It is happening slowly, but for Orioles third baseman Rio Ruiz, it is happening. Getting the chance to play every day in the big leagues at age 24, his bat is starting to trend up. Yes, he is batting just .237 over 89 plate appearances, but three of his four multi-hit games have come in the last six games. He is 7-for-24 (.292) in that span and is 9-for-31 (.290) over his past eight games to raise his average from .200. Ruiz is batting .474 (9-for-19) when he faces a pitcher the second time in...

Orioles reliever Nate Karns is reporting to Double-A Bowie on Thursday while his teammates fly to Minnesota for the start of a three-game series. Karns threw again today without discomfort in his right forearm. He's going to throw an inning with the Baysox Thursday and another inning a few days later. "He's going to have a couple outings and then we'll kind of reassess," said manager Brandon Hyde. "We always reassess after every outing, but we plan on him having a couple outings and then...

Chris Davis is absent from the Orioles lineup tonight as they close out their homestand. Davis is 9-for-25 (.360) with three doubles, two home runs and eight RBIs in his last seven games with an at-bat to raise his season average to .155. Eighteen of Davis' 34 balls put in play have registered 95 mph or more, the highest percentage on the team at 52.9. Manager Brandon Hyde indicated last night that he'll keep Davis in the lower portion of the order. At least for now. "I'm really comfortable...

DENVER - Some injury updates for you before the Nationals and Rockies wrap up their three-game series ... * Anthony Rendon is out of the lineup for the fourth straight game with a bruised left elbow, but the Nationals remain optimistic about their third baseman and believe he's on the verge of returning to action. Rendon, who hasn't played since he was struck by a pitch Saturday night in Miami, has taken swings in the batting tunnel each of the last two days. He had seen enough improvement...

Mike Wright won't be staying in the Orioles organization. The club announced today that Wright has been traded to the Mariners for infielder Ryne Ogren, who is headed to low Single-A Delmarva. Wright was designated for assignment on Sunday while the Orioles selected Gabriel Ynoa's contract from Triple-A Norfolk. Wright, a third-round pick in 2011 out of East Carolina University, was carrying a 9.45 ERA and 2.025 WHIP in 10 appearances covering 13 1/3 innings. He also was out of minor league...

DENVER - The Nationals are 1-7 in series openers so far this season, and that's a bad thing. But they're 6-1 in series finales, and that's a good thing. Despite digging themselves into a hole every time they open new set against a new opponent, they've found a way to climb out of it and emerge still in one piece. They'll try to do that again today and pull off a series victory at Coors Field after dropping the opener but winning a tense affair last night. They'll ask Aníbal Sánchez...

DENVER - The day began with Davey Martinez mentioning he felt like it was time to start putting Joe Ross on the mound for significant situations. "We're going to have to use him as more than a long man," the Nationals manager said Tuesday afternoon. So when the bottom of the seventh arrived a few hours later, the Nats clinging to a 4-3 lead over the Rockies, who did Martinez summon from the bullpen but the young right-hander who came up as a starter and only now is trying to learn how to...

One night after they played arguably their worst game of the year, the Orioles played perhaps their best. They got pitching, hitting and defense in a 9-1 win over the Chicago White Sox. They snapped a four-game losing streak and a seven-game losing streak at Oriole Park. Some strong early defense with great plays from shortstop Richie Martin and left fielder Dwight Smith Jr. set an early tone. Then the Orioles bashed four homers over the third and fourth innings. Then starter Andrew Cashner...

DENVER - The Nationals seemed determined to make the four early runs they scored tonight hold up through an entire ballgame. At Coors Field. With the majors' least effective bullpen. A bold strategy, to say the least. And yet somehow they pulled it off. (With a little help from two long-awaited insurance runs via ineffective relief from the opposition.) Behind three scoreless innings from four relievers - some of them used in unfamiliar fashion - the Nationals survived the harrowing late...

The Orioles used their 34th and 35th players Monday night when Stevie Wilkerson started in left field and Gabriel Ynoa worked a scoreless inning, their contracts selected from Triple-A Norfolk a day apart. Ynoa replaced Mike Wright, who was designated for assignment. Wilkerson returned to the club after Cedric Mullins was optioned. The roll call of Orioles appearing in games this season includes 24 names listed under the pitching column. However, three are position players sent to the mound to...