Third baseman Danny Valencia has been scratched from tonight's lineup. Jace Peterson is playing third base and Joey Rickard goes to left field and bats seventh in Valencia's slot. Bryce Harper homered off Dylan Bundy in the top of the first inning to give the Nationals a quick 1-0 lead. Zach Britton didn't know today whether he'd start or work a later inning in the first game of his rehab assignment. He felt confident only in his travel itinerary. Britton was headed to Triple-A Norfolk...

The Orioles host the Washington Nationals tonight in the second game of a three-game interleague series and a seven-game homestand at Oriole Park. The Nationals took the series opener 6-0 Monday as Anthony Rendon hit a three-run homer off Alex Cobb. Lefty Gio Gonzalez pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings to improve to 6-2 with a 2.10 ERA. He has allowed two earned runs or fewer in 10 of his 11 starts this season. Shortstop Manny Machado singled in the first inning and has now hit safely in 18 of 22...

BALTIMORE - With the news that reliever Ryan Madson is close to returning after a pectoral strain has had him shelved since May 17, Nationals manager Davey Martinez will have to decide who goes and who stays in an eight-man bullpen that has done a nice job recently of finishing games. The bullpen has allowed only two earned runs in the last five games, the Nats have gone 4-1 in that span. Coupled with the Madson news is that left-hander Matt Grace is also close to returning from his groin...

BALTIMORE - The Nationals expect to get two key relievers back on their active roster this weekend. Ryan Madson and Matt Grace each have taken significant steps in recent days in their rehab from injuries, and each is on track to come off the disabled list for this weekend's series in Atlanta. Madson, out since May 17 with a right pectoral strain, threw off a mound earlier this week and reported no problems, convincing club officials he was on the verge of returning to the roster. "One more...

With his decreasing average causing his frustrations to increase, Orioles left fielder Trey Mancini is getting a day off today, at least at the beginning of the game. He is not in tonight's starting lineup. After going 1-for-13 over the weekend versus Tampa Bay, Mancini went 0-for-4 and hit into a pair of double plays in last night's 6-0 loss to Washington. He is batting .118 (6-for-51) over the past 13 games. Mancini is well-known for being hard on himself and that was apparent again during...

Closer Zach Britton had his bags packed for tonight's drive to Triple-A Norfolk, where he was supposed to begin his injury rehab assignment Wednesday night. However, the weather forecast may create an unexpected detour. Britton might join Single-A Frederick in Wilmington, Del., instead of pitching for the Tides. The Orioles are finalizing the decision and how it could impact his schedule. Sitting at his locker earlier today, Britton said he'd likely pitch twice at Norfolk before the Orioles...

The low Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds got off to a roaring start and thanks in large part to the performance of their starting rotation. A couple of those starters, Michael Baumann and Zac Lowther, have been promoted to high Single-A Frederick, clearing the way for left-hander Cameron Ming. Ming, 22, was selected by the Orioles in the 14th round of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Arizona. With the likes of guys like Brenan Hanifee, Baumann and Lowther on the...

BALTIMORE - Jeremy Hellickson's two months as an Oriole late last summer were, to put it bluntly, not good. You can't sugarcoat a 6.97 ERA in 10 starts. Hellickson's first two months as a National, however, have been nothing short of brilliant. You can't describe a 2.13 ERA in seven starts any other way. Tonight, Hellickson gets a chance to show Baltimore how far he's come. Which isn't to say another dominant start is a given. This is a hitter's ballpark, and especially so with the...

The Orioles are changing leadoff hitters again, with Jonathan Schoop batting first tonight against Nationals right-hander Jeremy Hellickson. Trey Mancini is on the bench. He hit .272/.339/.427 in March/April and is batting .198/.281/.327 in May. He's 1-for-17 in his last four games and 6-for-53 in his last 13. Jace Peterson is in left field. Chris Davis is batting cleanup. He's 11-for-30 (.367) with three doubles, two home runs and nine RBIs lifetime against Hellickson. Adam Jones is batting...

The depth of evil and inhumanity found in "Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI" is so deep that it could not be fiction - no one would believe it. David Grann is an investigative reporter, a staff writer for the New Yorker and an author. He approaches this work to tell us what happened at the turn of the 20th century to the Osage and their new-found wealth. As always, the U.S. government kept pushing the Native Americans anywhere the white man didn't want...