When Double-A Harrisburg lefty Logan Darnell pulls on his home jersey for the Senators' game against Bowie on July 26 at FNB Field, it'll mean a little more than usual. That's the night the Senators will don special jerseys on End Alzheimer's Night. Darnell lost his mother, Caye, 59, to Alzheimer's disease on April 13, and has been working with team management to come up with creative ways to mix his mound work and the need to raise funds and awareness. The jerseys from End Alzheimer's...

Trey Mancini's absence from the Orioles lineup lasted one game. He's starting at first base for tonight's makeup game against the Phillies. Chris Davis is the designated hitter and Mark Trumbo is in right field. Jace Peterson's knee must be feeling better because he's in left field. Adam Jones is batting cleanup, with Jonathan Schoop moving up to second in the order. Kevin Gausman is making his first career start against the Phillies. Trevor Plouffe is 4-for-12 with two doubles and a home...

Young cancer patients at Baltimore's John's Hopkins Childrens Center got some special visitors earlier this week when a quartet of major league umpires stopped by to brighten the kids' days. Umpires Jim Reynolds, Chris Guccione, John Tumpane and Shane Livensparger ditched their ball-and-strike counters and masks to spend time with the children as part of Umps Care Charities BLUE for Kids program. Umps Care Charities is the nonprofit founded by MLB Umpires to enrich the lives of at-risk youth...

The Nationals struck early and acquired Royals reliever Kelvin Herrera. Seattle traded for Rays reliever Alex Colome, adding to an already-strong bullpen. Those acquisitions are likely just the beginning for contenders strengthening their bullpens, a necessary task for teams planning to be around in October. In the last few years, big-name players who have been traded - Andrew Miller, Aroldys Chapman and Justin Verlander - have altered the postseason landscape. This year, the Orioles' Zach...

Up-and-coming country artist Renee Blair is coming to Oriole Park, and she's bringing a new single with her! The Orioles' Friday Fireworks & Music at America's Ballpark series continues on July 13 with a special performance by Blair, an independent country recording artist from Nashville. In 2016, Blair signed a publishing and production deal with Nashville-based company SMACKSongs and has now been busy writing and recording. She has an EP in the works, which is being executive produced...

NEW YORK - The Nationals got themselves into a hole in their division last week after a sweep at the hands of the first-place Red Sox. Many fans and reporters looked at the next three series against Marlins, Pirates and Mets as a chance for the club to get something going right before the All-Star break and cut into the Phillies and Braves' lead atop the National League East. Arriving in New York for another critical divisional series, the Nats are just 4-3 during the stretch in which they had...

On July 6, Nationals catcher Spencer Kieboom sensed starter Gio Gonzalez was a bit frustrated at not being able to go past five innings. Gonzalez tied a season high by throwing 114 pitches, forcing him from the game despite only allowing two runs. Gonzalez backed up that start July 6 with a quality start yesterday in the 2-0 loss at Pittsburgh. With Matt Wieters as his catcher, Gonzalez went six innings and again allowed only two runs. Back-to-back starts with two runs or less is a good sign...

The Orioles lost to the Yankees last night and got their latest subpar start - this one from right-hander Dylan Bundy, the seventh consecutive game in which the O's have not had a quality start. The rotation ERA is 7.99 in that stretch. Before these seven games, the O's rotation had recorded nine quality starts in 14 games and looked like it had turned a corner. But Bundy has allowed 11 runs in 7 1/3 innings in two starts since coming off the disabled list. This stretch also includes Andrew...

PITTSBURGH - What's the biggest reason the Nationals are having so much trouble consistently scoring runs this season? The easy answer, as Davey Martinez has said on more than one occasion, to blame the club's struggles with runners in scoring position. "It's more collectively," the manager said after Wednesday's 2-0 loss to the Pirates. "Individually, the guys hit the ball here and there. But it's more like our situational hitting. Runners on second base. Sometimes you've just got to...

To gain a more complete understanding of the improvement in reliever Zach Britton's sinker, count the bruises on catcher Caleb Joseph. I didn't do it - we're friendly, but the relationship has its limits - but he wore a few more Tuesday night after knocking down multiple pitches in the dirt in the ninth inning to keep the game tied and set up Jonathan Schoop for the walk-off single. Britton at his best, like during the 2016 season, is a tremendous challenge for the guy squatting behind the...