ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Orioles closer Zach Britton remains scheduled to come off the disabled list on July 5 as he moves smoothly through his injury rehab assignment. Britton tossed another scoreless inning last night at Single-A Delmarva, walking a batter and throwing 11 pitches. He's allowed one hit in three scoreless innings on his assignment, the first at short-season Single-A Aberdeen. Britton will pitch Monday and Thursday at Double-A Bowie and join Single-A Frederick for Friday's game,...

Some pregame news and notes before the Nationals and Reds wrap up their series ... * It got lost in the shuffle of Friday night's extra-inning comeback win, but Daniel Murphy reached a nice career milestone: his 100th home run. That number may not carry a whole lot of weight in today's game, but what's most impressive in Murphy's case is that nearly half of those homers have come in the last two calendar years. Yes, Murphy has hit 48 home runs since July 2015, a span of 1,163 plate...

After a 15-5 loss to the Rays on Friday followed by an 8-3 win on Saturday afternoon, the Orioles and Tampa Bay play the third and deciding game of their series this afternoon. The Orioles are 36-38 overall, 12-24 on the road, 3-2 against Tampa Bay and 22-17 versus the American League East. Saturday's win was just the second road victory in the last 15 games for the Orioles. A victory today would give the Orioles their first road series win since April 18-20 at Cincinnati. Tampa Bay is 40-37...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Orioles manager Buck Showalter is going with a right-handed heavy lineup this afternoon against the Rays. Right-handers are batting .199 against Tampa Bay starter Jake Odorizzi this season, but .249 in his career. Left-handers are hitting .268 this season, but .228 over his career. Joey Rickard is leading off and playing left field and Craig Gentry is batting eighth and playing right. Jonathan Schoop remains in the third slot in the order, with Adam Jones hitting...

The Nationals go for a series sweep today, having already beaten the Reds twice (a 10-inning thriller on Friday, then an 18-3 rout on Saturday) this weekend. They'll attempt to do so with several regulars getting a rest, including Ryan Zimmerman and Matt Wieters. That's nothing new, of course, and with this series in the bag and the Cubs coming to town tomorrow for a big four-game set, it's understandable that Dusty Baker would want to ease off the gas pedal a bit today. Not that the...

More on the amazing game for Trea Turner on Saturday when the Nats blasted the Reds 18-3: Turner went 5-for-5 with a walk, setting a new career high by reaching base six times. The last time a Nationals player pulled off that feat in one game was on April 30, when Anthony Rendon did it against the Mets. The four runs Turner scored also matched a career high. "As he goes, we go," said manager Dusty Baker. "A lot of things happen when Trea gets on base. He was on base all six times, went...

They got some clutch hits late in the game and they held an opponent to three runs. So Saturday was a good day for the Orioles as they beat Tampa Bay 8-3 for just their second road win 15 games. They are still two games under .500 at 36-38 and have lost 28 of 42 games since May 10. The way their starting rotation has been pitching, there is no hint that the club is about to make a dramatic turnaround. But for one day they looked good. Now we see if they can do it again. A win today at Tropicana...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Chris Tillman wouldn't concede that today's start against the Rays held more importance than previous outings due to his continuing struggles. He wasn't influenced by the jump in ERA from 5.59 to 8.39 over his past three games. He could distance himself from any perceived separators. "Not at all," he said. "A start is a start is a start. I've made a lot of them in my career. A lot of bad ones, a lot of good ones. "It's such a fine line between a bad start and a...

Trea Turner and Michael A. Taylor reached career highs in hits, and Joe Ross pitched seven solid innings as the Nationals crushed the Reds 18-3 before a sellout 40,139 at Nats Park. Turner went 5-for-5 with five singles, four runs, and a walk and two RBIs, setting a career high in hits. After some rough patches early in June, Turner has raised his average to .275. "I feel better," Turner said. "I feel like it starting to come around. I feel more comfortable. Found some holes today. I felt...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Dylan Bundy finished his warmup tosses and headed into the visiting dugout at Tropicana Field, waiting for the top of the first inning to be completed and his latest start to officially unfold. It was meaningful on various levels. Bundy's schedule moving forward might have been influenced by his performance. Of far greater importance, he could play stopper for a club that lost 12 of its last 16 games and continued to share last place with the Blue Jays. And a quality...