NEW YORK - The tarp is on the Yankee Stadium infield and it's raining hard. Orioles who were playing catch in left field had to sprint to the dugout as it intensified. That's the extent of my weather update. Chris Davis wasn't in the clubhouse while it opened to the media. Manager Buck Showalter will have to explain why the first baseman isn't in tonight's lineup. Hyun Soo Kim also is out of the lineup while recovering from a right hamstring strain. "It has gotten better," Kim said...

It's that time of year again to break out the box of tissues: ESPN's annual "My Wish" series returns this week and will feature Nationals right fielder and reigning National League MVP Bryce Harper granting the wish of a local fan battling a serious illness. On its 10th anniversary, the "My Wish" series on "SportsCenter" will showcase the power of sports wishes that the Make-A-Wish foundation grants. Tomorrow night's 6 p.m. edition of "SportsCenter" will highlight 16-year-old...

The Orioles have played the Yankees six times this year, winning four, but both of those series were in Baltimore. They make their first visit to Yankee Stadium tonight to start a four-game series. Off a series win on the road against the Rays, the Orioles are 53-37 and leading the American League East by two games over the Red Sox and three over the Blue Jays. The Yankees (45-46) are in fourth place, 8 1/2 games out. New York is under .500 after the All-Star break for the first time since...

NEW YORK - Hyun Soo Kim and Chris Davis are out of the Orioles lineup for tonight's series opener against the Yankees. Nolan Reimold is in left field and Ryan Flaherty is starting at first base. Despite yesterday's loss at Tropicana Field, the Orioles remain two games ahead of the Red Sox for first place in the American League East. The Blue Jays are three back and the Yankees trail by 8 1/2. The Orioles have scored 148 runs in the seventh inning or later to lead the American League, and...

Right-hander Max Scherzer pitched Sunday. And he pitched really well. No, really he did. The Nationals allowed only two runs in 18 innings Sunday. The game took so long, Scherzer felt like he was already preparing for his next start. "My arm hurts it's so long ago," Scherzer said. "Now I can actually feel day-after soreness." But Scherzer did pitch well. He tossed seven innings, allowing only one run over six innings, with one walk and seven strikeouts. The Pirates strung together a pair...

Manager: Joe Girardi (9th season) Record: 45-46 Last 10 games: 5-5 Who to watch: SS Didi Gregorius (.299 average, 11 HR, 41 RBIs); RF Carlos Beltran (.297 average, 19 HR, 58 RBIs); SP Nathan Eovaldi (7-6, 5.11 ERA); RP Aroldis Chapman (3-0, 2.30 ERA, 18 saves); RP Andrew Miller (5-1, 1.34 ERA). Season series vs. Orioles: 2-4 Pitching probables: July 18: RHP Kevin Gausman vs. RHP Ivan Nova, 7:05 p.m., MASNJuly 19: RHP Vance Worley vs. RHP Nathan Eovaldi, 7:05 p.m., MASNJuly 20: RHP Yovani...

You can call me a skeptic, a pessimist or someone who just generally doesn't enjoy fun, but I don't like the idea of Dylan Bundy as a starter for the Orioles right now. I thought this even before the 23-year-old former fourth-overall pick made his first major league start yesterday. This isn't a "hot take" or an overreaction to yesterday's outing, which was obviously less than stellar. I was mildly surprised by the move to start Bundy. At the start of the season, I never thought it was...

With all the sabrmetrics and advanced stats that we baseball geeks toss around these days, there is still one aspect of the game we can't accurately quantify: Clutch. The official statisticians tried to do it for a few years back in the 1980s with the game-winning RBI, but that stat was abandoned after too many batters got credit for early-inning singles in eventual routs. So we're left with anecdotal evidence such as pinch-hitting numbers to say who has what it takes with the game on...

When Trea Turner singled to left field in the fourth inning of Friday night's game, the Nationals rookie couldn't help but notice the lackadaisical manner in which the Pirates' Starling Marte got the ball back to the infield. Turner made a mental note, wondering if another opportunity would arrive later in the weekend to use that knowledge to his advantage. "The base hit I had the other day, I saw the left fielder ... take his time," Turner said. "When you hit the ball to left field, the...

It was about as uplifting a moment as the Nationals have experienced all season, their injured All-Star infielder coming up to bat with two outs in the bottom of the ninth and in his first at-bat in five days sending a game-tying homer down the right field line that earned him a curtain call from the crowd of 32,775. Daniel Murphy's dramatic home run represented the kind of moment teams look back at months from now as a highlight of a season that perhaps ends with an even more memorable...