Though the TBS telecast of the Orioles-Red Sox game Sunday was blacked out here, TBS sent along some highlights of analyst Ron Darling's comments. Here's some of what he had to say about the Orioles:

On Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts' taking unusually short leads off of first base: “[Roberts] doesn’t get much of a lead  for a base stealer.  He really tries to time the pitcher.  He stays close to the bag so he’s assured of not getting picked off.  He tries to time it and get a walking lead.”

On the change of philosophy with the Orioles pitching staff with the addition of pitching coach Rick Kranitz: “When you have a coach like Leo Mazzone, it’s almost like having a celebrity pitching coach because he had all that fame with the great pitchers in Atlanta.  So when [Mazzone] came to Baltimore, he tried to use the same philosophy that he used in Atlanta.  What has happened with Rick Kranitz is he has decided to work with each pitcher individually and using each of their own strength.”

On the Orioles lineup: "When you look at the lineup of the Orioles, you see a lot of seventh- and second-place hitters.  They don’t have a really big bat in the lineup.  When you get down to the bottom of the lineup, you’ve got a veteran player like [Jay] Payton, who is an accomplished hitter, but you’ve also got [Guillermo] Quiroz and [Freddie] Bynum.  They are players that when you’re on your best day, those are the guys you should get out.”

On manager Dave Trembley comparing center fielder Adam Jones with former center fielder Eric Davis: “[That] is heady stuff.  It’s stuff that managers shouldn’t blurt out unless they believe it, because you never want to put young players in that position to try and be that great.  But [Jones] has improved his defense since spring training.  He’s become a real solid center fielder. ... They picture him as someone who is going to have a lot of power and drive in a lot of runs.”