DENVER - Hello from Coors Field, where it's been in the 50s all afternoon and is expected to dip into the 40s tonight, with a sellout crowd expected for a must-win game for the home team seeking its first division title. In short, it's going to be a playoff-like atmosphere tonight. Maybe not the playoff atmosphere the Nationals wanted to experience, but it nonetheless will add some juice to their final series of a disappointing season. The Nats intend to play this out, at least as long as the...

So one more for the year. First, my sincerest thanks to Olivia Witherite, our videographer and digital editor, and Pete Kerzel, our content editor. They are the best. Their earnest interest in Hitting the Books is deeply appreciated. To all who have looked in, thanks. May we always love to read. We end this season of Hitting the Books with a treasure for all ages, "Every Thing On It" by Shel Silverstein. Silverstein is largely known for his book of poetry for kids (read that 1 through 101...

The Orioles today announced that outfielder Adam Jones has been voted the winner of the 2018 Louis M. Hatter Most Valuable Oriole Award by members of the local media who cover the team on a regular basis. He will be recognized for his accomplishments in an on-field ceremony prior to Sunday's regular season finale against the Houston Astros. Jones enters play today hitting .281/.313/.419 (159-for-565) with 33 doubles, 15 home runs, 54 runs scored, and 62 RBI. Jones ranks third among American...

The sun is shining at Camden Yards and the Orioles are sticking with the same lineup that wasn't used last night due to the postponement. DJ Stewart is in left field and Adam Jones is in right. Corban Joseph is the designated hitter. Jace Peterson is the third baseman and Austin Wynns is catching. Steve Wilkerson gets another start at second base while Jonathan Villar sides over to shortstop. Chris Davis and Tim Beckham are on the bench. Davis hasn't played since Saturday in New York. The...

The last few games of this past week's homestand put a spotlight on the main storyline of the Nationals' offseason and one of the biggest in all of baseball: Which team will upcoming free agent Bryce Harper sign with this winter? The almost 26-year-old Harper will have, for the first time in his professional career, the opportunity to choose which team he plays for and he can potentially decide this for the duration of his career. Critics knock his mediocre defensive skills, but by any...

I was 9 in 1997, when the Orioles won 98 games and the American League East title. Davey Johnson's club fell in the AL Championship Series to the Indians and then the Birds had losing seasons for the next 14 years. Between that time I graduated high school and college at Towson University, got married to a lovely bride who endured by baseball obsession, and began my career. All the while I kept rooting for the Birds. It wasn't until 2012 that things finally started looking up for my favorite...

A few quick thoughts and notes now that the 2018 season is down to three days and four games remaining: Houston hello: On April 2, the Orioles began their 2018 road schedule by playing at Houston. Tonight they close their home schedule in starting a four-game series versus Houston. In between they played 152 games. That's a long time between seeing an opponent that you play twice in one season. The Orioles have lost a lot of games since they were swept in that series at Houston by scores of...

Mike Rizzo's primary goal at the outset of each season is for his team to be playing meaningful games in late September. (The ultimate goal, of course, is to then be playing meaningful games in late October, but that can't happen without meaningful games in late September.) Well, the good news is that the Nationals indeed will be participating in meaningful games during this final weekend of September. Alas, the games are meaningful only for the opposition: the Rockies, whose 2018 fate hangs...

The run that left-hander Tanner Scott allowed Wednesday in Game 2 of the doubleheader in Boston marked the third time in 11 outings that he was scored upon and the fourth in 15. He didn't surrendered more than one run in those games spanning 16 innings. Chipping away at the ERA has been a tedious process, but he's lowered it from 6.57 on Aug. 15 to 5.26. Scott has registered a 6.67 ERA and 1.778 WHIP in 27 games in the first half and a 3.81 ERA and 1.192 WHIP after the break. His September...

Rain and an ominous forecast lacking in a window to play has forced the postponement of tonight's game between the Orioles and Astros at Camden Yards. The teams will play a single-admission doubleheader on Saturday, with Game 1 at 4:05 p.m. The nightcap will begin approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the opener. The Orioles are subjected to their eighth postponement of the season and their sixth at home. Two games in Boston were washed away, the most recent on Tuesday night. The...