CLEVELAND - The Orioles apparently will be able to make room for Adam Jones on the 25-man roster without optioning or designating a player. Mark Trumbo will return to Baltimore tonight rather than accompany the team to Toronto. The pain in his right knee has intensified again and he's expected to undergo an MRI and be placed on the 10-day disabled list. Team orthopedist Dr. Michael Jacobs will examine Trumbo on Monday. "His knee flared up on him, barking pretty good," manager Buck Showalter...

The Nationals desperately want their 12 remaining games with the Phillies and Braves to be meaningful. The way they've been playing against the Marlins suggests those games with the National League East's top two contenders aren't going to matter. In their latest - and most aggravating - performance vs. the division's cellar-dwellers, the Nationals were trounced by Miami 12-1 this afternoon, capping an ugly weekend with one of the ugliest losses of a season that is on the verge of being...

CLEVELAND - The Orioles will keep giving Yefry Ramírez starts, and the rookie will continue to be limited as long as he can't harness his pitch count. Twenty-six pitches in the first inning, 44 through the second and 66 though the third. The Indians already had collected four hits and three walks, and Ramírez hit a batter and threw two wild pitches. Ramírez faced 17 batters and eight of them reached base, but he surrendered only two runs on a couple of two-out hits. It boggled the...

In the top of the first, Nationals right fielder Adam Eaton made an outstanding defensive play, catching a fly ball off the bat of Brian Anderson by jumping against the right field foul line wall to end the inning. The Marlins rolled up three runs in the third off of Nationals starter Gio Gonzalez. Starlin Castro delivered an RBI single, which was followed by a two-run double from Austin Dean. The Nationals answered in the bottom of the third against Marlins starter José Ureña. Matt...

Along with having Stephen Strasburg return for the Nationals' critical series this week against the Phillies, manager Davey Martinez believes there is a very good chance his bullpen will get an important arm back in closer Kelvin Herrera. Herrera, who arrived from the Kansas City Royals in a trade in mid-June, struggled to begin the second half of the season, going just 0-2 with a 5.68 ERA and three saves since the All-Star Break. In the first half of the season, most of that time with the...

The significance of the series, given the Nationals' current predicament in the standings, can be debated. But if nothing else, they can take some solace in knowing they'll finally be able to send their three best starting pitchers to the mound this week against the Phillies. Davey Martinez confirmed as much this morning when he announced that Stephen Strasburg will return from the disabled list and start Wednesday night's game at Nationals Park. The rehabbing right-hander will be surrounded...

CLEVELAND - Tim Beckham is getting a rest day, nothing related to a health issue, which also allows the Orioles to take another look at Jonathan Villar at shortstop. "He's fine," manager Buck Showalter said. "He's just been playing a lot. Get some different looks, moving people around. You'll see some more of that before the year's over, especially when we do the September call-ups. "These are precious looks to kind of have an idea of what we have and what we don't have going into the...

CLEVELAND - Jonathan Villar is playing shortstop today for the series finale against the Indians at Progressive Field. The Orioles' bench includes Tim Beckham, who gets the day off. Trey Mancini is batting second behind Cedric Mullins. Craig Gentry gets another start in right field. Jace Peterson is playing second base. Mullins is 10-for-28 (.357) since the Orioles selected his contract from Triple-A Norfolk, and five of his hits are for extra bases. Dylan Bundy and Alex Cobb had compete games...

The Nationals need to win every series from here on out, and when they face last-place teams, they pretty much have to sweep those series too. With the Braves and Phillies losing Saturday, the Nats lost a golden opportunity to move up in posting their 7-5, 10-inning loss to the Marlins. They still stand a full seven games out of first place in the National League East with only 38 games remaining. Daniel Murphy generated a big base hit in an 11-pitch at-bat to begin a two-run rally in the...

The Nationals made a late rotation change this weekend, electing not to start Tommy Milone as planned Saturday night against the Marlins and instead promote Jefry Rodriguez from Triple-A. The rationale? Rodriguez had been on a roll - he had an 0.83 ERA over his last four starts, split between Syracuse and Washington - and Milone could prove more valuable as a much-needed long reliever in the bullpen. A lot of things didn't go right for the Nats during their 7-5, 10-inning loss. But the...