Eric Nadel is the voice of the Texas Rangers. He has been recognized by the National Baseball Hall of Fame with the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting excellence. He is a longtime associate and friend and he is a reader. I caught up with him on the Rangers' trip to Baltimore. Nadel not only reads, but believes in supporting the book business, by visiting bookstores and buying books in which he has an interest. Good man. I have not read "The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein, but...

SEATTLE - Caleb Joseph is behind the plate tonight, paired with starter Kevin Gausman for the series opener against the Mariners at Safeco Field. Tim Beckham remains the leadoff hitter. Adam Jones remains in the cleanup spot, with Chris Davis batting seventh. Jones needs one hit to tie Boog Powell for fifth place on the Orioles' all-time list with 1,574. He's 7-for-17 with two doubles and two home runs in his last four games. Gausman is 1-10 with a 4.42 ERA in 13 career starts against the...

After losing two of three in Anaheim and splitting a four-game series in Oakland, the Orioles have arrived at the final stop of this road trip. They begin a three-game series tonight at Safeco Field against the Seattle Mariners. The Orioles (58-60) are 3-4 on this trip and continue to chase the .500 mark. They would need to sweep this series to return home on Friday with a record of better than .500. Seattle (59-60) just got swept four straight at home by the Angels. They lost by scores of 6-3,...

Despite what you may have seen over the past few weeks, the Orioles still don't have a ton of pitching at their disposal. The starting rotation has been the weakest link on this team for years, and the 2017 campaign has been no different. O's starters have the worst ERA in the American League at 5.53, second-worst in the majors only to the Cincinnati Reds. Baltimore also ranks 13th in innings pitched from its starters in the AL, ahead of only the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox. On the...

Michael A. Taylor's timing was right on target on defense in his return to the lineup. His strike from the outfield to get Joe Panik attempting to score kept the Nationals within striking distance of the Giants on Sunday night. The Nats eventually won the game 6-2 on a walk-off grand slam by Howie Kendrick in the 11th inning. Taylor fired a strike from center field to Matt Wieters at home, who's sweep tag hit Joe Panik on the head for the out. Manager Dusty Baker said the defensive play was...

SEATTLE - Losing two of three in Anaheim and splitting a four-game series in Oakland is no way for the Orioles to convince the skeptics that they're legitimate playoff contenders. The West Coast continues to torment them. The Orioles are 2 ½ games behind for the second wild card and 9 ½ out of first place in the American League East because they couldn't punish an Athletics team that's 14 games below .500 and has the second-fewest wins in the league with 52. A team with the lowest...

OAKLAND, Calif. - If the Orioles are going to be a playoff team in the 2017 season, they probably first need to be a team that wins at least half of its games. Right now the club is having a hard time even getting to .500, much less staying there or moving several games over. Since June 21, the Orioles have gotten to .500 just three times. They were 38-38 on June 27, 39-39 on June 29 and 56-56 on Aug. 7. The last instance was a week ago when they beat the Angels 6-2 in Anaheim to start this...

Howie Kendrick has had some big moments in his career, but never a grand slam. And never a walk-off extra-inning grand slam with his brand-new team. That all happened with one swing to finish off a laborious day of baseball for the Nationals. Kendrick's grand slam in the bottom of the 11th Sunday night lifted the Nats to a 6-2 series-clinching win over the Giants. "It was pretty cool. I'm not going to lie," Kendrick said. "That was my first grand slam. When I hit it I thought it was just...

Manager: Scott Servais (2nd season) Record: 59-60 Last 10 games: 4-6 Who to watch: DH Nelson Cruz (28 HR, 93 RBIs), SS Jean Segura (.319 with 17 stolen bases), 2B Robinson Canó (.273/.335/.464), CF Jarrod Dyson (27 stolen bases), RHP Edwin Díaz (3.40 ERA, 27 saves) Season series vs. Orioles: First meeting (6-1 in 2016) Pitching probables: Aug. 14: RHP Kevin Gausman vs. RHP Yovani Gallardo, 10:10 p.m., MASNAug. 15: LHP Wade Miley vs. TBA, 10:10 p.m., MASN2Aug. 16: RHP Ubaldo Jiménez vs....

As he tried to put Bryce Harper's knee injury into context with the rest of the ailments that have been suffered by the Nationals this summer, Mike Rizzo managed to crack a quick smile with one line. "We've got some significant WAR on the disabled list right now," the general manager said. "And we're still playing extremely well." Indeed, the Nationals already had Trea Turner, Adam Eaton, Jayson Werth, Michael A. Taylor, Stephen Strasburg, Joe Ross, Stephen Drew, Shawn Kelley and Koda...