The Orioles moved more international signing bonus slots in an attempt to improve their depth at the minor league level. Infielder Brallan Pérez, 21, has been acquired from the Rangers for the bonus slots and assigned to Single-A Frederick. The team made the announcement early this afternoon. Pérez, a native of Colombia, is a career .292/.388/.354 hitter in 274 games over five minor league seasons. He's played at three levels this season, mostly at Single-A Down East, where he hit...

CHICAGO - It is a spectacular summer day on the North Side, with not a cloud in the sky, a nice cool breeze blowing from the northwest and temperatures climbing into the upper 70s by the time the Nationals and Cubs take the field for the second game of their weekend series. The Nats originally had Gio Gonzalez penciled in for this start, but he has officially been placed on the paternity leave list and is back in D.C. for the birth of his second child. Erick Fedde has officially been recalled...

It is hard to win a game with just two runs, but the Orioles seemed positioned well to do it last night. They took a 2-1 lead behind Kevin Gausman to the top of the eighth. They brought in Mychal Givens, who has been among the best relievers in the game this year. A 1.86 ERA for the season, no runs allowed his previous 12 games, an ERA of 0.60 since late May over 26 games. He's been pitching great. The Orioles had Givens for the eighth and Zach Britton for the ninth, but they never could get...

Figuring out how the Orioles are going to reconstruct their roster has become a game within the game. Manager Buck Showalter wants to go back to a four-man bench, especially with Trey Mancini day-to-day with a bruised left knee. He has six starters and seven relievers, and placing Chris Tillman in the bullpen - if that's the move - only shuffles the deck. Same number of cards. Ryan Flaherty will play again tonight for Double-A Bowie, the games located near his home in Portland, Maine. He's...

That one was tough to take. Orioles starter Kevin Gausman had outdueled Justin Verlander through seven innings and the Orioles turned the game over to their bullpen to protect a one-run late lead. They turned to right-hander Mychal Givens, who has been outstanding, with a 1.86 ERA for the season. He had pitched to a 0.60 ERA over his past 26 games. But he couldn't do it this time. Detroit left fielder Justin Upton hit a first-pitch grand slam to left in the eighth, and the one-run lead and the...

The Orioles' rotation got its second wind tonight after a brief hiccup. The gut punch that followed left an entire team doubled over. Manny Machado hit his first home run since the break and it broke a tie in the third inning, and Kevin Gausman extended his streak of quality starts to four, but Justin Upton hit a grand slam off Mychal Givens in the eighth to give the Tigers a 5-2 win before an announced crowd of 22,882 at Camden Yards. The Orioles were five outs away from winning their sixth...

CHICAGO - Daniel Murphy likes to hit at Wrigley Field. That's something he has established over his entire career, and especially in the last few seasons. Murphy isn't alone in taking pleasure from stepping into the batter's box inside the Friendly Confines, which has been a hitter's haven since the iconic bleachers were constructed in 1937. But the Nationals second baseman goes beyond the norm here, as evidenced by his astounding numbers. Over the course of his career - including playoffs...

A five-game winning streak now over after Thursday's series opener, the Orioles will try to start a new one tonight. They host the Detroit Tigers in the second game of a four-game series. The Orioles (53-55) last night missed a chance to get back to the .500 mark for the first time since June 29, when they were 39-39. But an early 7-0 deficit was too deep a hole to get out of, and they lost 7-5 to fall to 33-22 at home, 1-3 versus Detroit and 2-1 in August after a 12-14 month of July. Despite...

CHICAGO - Tempting as it is to just hand the final three innings of a ballgame over to his new trio of experienced relievers, Dusty Baker also knows he can't overdo it on Aug. 4, in the first game of a weekend series against the defending World Series champs, with two fill-in starters taking the mound the next two afternoons. So Baker didn't hesitate to send Tanner Roark back to the mound for the bottom of the seventh today at Wrigley Field, with his Nationals leading the Cubs by three runs...

Part of manager Buck Showalter's day was spent chatting with Chris Tillman, who didn't record an out in the third inning last night and was charged with five earned runs (seven total) to raise his ERA to 8.10. Showalter said he was trying to get "some feedback" from Tillman - what he's feeling and thinking. "Got a better idea," Showalter said. "Always try to talk to guys when they've had a couple of starts or whatever that haven't been what they're capable of. "Nobody understands it...