The bulk of today's pregame talk centered of course on last night's brawl between the Orioles and Royals. There were other topics floating around. Just none that were deemed as important. Suspensions are looming for Manny Machado and Yordano Ventura, the central figures last night. In the meantime, I'm going to dump a bunch of quotes at your feet from managers Buck Showalter and Ned Yost. You may notice that they're not on the same page. The managers, not the quotes. Also, it seems apparent...

The Orioles' Mark Trumbo leads the majors with 20 home runs. He hit No. 20 in the fifth inning last night, a two-run shot. Trumbo has now hit two homers in this series, seven homers over his last 13 games and 14 in his past 33 contests. Todd Frazier of the Chicago White Sox ranks second with 19 homers and Colorado's Nolan Arenado ranks third in the majors with 18. Trumbo hit a career-high 34 home runs in 2013 with the Angels. At his current pace, he would hit 57 in 2016. He has hit 10 homers...

The Nationals announced a big haul of minor league All-Stars today. From the high Single-A Potomac Nationals, right-hander Ryan Brinley, left fielder Alec Keller, center fielder Andrew Stevenson and third baseman Drew Ward have been named 2016 Carolina League mid-season All-Stars. From the low Single-A Hagerstown Suns, right-handers Mariano Rivera III and Jefry Rodriguez, second baseman Max Schrock, third baseman Kelvin Gutierrez and outfielder Victor Robles all made the South Atlantic League...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter expects first baseman Chris Davis to return to the lineup on Friday in Toronto. Showalter said Davis is dealing with "a couple of things" physically and he's been looking for a spot to rest his first baseman. Davis continues to ice his thumb, an injury he sustained at Tropicana Field while making a slide/dive into second base. Showalter said "nothing got worse" for Davis following last night's brawl and he hasn't been informed of any new injuries to his...

The Baltimore Orioles have named Patrick Di Gregory as director of professional scouting and special projects, where he will oversee professional scouting operations and complete special baseball operations projects. This marks Di Gregory's fifth season working in professional baseball and his fourth season with the Orioles. He served as coordinator of baseball operations for parts of three seasons (2014-2016) and joined the organization's baseball operations department in 2013. Prior to...

CHICAGO - They piled up 10 runs against John Moscot and the Reds bullpen. Then they piled up 10 runs against Mat Latos and the White Sox bullpen. Now the Nationals will try to keep their offensive surge going tonight against James Shields, the newest member of Chicago's rotation, plus this same relief corps. Shields, acquired from the Padres over the weekend, is trying to rediscover the form that made him one of baseball's most consistent starters for years before things surprisingly fell...

Six years ago today, Stephen Strasburg struck out 14 batters in his big league debut for the Nationals against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Nationals won the game 5-2 before 40,315 fans at Nationals Park. The Nationals moved to D.C. from Montreal in 2005. At the time, Strasburg's debut was the biggest baseball event in Washington since the 1933 World Series. Among the highlights: * Fans stood six deep to watch Strasburg warm up in the bullpen before the game. Then, as he and Nationals pitching...

When the Orioles slugged seven home runs against the Red Sox on June 2, it not only led to a big win against their division rivals, but also provided big-time cash for the Maryland Lottery Contestant of the Game. Teressa Davies of Arbutus was selected as the Maryland Lottery Contestant of the Game, and watched on TV with high hopes and her family by her side. "We were yelling so loud that our daughter went upstairs and our poor dog seemed a little scared," the state employee told lottery...

Chris Davis isn't in the Orioles lineup for tonight's series finale against the Royals. Davis, who's played in every game, dived into the pile during last night's brawl. We'll check whether he sustained an injury. Manny Machado, facing a suspension after charging the mound, remains at shortstop. Mark Trumbo is playing first base. Trumbo is the third Orioles player in the last four years to become the first in the majors to hit 20 home runs, joining Davis in 2013 and Nelson Cruz in 2014....

The Single-A Frederick Keys will be sending three players to the Carolina League-California League All-Star Game on Tuesday, June 21, hosted by the Lake Elsinore Storm. Pitcher Matthew Grimes, infielder Aderlin Rodriguez and catcher Jonah Heim will represent the Keys. The 24-year-old Grimes earns his first professional All-Star nod after also being named the Carolina League Player of the Month for May and the Orioles organization minor league Pitcher of the Month. The right-hander is 7-2 with a...