After losing five in a row to start the series, the Boston have taken the first two contests of the three game set, as they won Saturday night, 7-2. The Red Sox offense busted through on the evening as David Ortiz hit a three-run homer in the opening inning to the start the scoring, and speedy Jacoby Ellsbury raised the score to 4-0 in the second inning with an RBI-double.

Baltimore was able to cut their deficit in half in the fourth inning as they got RBI singles from Matt Wieters and Cesar Izturis; however, after that frame, they could not put another rally together to push runs across home plate.

Boston scored again in the bottom of the fourth as Jacoby Ellsbury once again drove in a run with a double, and then the nail in the coffin was put in the game as newly acquired Adam LaRoche hit his first home run -- a two-run shot -- as a member of the Red Sox off Baltimore reliever Mark Hendrickson.

Jon Lester improved his record to a dominant 9-0 over the Orioles as he went 7 1/3 innings and allowed two runs on eight hits, plus struck out nine. Meanwhile, Jeremy Guthrie took the loss -- his ninth on the season against seven wins -- as he gave up five runs on eight hits in 6 2/3 innings of work.

I guess there's not else to say, but the Orioles are 1-7 after the All-Star break and are a sad 1-16 on the road versus the American League East. Baltimore is now 41-55 on the season, and one has to think if they could have won at least half the games on road versus their divisional rivals, they could be at least .500, or so.

Crazy.

It looks as if another member of the 'calvary' -- Chris Tillman -- is coming up to the majors; however, he's more than likely going to face off against Kansas City ace Zack Grienke. Plus, it looks like both Rich Hill and Jason Berken will have another chance to show that they can hack it in Baltimore. Hill will start Monday and Berken on Tuesday.

From the Baltimore Sun: Tillman, the 21-year-old right-hander who is the Orioles' top pitching prospect, will be called up to make his major league debut Wednesday against the Kansas City Royals at Camden Yards.

Orioles manager Dave Trembley wouldn't officially announce Tillman as Wednesday's pitcher, but he said the club will call up somebody from the minors to make that start and who it is won't come as a surprise. It has been speculated for weeks that the major league debut of Tillman, who is 8-6 with a 2.70 ERA for Triple-A Norfolk, is imminent.

"It should be fun," Trembley said.

In the meantime, let's hope the Orioles can win one game this weekend up in their personal hell, Fenway Park...

The Orioles tough road trip continued in Boston, and like umpteen times before, the first game of the series ended in a loss.

When all was said and done, Baltimore lost to Boston, 3-1. Despite the loss, Nolan Reimold had a good night with a perfect night at the plate, going for 3-for-3 with a run scored; while Nick Markakis had 2 hits. Right now, in seven games on their current journey since the All-Star break, the Orioles have only won once. Is the swoon beginning much sooner than expected?

Meanwhile, Boston -- who now trail the Yankees by 2 1/2 games for supremacy in the American League East -- snapped a five game losing streak.

Well, the Orioles had the bases loaded in the ninth against the Red Sox's Jonathan Papelbon as he gave up back-to-back singles to Adam Jones and Nick Markakis; thereafter, he gave up a one-out walk to Nolan Reimold before fanning both Luke Scott and Melvin Mora to end the contest.

Baltimore's Brad Bergesen (6-5) pitched well, but took the loss as he went six innings, but gave up three runs along with nine hits, plus struck out five. Boston scored twice in the fourth inning off an RBI-single by Jason Varitek and a Jed Lowrie sacrifice fly. They scored again in the fifth inning as J.D. Drew plated in a run with an RBI groundout.

The Orioles only run came in the second inning as Melvin Mora plated in Nolan Reimold with a sacrifice fly.

The play of the game came in the sixth inning as Jacoby Ellsbury -- who had a ground rule double in the frame -- attempted to come home off a Dustin Pedoria base hit; however, Nick Markakis fielded the ball, threw home and nailed Ellsbury. The huge out was also impressive not only because of Markakis' throw, but Wieters having the presence of mind in blocking the base and preventing Ellsbury from getting past him.

Boston's Brad Penny (7-4) got the win as he went 6 1/3 and gave up one run -- unearned -- on five hits and he struck out four. Jonathan Papelbon earned the save in the ninth inning, his 25th of the year.

Congratulations to Mark Buehrle, who thre the first perfect game in five years as he beat the Tampa Bay Rays -- the reigning American League champs -- 5-0.

Centerfielder DeWayne Wise, who came in as a defensive replacement, probably made of the greatest catches I've ever seen as he preservered Buerhle's gem in the top of the ninth inning robbing a sure-fire home run.

The Orioles so far have had a rough time of things on the road, and were swept by the New York Yankees in a three game series this week. Despite close games on Monday and Wednesday -- which included a hard fought comeback thanks to back-to-back homers by Adam Jones and Nick Markakis, they've flopped. Baltimore is 1-5 on the current road trip and they'll be heading into yet another tough place -- Boston -- this weekend.

Once again, the pitching has been a problem -- with exception of David Hernandez's start on Monday, Baltimore starters have had a tough time of things. Rich Hill got lit up on Tuesday, and Berken had a horrific first inning on Wednesday that culminated in two losses. Although the offense brought the Orioles back into games, the poor starts by the duo of Hill and Berken put Baltimore in a hole early, and facing a surging Yankee squad, it would be tough order to have come from behind.

Now one has to wonder about the status of both Hill and Berken who have both struggled. With the emergence of Chris Tillman in Triple-A and talk (which from what I see is pretty much a done deal) of he coming up to the majors during the Kansas City series next week, who goes?

Hill -- a pitcher without options -- has been a disappointment, and Berken is going through the hard knocks of the major leagues, right now I say the latter may be sent down. If I were the Orioles, I'd leave Hill and perhaps put him as a long man in the bullpen to see if he could work his issues out, while you send Berken down to gain his confidence and get some work.

Either way, the pitching has to improve.

Also, I took the day off on Wednesday to check out the New Yankee Stadium -- a trip that I had been anticipating all summer. I'll say that the New Yankee Stadium is nothing short of breaktaking and very imposing. The park has some feel of the old stadium, but everything else was done in grand style. For me, it didn't even feel like a ballpark, I felt that I was in some museum or a grand palace.

There's really no bad seat in the stadium, and I stayed in the lower deck concourse in the standing room area along the seating bowl all game. The only real downside of the stadium is the considerable expense it is to attend a ball game there, plus the hell it was trying to get out the area onto I-87 and into New Jersey (I drove there); however, for all the money that was spent building the park and the hoopla involved, it is quite an impressive structure.

I'll have some pictures up from the trip sometime on Friday.

It looks like the Spring Training move has become official. The Orioles are saying goodbye to their Fort Lauderdale Spring Training home, and are going across the state to Sarasota. I'll miss good times in Ft. Lauderdale and Miami (heck I'll still go there every March for fun), but the team is moving to a seemingly better facility and a better place to do business with the ability to have the major and minor leagues training in the same vicinity.

From the Baltimore Sun: After years of fishing, exploring and negotiating, the Orioles finally have settled on a new spring training facility in Florida.

Starting in February 2010, the club, which has been in Fort Lauderdale since 1996, will hold spring training in Sarasota and its Ed Smith Stadium, on the western coast of the state. The big league camp will be within a dozen miles of the organization's minor league facility, which is already in Sarasota (website for the Ed Smith Stadium).

"We look forward with great anticipation to becoming an important part of the civic fabric of the Sarasota community and to bringing Orioles baseball to the residents of the greater Sarasota area," Orioles executive vice president John Angelos, who has spearheaded the relocation effort, said in a statement.

The Orioles will play in the 22-year-old stadium next spring, and a full renovation will begin after the club heads north. The stadium will be rebuilt, with the current seating capacity increasing from 7,500 to between 8,500 and 9,000.

In addition, the dilapidated Twin Lakes Park complex will be fully renovated and refurbished. Adjacent to Twin Lakes Park will be a newly constructed Cal Ripken Youth Baseball Academy, which can be used year-round for camps and tournaments."I am thrilled that ... Ripken Baseball will be a part of the facility in Sarasota," Ripken, the Orioles' Hall of Famer who has a similar academy in Aberdeen, said in a statement. "I have always liked the idea of the kids playing side-by-side with the professional ballplayers."

"There's no doubt that the facility needs some upgrades," said Orioles catcher Gregg Zaun, who has played at Ed Smith as a visitor. "But if they put some money into it, it could be great because it's got everything right there."

If the news is true, it's going to suck as a fan to see the Orioles leave their Spring Training home in Fort Lauderdale for Sarasota; however, the move is a no-brainer considering the circumstances.

Sarasota County officials say they've reached a tentative agreement that would bring the Baltimore Orioles to the area for spring training in 2010.

Officials released a statement Tuesday saying they would send the agreement to the county commission for approval. The Sarasota City Commission will also have to approve parts of the deal. Both boards are scheduled to vote Wednesday.

The 30-year agreement calls for the renovation and expansion of Ed Smith Stadium at an estimated cost of $31.2 million.

Some of the funding would include local tourism tax revenue and more than $7 million in state money.

If the deal is approved, the Orioles would leave their current spring training facility in Fort Lauderdale.

Well, the facility in Fort Lauderdale is antiquated and in need of upgrading -- which I assume would cost millions to do, and in this economy, I cannot imagine it being done. Furthermore, the Orioles' minor camp is in Sarasota, and one would think it would make sense for the minor and major league teams to train with one another. From what I know as well, the Orioles have a site ready for them to use, and it will be expanded; plus, I'm sure there will be some incentives and additional projects thrown in as well.

Again, as a fan I bemoan the fact that the may be team moving from the Ft. Lauderdale-Miami area to across the state, but as a business move, it makes perfect sense.

Some people think ESPN reporter Erin Andrews is hot, and her competency along with striking (in the opinion of some) looks have garnered her notoriety, fame, plusa great career. However, because of those very same factors, she's become some a viral goddess along with a fixture on umpteen blogs and websites.

All of that was great for her career -- whether she found it annoying or not -- until someone with too much time on their hands along with being sick decided to capture through a peep hole in a state of undress and posted it on the internet. I have no idea where the crazy peephole video is or whatever (at this point, you have to look at it at your own risk -- apparently some versions of it have viruses), but Ms. Andrews privacy was violated and if I were her boyfriend, parents, older brothers, I'd be hunting for blood.

It looks like Ms. Andrews' high powered lawyers and ESPN are hell bent on finding the fool who took the peephole video, but I'd imagine working in the computer industry that it would be hard to stop the spread of it. On any count, I feel sorry for Ms. Andrews, as she will be looking over her back wherever she goes on travel -- especially her hotel rooms -- therefore, one has to wonder if prying into people's lives, the voyeuristic aspect of celebrity and the internet has gone too far.

In this case, it has.

As if the world needed any more bad news about athletes, especially one with an image as pristine as Ben Roethlisberger. Obviously, we have no idea how these guys are off the field, but knowing what I have seen of the Pittsburgh Steelers' quarterback, I hope this story is not true.