Former first-round pick Hunter Harvey will be examined by a specialist next week after experiencing more discomfort in his groin. The latest setback occurred after he pitched Thursday in an extended spring training game. Harvey has been shut down for the third time because of the injury, which first surfaced late in spring training while pitching at Twin Lakes Park. Manager Buck Showalter didn't say much about the club's concerns, but it's apparent that Harvey will be checked for a sports...

With the Orioles seeing their only right-handed starter tonight in a five-game stretch, Hyun Soo Kim has been included in the lineup after going 6-for-11 in five games. Rule 5 pick Joey Rickard is out of the lineup for the first time this season. Mark Trumbo is in right field and Pedro Alvarez is serving as the designated hitter. Kevin Gausman is making his second start after allowing one run in five innings against the Rays at Tropicana Field. He allowed three hits and struck out...

ST. LOUIS - Dusty Baker faced Jaime Garcia countless times while managing the Reds, offering him plenty of opportunity to figure out how best to beat the Cardinals left-hander. "This guy knows how to pitch," Baker said this morning before his Nationals faced Garcia at Busch Stadium. "You've got to get to him early." Is a four-run top of the first early enough for you, Dusty? The Nationals pounced on Garcia this afternoon, scoring four times before the Cardinals ever had a chance to bat....

ST. LOUIS - The skies have cleared, the field has been prepped and the starting pitchers have made their way to the bullpens to begin warming up. So it looks like we'll have baseball on time this afternoon. They'll just have to hope they get the full game in before the next wave of rain strikes sometime later. Could be a close call. It's not an ideal scenario for Joe Ross to return to the mound after a 10-day layoff, but the Nationals don't have much choice in the matter. Ross, who was...

ST. LOUIS - It's been raining steadily here since late last night, and more is expected later today. But there does appear to be a potential window of opportunity for the Nationals and Cardinals to play the second game of their weekend series, in between the two cycles of precipitation. We'll see. If and when they do play, Joe Ross will be on the mound for the first time in 10 days, his last start having been cut short after only two innings due to a blister on his right middle finger. Rather...

Ben Revere completed his second rehab game with the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs Friday night. The center fielder, rehabbing a right strained oblique, went 0-for-2 with a walk. Syracuse stunned Pawtucket with a 3-2 walk-off victory. The Chiefs have won five of their last six games. Caleb Ramsey replaced Revere on defense to begin the top of the sixth. Revere has now played a pair of games in a row, playing five innings in each. Manager Dusty Baker had pointed to the Chicago Cubs series as the games...

ST. LOUIS - Take a snapshot of Stephen Strasburg's first trip through the Cardinals lineup last night and you find a whole lot of hard-hit balls, four of them landing for hits, leading to a pair of runs. Take a snapshot of Strasburg's second trip through that lineup and you find better results, though still a couple of hits including his third double surrendered in only three innings. Now take a snapshot of Strasburg's third trip through the very same lineup and you find utter domination:...

Orioles relief pitcher Zach Britton knows a little something about being a young and promising starting pitcher. He was one once and now is the Orioles' All-Star closer. After he got the final three outs last night as the O's beat the Chicago White Sox 6-3, I asked him if he has seen right-hander Mike Wright make progress in recent starts and in what ways. "I think the biggest thing with him and (Tyler) Wilson, too, you are watching now a more mature pitcher," Britton said. "When they get...

ST. LOUIS - Michael A. Taylor insisted he had no idea how many innings the Nationals had gone without scoring, but he - like everyone else on the roster - knew it had been awhile. So when he was presented with an opportunity to do something about it, Taylor put an end to that streak and set the Nationals on their way to a 5-4 victory over the Cardinals in the opener of a 10-game trip through the Midwest that should serve as a test of this team's true talent level. "It's definitely nice,"...

Brad Brach elevated a 94 mph four-seam fastball last night to the first batter he faced, White Sox's second baseman Brett Lawrie, who took it for a ride into the left field seats and pointed in that general direction as he headed up the line. It wasn't Babe Ruth calling his shot. It was Brett Lawie making sure everyone saw it. The game now tied, Brach kept his composure and retired the next three batters on a fly ball, grounder and strikeout. He returned to the dugout and later took home the...