The Orioles made their roster move official today, subtracting the undisputed leader of their infield due to injury. J.J. Hardy has been placed on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to yesterday with a fractured left foot, and the Orioles recalled infielder Ryan Flaherty from Triple-A Norfolk. A CT scan yesterday confirmed that Hardy suffered a hairline fracture after fouling a ball off it during the fourth inning of Sunday afternoon's game against the White Sox. Hardy remained in the game...

Center fielder Ben Revere, on a minor league rehabilitation assignment with a strained right oblique, played five innings in Triple-A Syracuse's 1-0 win over Rochester on Monday, going 0-for-3. On defense, he caught a pair of flyouts in the second inning and one in the third. He squeezed a flyout in the fourth and then retrieved a single later in the inning. On offense, he grounded out to the pitcher in the first and grounded out to the first baseman in his second at-bat. He later grounded out...

Through his first month at the major league level, Joey Rickard has fared pretty well overall. The most recent Orioles Rule 5 pick, he's put up a .278/.308/.392 slash line over 104 plate appearances -- not elite production, sure, but much better than what the team got from Travis Snider and Delmon Young last year. For all his skill, though, Rickard has displayed a major shortcoming, and he'll have to correct it if he wants to have a long career in the show. As a minor leaguer, Rickard never...

The Nationals' minor league affiliates are developing outfielders, and this started years ago with Billy Burns, who was used as trade bait to snag Jerry Blevins. In a subsequent trade of Blevins, Mike Rizzo traded him to snag Matt den Dekker. Let's review the pipeline of prospects: * Hagerstown Low-A, Victor Robles* Potomac High-A, Andrew Stevenson* Harrisburg Double-A, Rafael Bautista* Syracuse Triple-A, Brian Goodwin All of those minor leaguers are currently batting over .300 and each have...

KANSAS CITY - With his team holding onto a 2-0 lead in the seventh inning last night against a Royals lineup that won last year's World Series thanks in large part to its ability to string together big rallies late in games, Nationals manager Dusty Baker could have gone the paint-by-numbers approach with the back end of his bullpen. Felipe Rivero in the seventh. Blake Treinen in the eighth. Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth. That, on paper, is the way the Nationals have drawn up the final three...

KANSAS CITY - There were moments during tonight's game that looked all too familiar to Gio Gonzalez, moments when the left-hander could have been on the brink of disaster and too often in the past succumbed to the pressure. A 28-pitch first inning that featured tough at-bat after tough at-bat from the Royals. A two-on, two-out jam in the third with the heart of the lineup at the plate. A two-on, one-out jam in the sixth as his pitch count approached and then topped the century mark. Each time,...

Manager: Joe Girardi (9th season) Record: 8-15 Last 10 games: 3-7 Who to watch: 2B Starlin Castro (.314/.352/.500 with 12 RBIs), C Brian McCann (.262/.360/.415), DH Alex Rodriguez (5 HR, 12 RBIs), RHP Masahiro Tanaka (1-0, 2.87), LHP Andrew Miller (0.00 ERA with 5 saves) Season series vs. Orioles: First meeting (9-10 in 2015) Pitching probables: May 3: RHP Luis Severino vs. RHP Chris Tillman, 7:05 p.m., MASN May 4: LHP CC Sabathia vs. Tyler Wilson, 7:05 p.m., MASN May 5: RHP Masahiro Tanaka vs....

KANSAS CITY - They marched into St. Louis and won three straight, pulling off their first sweep at Busch Stadium. Now they've marched into Kansas City and taken the opener of their interleague series against the defending World Series champs. Behind another highly effective pitching performance from Gio Gonzalez and another early offensive explosion, the Nationals took a quick 2-0 lead on the Royals and made it hold up the rest of the night. Gonzalez wasn't as sharp as he had been in several...

It's time to get busy again after yesterday's off-day. Please watch your step while I'm dripping with sarcasm. I wouldn't want you to slip and fall. Infielder Ryan Flaherty will be recalled from Triple-A Norfolk to replace shortstop J.J. Hardy, who's going on the disabled list with a hairline fracture in his left foot. In case you haven't memorized this part, Flaherty can return sooner than Thursday because he's replacing an injured player. Hardy will be out at least four weeks. I've...

KANSAS CITY - The Nationals continue to do damage in the first inning, even if Bryce Harper isn't contributing to it. With Harper mired in a sudden slump, the Nats have had to turn to others for offense. They delivered all weekend during a three-game sweep in St. Louis, and they delivered again in the top of the first tonight in their interleague series opener in at Kauffman Stadium, scoring two quick runs to take an early lead. Michael A. Taylor and Anthony Rendon set the table with a leadoff...