; however, the question I have is this – where was this team for the first 2/3 of the season?

It’s crazy.

While I don’t think the success of Baltimore has been about Buck Showalter – it might be.

This is what Jeremy Guthrie said after the game (from the Orioles.com): "It's not a coincidence that we've turned it around since Buck showed up.”

He adds: "We know what he expects and we've played good baseball with him here. No magic formula, but maybe just a good shift in gears for us."

Really. Could these guys not have as well as they have under Juan Samuel, or Dave Trembley? That’s confusing. Are these guys not professional athletes? Do they need that much extra motivation to win? Whatever is going on – it keep it up, but I’m perplexed.

Maybe we are seeing a little of the Orioles that most envisioned before the season. Or, this team could be just in a lucky stretch.

Finally, the two teams engaged in a retro night on Friday, and the uniforms that Baltimore wore were beyond hideous. I assume the Orioles were looking to turn-the-clock-back to 1971; however, there are some things that should left behind.

Seriously, some people may like it, but those threads the team wore last night kind of hurt my eyes. Maybe they can wear the orange jerseys with white pants for future retro days in the future, but um, keep the orange pants locked away. Then again, I know the Orioles have done some games at home and away where they have worn some cool throwbacks -- why can't some of them be part of the regular jersey rotation?

The cartoon bird caps can stay, though. The Friday night "O's" cap, I never have really cared for.

Last night's uniforms were awesome!

In case you missed it the Orioles dug out their 1971 day-glo orange roadies for the game in TB. Just look at these:

Un-effing-believable. Surprisingly they have been a bit polarizing I am seeing way too many people are hating on these uniforms frankly you all have a severe lack of both joy and style. These uniforms are awesome, certainly not something I would want to see everyday but I would love to see the Orioles bust these uniforms out once or twice a year.

Moreover, the Orioles need to embrace orange more. The black Friday alternate jerseys are alright, but a lot of teams incorporate black into their uniforms and team colors but orange is unique, orange is exciting - orange, is the color of insanity.

Please Orioles, bring back the regular appearance of orange alternates. The cartoon bird wouldn't be a bad touch either. And to all the naysayers I say long live the electric neon love pumpkins.

The Orioles keep rolling along with a nice, steady series win in Cleveland. The Birds did lay a bit of an egg in the series finale, just an uninspired effort and the umps certainly did not help the Orioles out either as many close calls did not seem to go their way. But looking beyond one very winnable stinker the Orioles continue their revival and travel to St. Petersburg, Florida to take on the Rays who are in the heat of a pennant race.

The Orioles have already faced a first place team in the Chicago White Sox and they rose to that challenge very very well. The Orioles took three of four from that series and could have easily swept. Tampa however offers a different challenge; they have completely owned the Orioles this year winning seven of nine contests and most of them have not been close. But that was the old Orioles that was before the time of Showalter and this team is playing like a different team and people are noticing.

The Orioles have been featured much more prominantly on national sports shows recently and it has been POSITIVE for a refreshing change, and that is nice.

Orioles fans have grown rather accustomed to their team completely falling off the table around this time. The usual collapse is more or less the culmination of factors. A traditionally weak farm system, injuries and a brutal September schedule combine to send the weaker Orioles into a tailspin and their fans wondering where to go next. This fall is no different, now hear this: Outside of four games against Detroit the Orioles will only play AL East teams in September. The Orioles will play roughly six games against each of their AL East rivals and here is a quick breakdown of their records:

Boston 6-6

New York 2-10

Tampa 2-7

Toronto 0-12

That is right, going into tonight's game in Tampa the Orioles are 10-35 (4-29 not including Boston) the Orioles have always had some trouble in the AL East mostly the Yankees and Red Sox have feasted on the Orioles but to be dominated by the entire AL East the way the 2010 Orioles have is a bit of a new development. The Orioles went 17-19 against the Rays and Jays last year and 19-17 against those two in 07 (the year the Birds also went 9-9 against the Yankees) so this year, like 2008 before it, has seen the Orioles be the doormat of their division.

But that was before Showalter.

After the Rays series the Orioles get the floundering Mariners and the red hot Rangers coming into Baltimore before heading back out on the road to Chicago and Los Angeles to finish out the "soft spot" in the Orioles schedule before the Red Sox come to Baltimore and begin the run to the end through the AL East.

Has this team really tunred its horrendous season around? Is it poised to finish strong instead of limping to the finish line drenched in shame? Only time will tell as Buck's O's have a solid two weeks to prepare for what sets up to be a very difficult September.

The Orioles lost to the Indians, 4-1, last night; however, it’s been a very, very good run for the black and the orange during the past two weeks.

If anyone ever thought the Orioles would have an 8-2 stretch during the season considering everything that happened before Buck Showalter came along, they should play the lottery.

Despite the loss on Thursday, Kevin Millwood looked a lot better than he did in the past few starts this summer. Who knows if his improvement is based on Showalter’s influence, being re-energized, or just feeling better, but Millwood is finally pitching as most thought he would.

The offense finally got tied down, but it looks like with a healthy Roberts, a streaking Pie, and a lineup that finally seems to have it’s bearings in order.

During the Cleveland series, I was most impressed by Brad Bergesen’s effort on Wednesday. The kid threw a two-hitter, gave up one run and rewarded the Orioles’ faith in him. Much like Millwood, who knows if Beregesen’s run of late is because of his fear of losing his job, luck, or just regaining his confidence – that being said, he looks like the pitcher we saw during stretches last year.

If the Orioles continue their nice run and much less start to turn the tide within the next season or two, they’ll need youngsters like Bergesen to step up and compete.

It’s pretty obvious the Orioles are not going the route of the Yankees and Red Sox in terms of spending money; therefore, their young talent needs to progress and improve.

Right now, it looks like the key signing of the season is Buck Showalter. Not to denigrate Dave Trembley or Juan Samuel, but can you imagine how better of the team might have been with Showalter at the helm?

Not to say that the injuries didn’t play a major factor in the horrendous season so far, but it’s looking more and more that the script for the Orioles might have played out a lot differently.

Then again, for the most part – minus free-agent bust Garrett Atkins – the Orioles we are seeing now are the same team we saw a few weeks ago.

Whatever is going on, keep it up.

The Baltimore Orioles continued their winning ways in the Buck Showalter era as Brian Roberts hit a game-winning home run in the bottom of the tenth inning and led them to a victory over the Chicago White Sox, 3-2.

They took three of four from the White Sox and are 38-74 on the season.

Baltimore has won six out of seven, including three walk-off wins. Brian Matusz had a solid start, giving up a run in six innings of work and Koji Uehara pitched two shut-out innings.

Alfredo Simon blew a save opportunity in the ninth, giving up a long solo homer to Paul Konerko to tie the game; however, Matt Albers and Mike Gonzalez held the White Sox bats at bay in the ninth and tenth innings.

Ty Wigginton homered in the 6^th for the Orioles’ first run, and Matt Wieters added another run in the frame when he grounded out to Paul Konerko on a fielder’s choice.

Well, is the winning by the Orioles as of late all about luck?

Maybe.

Really, the L.A. Angels aren’t nearly as formidable as they were last year and the White Sox probably just ran into a rough patch after an incredible two months of winning baseball.

However, again, the team got a great outing from a starting pitcher – their seventh straight quality start – and the bullpen has done a solid job. Things are looking up with a healthy Koji Uehara, Mike Gonzalez and Brian Roberts back in the lineup.

Sadly, though, the Oriole bullpen has allowed too many teams to come back into games during the season and the trend continued in both the White Sox and Angels series. Then again, the Orioles came through at the plate when they needed to – getting the big hit and also just getting plain lucky at times.

The starting pitching has been excellent and I’ll say more than anything that’s the reason why the team has been so good as of late. The offense didn’t do much scoring in the White Sox series; however, the Oriole bats came through in the clutch and in key situations.

Now, the Orioles are eventually going to fall back to earth, but as it is, let’s hope they can carry the momentum from a nice week into the road trip starting tonight in Cleveland.

The Orioles continued their winning stretch since Buck Showalter was named manager as they won again, 4-3 over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.

Although they suffered a close loss to the White Sox, 3-2 on Saturday, they bounced back nicely thanks to an ace-like effort from Jeremy Guthrie, who went eight innings and gave up only a run. His record is now 6-11, but he’s gone 3-1 with a 1.78 ERA in his last five games.

They beat an always tough Mark Buehrle, who gave up four runs in seven innings and took the loss.

Baltimore got a home run from Felix Pie in the first and took the lead for good thanks to back-to-back RBI-doubles from Nick Markakis and Ty Wigginton in the sixth inning. Up 3-1, Brian Roberts added a vital insurance run with an RBI-single.

Alfredo Simon got his 17^th save of the season, but it didn’t come without some drama. He gave up a long two-run homer to Ramon Castro in the ninth inning, but was able to retire Juan Pierre for the final out of the game.

Speaking of Pierre, is there an issue between him and Guthrie – or was it the matter of the pitcher trying to take the inner half of the plate and the hitter being way too close?

At the end of the day, what can you say about the Orioles?

They are 5-1 since Showalter has taken the helm of the squad and there seems to some semblance of hope when it comes to improvement – granted, the team’s record is still awful.

I don’t know if the Orioles’ improved play is based on some influence from Showalter or just luck; however, it’s been the matter of timely hitting, pitching and making fewer mistakes.

I’m not sure if the players have a renewed sense of purpose or are playing with a bit more adrenaline, but let’s hope they keep it up.

Also, yesterday Troy Patton was sent back to Triple, and Craig Tatum was recalled. I don’t even recall Patton pitching at all, but considering how well the pitching has been – except for Wednesday, he probably was not going to be used much.

Speaking of the bullpen, does Jason Berken seem a little tired and overused to you? I’d imagine the team is going to exercise a lot more caution with him as the season winds down. He’s not been effective since the All-Star break and perhaps he just mmight be overworked, or perhaps just breaking down in the ‘pen after being a starter for so many years.

Also, a name out of the past for the Orioles came back to play Major League baseball.

Jay Gibbons, who used to play for the Orioles before having a poor season in 2007 and being outed as a drug user in the Mitchell Report, suited up yesterday for the Los Angeles Dodgers and had an RBI-single. He was tearing it up in Triple-A and the Dodgers made room for him by releasing Garrett Anderson - a 17 year veteran - who was not doing much at the plate in a pinch hitting role.

Although we all as Orioles fans have had an opinion about Jay Gibbons since '07, I'll say this:

If Jay was a .300 hitter in Baltimore, he would have never been released, and I'm surprised it took him three years to get back into the game. Sorry, he paid the price for his performance, not so much for his drug use.

I'll be rooting for him frankly because he was a genuinely a good guy and appreciated the fans while he was an Oriole.

Finally, congratulations to Cesar Izturis. The Oriole shortstop got his 1,000^th career hit and got quite the response from fans in attendance as they applauded for almost a minute.