MILWAUKEE - Jonathan Papelbon is eligible to come off the 15-day disabled list on June 29, and with a little luck, the Nationals could have their closer back by the middle of next week. Papelbon, who has been on the DL with a right intercostal strain since June 15, threw a 40-pitch bullpen session Saturday afternoon, the first time he's thrown off a mound since being sidelined. Previously, he'd been limited to work on flat ground. "The ball was flying everywhere, but I felt really good,"...

Orioles left-hander T. J. McFarland is quite familiar with the Norfolk-Baltimore shuttle. He took a ride heading north again yesterday, arriving Friday in the O's clubhouse and being activated today. With a day-night split doubleheader here today, the Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays can add a 26th man for both games. It has to be the same player for both games and McFarland is the O's 26th player today. "We got two games, so I'm probably going to get some innings," McFarland said this morning...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter made the decision to start Kevin Gausman in Game 1 of today's doubleheader and Chris Tillman in Game 2 after considering a variety of separators. Showalter also consulted with Tillman, the veteran right-hander, to get his preference. Making out the lineups against two right-handed opponents, Matt Andriese and Jake Odorizzi, also was a complicated process. "It starts like a week ago," Showalter said. "I'm not going to tell things that reflect on one versus the...

The Orioles today announced that they have recalled left-hander T.J. McFarland from Triple-A Norfolk as the 26th player for today's doubleheader. McFarland, 27, went 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA (7 ER/21.0 IP) over five games (four starts) with Triple-A Norfolk this season. In 13 games with the Orioles this season, McFarland has gone 1-2 with a 5.14 ERA (12 ER/21.0 IP). Over 118 career major league games (two starts), he has gone 11-7 with a 4.02 ERA (87 ER/194.2 IP) and 124 strikeouts.

MILWAUKEE - The Nationals' losing streak has reached a season-worst six games, and the pitcher they turn to in hopes of halting it this afternoon hasn't won a game in his past six starts. But there is cause for hope. Since beating the Mets at Citi Field on May 18, left-hander Gio Gonzalez is 0-5. He's failed to get to the sixth inning three times in that span, most recently June 19 in San Diego when he gave up six runs (five earned) on eight hits and four walks in 5 1/3 innings. Today,...

The Orioles have officially recalled left-hander T.J. McFarland from Triple-A Norfolk to be the 26th player on the roster to today's split doubleheader against the Rays. McFarland went 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA over five games (four starts) with Norfolk this season. Hyun Soo Kim is in left field and batting second for the first game of the doubleheader. Mark Trumbo is in right and Pedro Alvarez is serving as the designated hitter. Francisco Pena is catching Kevin Gausman, who is still looking for...

Left-hander Taylor Hearn rehabbed with the Gulf Coast League Nationals on Friday in their 7-3 11-inning win over the Gulf Coast League Mets. Hearn is working his way back from a foot injury he suffered in mid-April. He tossed three innings, allowing no runs and one hit with four walks and two strikeouts. It was his first game since April 13. Nationals top-selection infielder Carter Kieboom made his GCL Nats debut. Kieboom went 1-for-5 with a RBI. As the designated hitter, he had a single in his...

MILWAUKEE - As Wilson Ramos keeps chugging along, ripping hit after hit with an authoritative bat, he's pushing an indicator within the Nationals clubhouse to previously unseen heights. A .341/.385/.567 slash line - boosted again after a 4-for-5 night in a 5-3 loss to the Brewers on Friday - is only part of the story. During June, when he's hitting .371 in 19 games while starting exclusively in the fourth, fifth and sixth spots in the lineup, Ramos has done a good job of gaining his...

Catcher Caleb Joseph's return to the Orioles is now likely just days away. Joseph will catch for the first time since his injury on Monday night for Single-A Frederick. If that goes well, he could return to the Orioles as soon as next Wednesday in San Diego. Joseph took a foul ball to the groin area on May 30, sustaining a testicular injury. He underwent a surgical procedure at the University of Maryland Medical Center that left him in extreme discomfort initially. But now, nearly four weeks...

MILWAUKEE - The hushed tone of Dusty Baker spoke volumes after a 5-3 loss to the Brewers on Friday night stretched the Nationals' losing streak to a season-worst six games and left a once-thriving offense searching for answers. Baker can live with the occasional skid - it happens to every team at some point during a season, and he didn't think his Nationals would escape baseball normalcy. But the alarming rate at which his hitters struck out against five Milwaukee pitchers - 16 times in all,...