A pair of rising stars in the Nationals system have been selected to participate in the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game Sunday, July 15, at Nationals Park. Shortstop Carter Kieboom and infielder Luis Garcia will represent the Nationals, Kieboom for the United States Team, Garcia for the World Team. Kieboom was rated by MLB.com as the Nationals' No. 3 prospect and by Baseball America as the organization's No. 4 prospect. He was selected in the first round (No. 28 overall) of the 2016 First-Year...

Washington Nationals prospects Carter Kieboom and Luis Garcia have been selected to participate in the 2018 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game as a part of Major League Baseball's All-Star Sunday. Major League Baseball made the announcement. Kieboom, 20, is hitting .314 with 20 doubles, 13 home runs, 53 RBI, 42 walks, seven stolen bases and 57 runs scored in 77 games between Single-A Potomac and Double-A Harrisburg. His .314 batting average ranks second among full-season Nationals farmhands, while...

MINNESOTA - The Orioles will have two representatives in the All-Star Futures Game to be played July 15 at Nationals Park. Double-A Bowie third baseman Ryan Mountcastle has been chosen to represent the U.S. team and Single-A Frederick left-hander Alex Wells will pitch for the World Team. One of the top position prospects in the system, Mountcastle, 21, is batting .313/.363/.498 with 10 doubles, three triples, seven home runs and 32 RBIs in 54 games. He also continues his conversion from...

After years of hype and anticipation, the 2018 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Washington, D.C., is only 11 days away. The fan vote concluded Thursday and on Sunday, the American and National League will announce 31 of the 32 members of the 2018 All-Star Game rosters. It would be a travesty if Trea Turner is not selected. Somewhat lost amid this peculiar season for the Nationals has been Turner's development as perhaps the best shortstop in the NL and one of the best in the majors. The...

On every Orioles road trip this season, I wonder if Manny Machado will return home with the rest of the club. Was Sunday's 8-2 victory over the Angels the last time Machado played in front of the home crowd at Camden Yards as an Oriole or will we see him suit up again on Monday against the Yankees? We'll see what happens over the next three days as the Birds take on the Twins in Minnesota. Like many in Birdland, I've got my eyes glued to Twitter, waiting for that breaking news about an...

The Nationals' record-breaking, 14-12 victory Thursday night had some eye-popping moments. Most of them were positive. But not all of them were. There were still some issues on display during 3 hours and 15 minutes of chaos on South Capitol Street. Start with the starter. Jeremy Hellickson was pounded by the Marlins, giving up nine runs in four innings, and doing all this when he supposedly wasn't 100 percent healthy. Prior to the game, manager Davey Martinez acknowledged Hellickson had been...

Here is a whole batch of minor league news and notes for today. And we add some news about draft picks as well. * Double-A Bowie left-hander Keegan Akin will return to the Baysox rotation tonight. Akin left his start on June 26 with groin tightness after he had pitched four innings. He never went on the disabled list, and the injury turned out to be a minor issue. He returns tonight with an 8-5 record and 2.63 ERA over 15 starts. He ranks second in the Eastern League in ERA. During my recent...

It's easy, in hindsight, to claim you believed you could come back from nine runs down to win a major league baseball game. Deep down, there had to be plenty inside the Nationals dugout who figured they were headed for one of their most demoralizing losses of the year when the Marlins put up nine runs to their zero in the first 3 1/2 innings tonight on South Capitol Street. And yet, the vibe inside the home bullpen suggested the sense of hope was real. Even when things looked their worst,...

MINNESOTA - Get ready for the next Orioles roster move, which will be announced later this afternoon while Dylan Bundy comes off the disabled list to make tonight's start against the Twins. The Orioles are down to a three-man bench, so a pitcher will be subtracted to make room for Bundy. They could option Yefry Ramirez and bring him back Monday as the 26th man to start one of the doubleheader games against the Yankees at Camden Yards. He isn't available before that date after starting...

MINNESOTA - Andrew Cashner notched his third consecutive quality start tonight and his fifth in the last six outings, the exception unavoidable after a long rain delay in D.C. The return, however, has been miniscule. Similar to the support he received again tonight. The Orioles managed only one run off Andrew Slegers in six innings and Cashner had a costly fielding error in the third that opened the door to a 5-2 loss to the Twins at Target Field. Jonathan Schoop homered twice, but the Orioles...