A fan interference call in the first inning tonight denied Orioles second baseman Jonathan Villar a leadoff double. He stood at second base, waited through a crew chief challenge and jogged back to the dugout. The solution in his next at-bat, of course, was to hit the ball where a paying customer couldn't influence the outcome. Where he'd be able to circle the bases. Aim for the center field seats. Do it with the bases loaded. Be the one to dictate the outcome. Villar's second career grand...

MILWAUKEE - The first key injured member of the Nationals lineup is on the verge of returning to the active roster. Anthony Rendon is eligible to come off the 10-day injured list Tuesday, and manager Davey Martinez said the club is preparing for its star third baseman to be activated for the second game of this week's series against the Brewers. "He's going to hit today in the cage," Martinez said. "And then hopefully barring no setbacks, he should be ready tomorrow." Rendon, who hasn't...

Yesterday's postponement due to inclement weather, the third for the Orioles this season, has pushed back the starters while keeping them in order. Manager Brandon Hyde sees no reason to tamper with the rotation and leapfrog anyone. Left-hander John Means opens tonight's series against the Red Sox instead of closing out the Rays series yesterday. David Hess and Andrew Cashner will start the next two nights leading into Thursday's off-day. Dan Straily was supposed to pitch Wednesday, but...

New Orioles right-hander Shawn Armstrong has been an Oriole for a week and a day now. He was claimed off waivers from Seattle on April 28 and has made two scoreless appearances for the club, pitching two innings. He quickly got over feeling like the new kid in class and he said he had his teammates and really the entire organization to thank for that. "The guys have been the best," Armstrong said this afternoon. "(Paul) Fry and (David) Hess, as soon as I got here they kind of helped me out...

Orioles left-hander Richard Bleier is beginning an injury rehab assignment Tuesday night at Single-A Frederick, his recovery from shoulder tendinitis no longer keeping him down in Florida. Bleier said he'll make a couple of appearances for the Keys and a couple with Double-A Bowie and later report to Triple-A Norfolk, estimating that he'll need more than five appearances in the minors before the Orioles will consider activating him from the injured list. "I'm definitely looking forward to...

MILWAUKEE - The Nationals successfully made it to Milwaukee, albeit 16 hours later than originally scheduled. After landing at the airport shortly after 11:30 a.m., they decided to push back their pregame routine and give guys more time to rest up at the hotel. So there's no formal batting practice today, and the clubhouse doesn't even open until two hours before first pitch. (It typically opens 3 1/2 hours before first pitch.) So the team that takes the field for tonight's series opener...

Joey Rickard is out of the Orioles lineup for tonight's series opener against the Red Sox, but Richie Martin has returned to shortstop. Stevie Wilkerson is in center field. Pedro Severino is catching left-hander John Means. Hanser Alberto is on the bench tonight, with Rio Ruiz at third base and Jonathan Villar at second. Means made an April 14 start against the Red Sox at Fenway Park and allowed one run in five innings in a 4-0 loss. J.D. Martinez is 2-for-2 with a double and home run against...

After Sunday's rainout, the Orioles get back on the field tonight. The homestand, now down to eight games, continues as they open a three-game series with the Boston Red Sox. The Orioles (12-22) beat Tampa Bay 3-0 Saturday night behind Dylan Bundy's 7 1/3 innings. He threw 96 pitches in getting his first win of the year and first since Sept. 18. He snapped a career-long six-game losing streak. Boston (17-18) scored 30 runs in winning the last three games of a series in Chicago against the...

MILWAUKEE - How banged up are the Nationals right now? Even the team's charter plane was physically unable to perform Sunday night. A mechanical issue on the club's Delta charter left the entire team sitting on the tarmac in Philadelphia nearly eight hours late Sunday night and early Monday morning. After all that, the entire traveling party went back to its downtown hotel to get a little bit of sleep before returning to the airport this morning. The Nationals finally took off from...

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde appreciates the value of having an extra pitcher in his bullpen. He also covets a fourth bench player. The math doesn't work and Hyde knows it. No calculator required. A 26th man is permissible only for the second game of a traditional doubleheader scheduled the day after a postponement. Rosters won't expand until September. What's a manager to do? He concedes that having starters who are laboring to get beyond the fifth inning requires a 13-man pitching staff,...