HOUSTON - Sending down reliever Branden Kline last night had less to do with performance than the need to have someone available out of the bullpen. Orioles manager Brandon Hyde is sifting through his options today after using Shawn Armstrong, Richard Bleier and Mychal Givens last night. Kline surrendered the walk-off double to Robinson Chirinos, threw 23 pitches in two-thirds of an inning and headed out while the Orioles recalled Evan Phillips from Triple-A Norfolk. "We needed a fresh arm,"...

The Houston Astros (44-21) are tied with Minnesota for the best win percentage in the majors at .677. They have a 10-game lead atop the American League West and are 26-7 since May 4. They are a most formidable opponent that the Orioles took to extra innings last night. Leading 3-0 in the fourth, the O's saw Houston homer twice in the fifth to tie it up, and then win it in the last of the 11th on walk-off double by Robinson Chirinos. Houston is 7-1 over its past eight games and has the best...

HOUSTON - Trey Mancini is playing first base this afternoon and Chris Davis heads to the bench, as the Orioles continue their series against the Astros. A right-handed lineup includes switch-hitters Anthony Santander in right field and Stevie Wilkerson in left, Hanser Alberto at third base, Pedro Severino behind the plate and Renato Núñez as the designated hitter. Severino and Jonathan Villar return to the lineup after being absent the past two games. The Orioles are using their 64th...

HOUSTON - The latest bullpen move for the Orioles has returned Evan Phillips to the majors. Phillips has been recalled again this morning after the Orioles optioned Branden Kline following last night's 4-3, 11-inning loss to the Astros. He's a fresh arm with his last appearance coming Wednesday. Phillips' next appearance with the Orioles will be his 13th. He's allowed 10 runs and 14 hits with 11 walks and 17 strikeouts in 13 innings. The results are strikingly different with Triple-A...

SAN DIEGO - It's not easy to look for silver linings after gut-punch losses such as the one the Nationals suffered Friday night. But in the bigger picture, it's hard not to be encouraged by Erick Fedde right now. Long touted as a long-term part of the Nationals' rotation, the 26-year-old finally is living up to the billing. He has now made four big league starts this season, and he sports a 2.70 ERA in those starts, having yet to surrender more than three runs in any outing. And for the...

SAN DIEGO - They got the string of clutch hits they needed to tie the game in the seventh. They got a pair of scoreless innings of relief from the two righties who have shown signs of potential as reliable setup men. And then they got the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth with good execution and then a fortuitous wild pitch from the opposition. All the Nationals needed to pull off a solid win over the Padres tonight were three outs from Sean Doolittle. "You go into the bottom of the ninth...

That's four games on the road trip and four one-run games with three losses for the Orioles. Very competitive yet again, they did some good things but failed to win. Thanks to an error and a few timely hits, they took a 3-0 lead on Houston right-hander Gerrit Cole through four innings. Rio Ruiz had a clutch two-out, bases-loaded single in the first. Chance Sisco hit his first homer of the year and fifth of his career in the third. Sisco did a nice job to wait on a curveball over the outside...

HOUSTON - The Orioles lost another game last night on a walk-off, this time with catcher Chance Sisco holding up the ball and sprawled in front of the plate and the Astros' Yuli Gurriel somehow able to touch it while disappearing from sight. The latest defeat for the Orioles, their 44th in 63 games, didn't come at the usual price on this trip. No one dislocated a body part. Chalk outlines weren't drawn on any walls. The Orioles, for at least one night, were safe on the road. Stevie Wilkerson...

HOUSTON - Orioles manager Brandon Hyde keeps challenging his younger and less experienced players to seize an opportunity. Run with it. Do what's necessary to become established at the major league level. Anthony Santander has played only two games for the club this season. He homered last month in the second game of a doubleheader in Chicago and doubled and scored in the first inning tonight. Chance Sisco was behind the plate again, batted cleanup, and homered to extend a lead that Rio Ruiz...

SAN DIEGO - Ryan Zimmerman has missed considerable time with injuries before, too many times during the course of his career. He's dealt with setbacks. He's had timetables for recovery extended. The bout of plantar fasciitis the Nationals first baseman has now been trying to recover from for six weeks, though, may top the list for the sheer aggravation it has caused. "It's been really frustrating," Zimmerman said today. "It's been probably one of the more frustrating things I've gone...