ARLINGTON, Texas - Mark Trumbo was scratched from the original Orioles lineup today. He was batting fourth as the designated hitter. But manager Buck Showalter said during his pregame media session that it was injury related and, no, Trumbo has not been traded. "He tweaked his back stretching in the weight room," Showalter said. "He's not playing today and hopefully it is not a DL thing. So I can put that one (rumor) to bed. That happened about an hour ago. Richie (Bancells, head athletic...

The Orioles have selected the contract of Triple-A Norfolk outfielder Craig Gentry to fill out their 25-man roster. They were down to 24 players with outfielder Hyun Soo Kim traded to the Phillies. New pitcher Jeremy Hellickson won't report to the team until Monday. The 40-man roster had a couple of openings before today's transaction. The Orioles are listing Ubaldo Jiménez, Dylan Bundy and TBD as starters for their series against the Royals that begins on Monday at Camden Yards....

A busy week of transactions continued this morning when the Nationals tweaked their roster for their doubleheader against the Rockies by officially promoting top pitching prospect Erick Fedde, releasing veteran outfielder Chris Heisey and making a necessary procedural move involving catcher Pedro Severino. Fedde's contract was purchased from Triple-A Syracuse, allowing the 24-year-old right-hander to start today's opener and make his major league debut. Because Fedde wasn't already on their...

ARLINGTON, Texas - The Orioles started this road trip by losing two of three at Tampa Bay after winning the opening game of that series. They could end it today winning two of three in Texas after losing the opening game of this series. Chris Tillman gave up eight runs over 4 1/3 innings on Friday night as Texas routed the Orioles 8-2. Kevin Gausman pitched shutout ball through 8 2/3 innings and 118 pitches last night in the Orioles' 4-0 win. The Orioles had gone five straight games with just...

The Washington Nationals selected the contract of right-handed pitcher Erick Fedde from Triple-A Syracuse on Sunday and granted outfielder Chris Heisey his release. On Saturday evening, catcher Pedro Severino was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse but recalled as the Nationals' 26th man for Sunday's doubleheader against the Colorado Rockies. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcements. Fedde, 24, joins the Nationals for the first Major League...

It's a beautiful day for a ballgame. Let's play ... well, you know. Yes, it's a doubleheader day at Nationals Park, with the Nationals and Rockies meeting in their regularly scheduled contest at 1:35 p.m. and then making up Friday night's rainout at 7:05 p.m. And there's no shortage of interesting storylines to come. The big one for the opener, of course, is the debut of Erick Fedde, who gets promoted from Triple-A Syracuse and will be on a big league mound for the first time in a couple...

Shortstop Wilmer Difo connected on the biggest hit of the game Saturday night for the Nationals in their 4-2 loss to the Rockies. His two-run single that dropped perfectly in front of left fielder Gerardo Parra helped to ignite a rally for the Nationals that in the end came up a bit short. But the base hit on the first offering from Rockies starter German Márquez was a signal that Difo is improving in his pitch recognition. His July has been outstanding. Difo has now hit safely in 16 of the...

ARLINGTON, Texas - The Orioles have played two very different games at Globe Life Park this weekend: one where their starting pitcher Chris Tillman allowed eight runs and one where starter Kevin Gausman allowed no runs in 8 2/3 innings. A team that is the worst in the league in starting pitcher ERA seemed to much more enjoy Gausman's latest strong outing. It seems a long time ago now, but it wasn't that far back. It was the first game of the second half and the Cubs smoked four homers off...

Manager Buck Showalter remains noncommittal about Jeremy Hellickson's debut with the Orioles and whether he's going with a five- or a six-man rotation. Reporters in Texas couldn't pry the answer from him. Hellickson will join the club Monday in Baltimore. In the meantime, the rotation received another boost last night from Kevin Gausman, who came within an out of a complete-game shutout and has allowed only one run in his last 20 2/3 innings. The Orioles surrendered another minor league...

ARLINGTON, Texas - Orioles right-hander Kevin Gausman produced a third straight strong outing tonight. The Orioles backed him with early offense and they beat Texas 4-0 at Globe Life Park. Gausman came within one out of the Orioles' first complete-game shutout since Miguel Gonzalez against Cincinnati on Sept. 3, 2014. After Manny Machado turned a nifty double play to deny Adrian Beltre his 3,000th hit in the ninth, Gausman issued a walk and gave up a bloop single. With his pitch count at 118,...