DENVER - What a difference a day makes. It's currently 20 degrees warmer at Coors Field than it was for last night's series opener, and there isn't a cloud in the sky, either. Now the Nationals have to hope the result on the field differs from last night as well. After dropping that game 7-5 - their seventh loss in eight series openers so far this season - the Nats face another uphill climb and will need to win the next two games to return home with a series victory and a .500 record. And...

Dwight Smith Jr. is back in left field tonight for the Orioles after sitting out last night's game with a sore right quadriceps muscle. Joey Rickard remains in center field, Chris Davis is back at first base and Richie Martin is the shortstop. Trey Mancini has hit safely in 12 of 14 career games against the White Sox and is 20-for-54 (.370). He's in right field again tonight. Jonathan Villar is a career .385 hitter (20-for-52) against the White Sox. Andrew Cashner owns a 4.34 ERA and 2.089...

Orioles baseball is back, and joining the lineup again this year is the Maryland Lottery's Home Run Riches scratch-off! The ticket offers a chance to win up to $50,000 instantly and a fun second-chance promotion. Enter your non-winning tickets through the My Lottery Rewards program for a chance to be selected as a Maryland Lottery "Contestant of the Game". Then, watch the Orioles games on MASN and MASN2 and look for your name! A new Home Run Riches "Contestant of the Game" is selected for...

Several hours before he would take the mound and pitch a 1-2-3 ninth inning, Jesús Sucre talked about his regular job with the Orioles, catching. And he talked about all the longballs the Baltimore pitching staff has been giving up. The Orioles lead the majors with 59 home runs allowed, and that is 16 more than Milwaukee, the next closest team, with St. Louis next at 42. In some ways the answer to how Orioles pitchers can give up fewer homers sounds easy. They simply need to command the ball...

DENVER - It got lost in the Nationals' 7-5 loss to the Rockies that saw the home team score the final five runs, but in the larger picture the Nats have to be encouraged by Brian Dozier's recent resurgence at the plate. Dozier, among the biggest disappointments on the roster through the season's first three weeks, has come back to life on this road trip. He has now homered in three of his last four games, including a towering, three-run blast to left Monday night that temporarily gave the...

DENVER - Davey Martinez has participated in enough games at Coors Field - as a player, as a coach and as a manager - to know what kind of mindset anyone in uniform must bring to this park. "You gotta try to score as many runs as possible," he said this afternoon. "No game's ever over." So even when the Nationals scored two runs in the top of the first tonight, Martinez certainly knew that wouldn't be enough. And even when they added three more in the top of the fourth via Brian Dozier's...

The decision to select Stevie Wilkerson's contract yesterday from Triple-A Norfolk was primarily tied to the Orioles' needs through 23 games of the season. Credit goes to Wilkerson for presenting himself as an attractive option. He's become a super-utility player. He's embraced the role. No one had to do a hard sell on him. Cedric Mullins was mired in a lengthy slump and organizational concerns grew over the potential impact on his confidence and development. He needed to start over with...

Some nights a team puts up a good fight and loses. Some nights they lose and look bad doing so. The Orioles very much experienced the latter tonight as they lose 12-2 to the Chicago White Sox to fall to 8-16 overall and to 1-10 at home. They've lost six of seven and 15 of 19 since their 4-1 start. The Orioles saw their starter give up four runs in the fifth, two relievers allowed four runs each, they made two errors in the field, had a runner picked off third with the bases loaded and went...

David Hess seemed to be dropping hints early tonight that he'd more closely resemble the version of himself that stymied the Blue Jays in Toronto than the one who turned in his shortest start last week at Tropicana Field. It happened in the first inning with back-to-back called third strikes on Yoán Moncada and José Abreu, a changeup and 95 mph fastball getting Hess back in the dugout on 10 pitches. Or it could have been the five-pitch fourth inning - popup, fly ball and grounder. Blink...

DENVER - Though they don't believe Anthony Rendon will need to miss much time with a bruised left elbow, the Nationals decided they couldn't proceed any longer without any backup infielders, so they recalled Jake Noll from Triple-A today and sent reliever Austin Adams to Fresno to clear a roster spot. Rendon, who was struck in the elbow by a pitch Saturday night in Miami, has been out of the lineup since. But there were signs of improvement today: He's able to bend his arm, according to...