After the Orioles went 1-2 at Texas, their road trip moves to Houston and Minute Maid Park. They'll play the Astros tonight in the opener of a three-game series. It's a matchup of a Houston (43-21) club that is tied with Minnesota for the best win percentage in the American League against an O's club (19-43) that has a win percentage of .306 to equal Kansas City at the bottom of the AL. While the Orioles are 0-11-1 in their past 12 series, Houston is 9-0-1 in its last 10. The Astros lost 100...

HOUSTON - Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias anticipates that the club can begin announcing draft-pick signings next week, and he remains convinced that the process with catcher Adley Rutschman, the first-overall selection out of Oregon State University, will be a smooth one. The July 12 deadline shouldn't trip up the Orioles. "We've got a big effort on our hands now getting all these guys signed," Hyde said earlier today. "I'm working on that. Brad Ciolek,...

SAN DIEGO - The Nationals have been a much more productive team against left-handers this season than right-handers. Against lefties, they're batting a collective .287 with an .851 OPS, both second-best in the National League (behind the Diamondbacks). Against righties, they're batting a collective .237 with a .710 OPS, both 12th in the NL (behind a whole bunch of teams). So this weekend's series against the Padres, who are starting at least three lefties (Saturday's starter is still TBA),...

HOUSTON - Dwight Smith Jr. has joined the Orioles in Houston, allowing the medical staff to check on him again before he dressed and headed out of Minute Maid Park this afternoon. Smith isn't available to the media because he's under concussion protocol. In his place is outfielder Anthony Santander, who's starting tonight in right field after the Orioles recalled him from Triple-A Norfolk. "I feel good," Santander said via interpreter Ramón Alarcón. "Very thankful to the team for...

HOUSTON - Anthony Santander is back with the Orioles and playing right field tonight for the series opener at Minute Maid Park. Santander is batting second and catcher Chance Sisco is hitting cleanup. Trey Mancini remains the designated hitter and Chris Davis returns to first base. Mancini is 38-for-108 (.352) in 28 road games. Six of his 13 home runs have come in the first inning. Gabriel Ynoa hadn't faced the Astros until tonight. Gerrit Cole's 116 strikeouts lead the American League and...

HOUSTON - Needing an outfielder today to replace Dwight Smith Jr., the Orioles have recalled Anthony Santander from Triple-A Norfolk as they begin a three-game series against the Astros. Smith has been placed on the seven-day concussion injured list after crashing into the left field fence last night at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas. He didn't fly with the team following a 4-3 loss to the Rangers. The Orioles also had Smith undergo X-rays on his shoulder, but today's transaction only...

SAN DIEGO - It was only 13 days ago when Patrick Corbin stood at the center of the diamond at Nationals Park and got to start the end-of-game handshake line, the kind of honor that's only possible for a starting pitcher when he records all 27 outs. That 116-pitch shutout against the Marlins represented the high point of a fantastic opening two months in Washington for Corbin. The 29-year-old left-hander was 5-2 with a 2.85 ERA and was making a case to be considered the most consistently...

During an interview Thursday on 105.7 FM the Fan in Baltimore, Orioles second-round draft pick Gunnar Henderson covered a lot of ground. He included his love for the sport, a belief he can stay at shortstop, his power swing and his current Auburn commitment. With the No. 42 overall pick Monday night, the O's selected the 17-year-old lefty batting prep shortstop from John T. Morgan Academy in Selma, Ala. Henderson was rated the No. 30 prospect in this draft class by Baseball America and No. 27...

SAN DIEGO - The first 22 minutes of tonight's ballgame at Petco Park were just lovely for the Nationals. Sure, the sky was overcast and the gametime temperature of 63 degrees wasn't exactly what an outsider was looking for on an early summer evening in San Diego. But the four-spot posted by the visitors in the top of the first more than made up for anything else and seemingly had this road trip off to a rousing start. By the time the Padres wrapped up a 5-4 victory three hours later, the...

ARLINGTON, Texas - The Orioles are urging fans to cast votes for Trey Mancini and get him into next month's All-Star Game in Cleveland. Ideas on how to promote him are percolating and he's the logical team representative based on his impressive first-half statistics and the limited alternatives on a team that began last night tied with the Royals for the worst record in baseball. Mancini hit his 13th home run in the top of the first inning, a sore left foot still able to carry him around the...