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In his return from the disabled list last night, O’s starter Bud Norris struggled to get out of the fifth, and was yanked by Buck Showalter in the O’s 6-2 loss to the Washington Nationals. Norris allowed five earned runs in his first start since June 21st.

Last night was Nick Markakis’ 1300th major league game in a Baltimore Orioles uniform. Congratulations to him.

The O’s are 34-9 when they score the first run of a game this season, behind only the Atlanta Braves (31-7) and Oakland Athletics (38-9).

How impressive are Manny Machado and Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon? They are two of 12 MLB hitters with at least seven home runs, eight doubles and 15 RBI since June 1. And they play a hell of a third base as well. [Credit: statspass.com]

Here are your Thursday morning headlines:

Baltimore Orioles

 The quest for pitching and Dan Duquette on the O’s All-Stars [masnsports.com]

Nationals outfielder Nate McLouth enjoyed his time in Baltimore [mlb.com]

OriolesREACH to host their 28th annual Foods and Fund drive [mlb.com]

Buck Showalter talked about the Orioles fan take-over at Nationals Park this week [baltimoresun.com]

Stacey Folkemer gives us a rundown of the O’s minor league system last night [camdenchat.com]

For all you stat-junkies out there, this is not one of the good ones…

But here, a hope for the bottom of the Orioles lineup..

Baltimore Ravens

Brian Bower wonders if former Raven Le’Ron McClain will draw interest from Ravens once again [russellstreetreport.com]

Versatile role envisioned for tight end Dennis Pitta [baltimoresun.com]

Watch Joe Flacco complete pocket drills as he gets ready for the 2014 season

Image Credit: AP/Patrick Semansky