Chris Davis has returned to the Orioles lineup after sitting out last night, but he's been lowered to seventh in the order. Tim Beckham remains the leadoff hitter. Trey Mancini homered twice last night and is the first Orioles rookie with 20 since Cal Ripken Jr. in 1982. Ripken finished with 28. Ubaldo Jiménez is 4-1 with a 4.66 ERA in seven career starts against the Athletics and 2-0 with a 2.31 ERA in two starts in Oakland. He's allowed three runs in 11 2/3 innings, but he's also walked...

One of the best moves that the Orioles made at the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline was rather under publicised. Sure, Tim Beckham has shown his importance, earning American League Player of the Week honors for going 14-for-24 (.583) in his first six games with Baltimore. Jeremy Hellickson has been a solid addition to the O's rotation, delivering quality starts in his first two outings against the Royals and Angels. But Manny Machado's resurgence in the second half has been incredibly...

OAKLAND, Calif. - If Trey Mancini was in a slump, it was hard to notice. But he did have just three hits his previous 23 at-bats going into last night's series opener at Oakland. His average had dipped below .300 and he went 0-for-11 to start the road trip. But he matched that hit total last night, going 3-for-4 with a double and two solo homers as the Orioles beat Oakland 7-2 in front of 11,386 at the Oakland Coliseum. The Orioles hit back-to-back homers twice, and both times it happened on...

OAKLAND, Calif. - In need of offense after scoring three runs over the last two games, the Orioles turned to an old friend tonight - the longball. They hit back-to-back homers on back-to-back pitches twice tonight to beat the A's 7-2 in the opener of this four-game series at Oakland Coliseum. The Orioles improved to 57-58 for the season and to 2-2 on this 10-game road trip. Oakland is 50-65. Adam Jones and Trey Mancini went back-to-back in the fourth off A's righty Chris Smith for a 3-1 lead....

Orioles manager Buck Showalter didn't wait until the Orioles faced a left-hander to sit first baseman Chris Davis. It happened last night with the Athletics starting Chris Smith. Davis is batting .212/.311/.427 in 85 games, with nine doubles, 18 home runs, 41 RBIs and 128 strikeouts in 302 at-bats. He's 4-for-33 with one home run and 11 strikeouts this month. Davis actually is batting .228 against left-handers this season and .204 against right-handers. The A's are starting right-hander Paul...

Sean Doolittle is a one-pitch pitcher. He's not afraid to admit it. As noted before, he's willing to throw the occasional slider or changeup, but at his core he's a fastball guy and he'll keep living and dying by that fastball. Which is why, in part, the final at-bat of Thursday night's game at Nationals Park was so compelling. With two outs and the tying runner on third base, Doolittle was facing Marlins leadoff man Dee Gordon. The left-hander kept pumping out high fastballs, and Gordon...

Right-hander Tanner Roark's velocity was down and he was walking too many guys. But you look up at the final line score and the most important stat of the night? He allowed the Marlins only two runs. Down 2-0, the Nats came back to beat the Marlins 3-2 on a Brian Goodwin solo shot and Andrew Stevenson's spectacular, game-ending, diving catch. Roark kept his club in the game despite five walks. The big blow was another Giancarlo Stanton homer. His two-run shot in the third gave the Marlins a...

The Nationals expect to have a fully healthy lineup within a matter of weeks, with Michael A. Taylor set to return from the disabled list first, then Jayson Werth and Trea Turner following shortly after that. Which means Brian Goodwin is headed back to the bench in the near future, and Andrew Stevenson is likely headed back to the minors (at least until rosters expand in September). As long as both rookie outfielders are here and wearing Nationals uniforms, though, they're going to keep...

The Nationals were able to put out their newly minted 1-2-3 punch for the final three innings Thursday in a series-clinching 3-2 victory over the Marlins. Brandon Kintzler, Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle held the Marlins scoreless in those three frames, surrendering only two hits with no walks and striking out three. The trio arrived after the Nats had comeback from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game in the sixth. Brian Goodwin's solo homer in the eighth put the Nats up for good. Those three...

OAKLAND, Calif. - It may now be just a matter of days before the Orioles get a look at Rule 5 outfielder Anthony Santander at the major league level. Manager Buck Showalter is excited to see what he's got. The 22-year-old native of Venezuela was taken from the Indians organization last December at the Winter Meetings. Santander played for Lynchburg in the Carolina League last year. He batted .290/.368/.494 with 42 doubles, 20 home runs, 90 runs scored, 95 RBIs and 10 stolen bases in 128 games....