Fans applauded Hyun Soo Kim today as he stepped to the plate in the bottom of the second inning. A much different response from opening day. Kim's first major league at-bat came immediately after Pedro Alvarez scored from first base on Jonathan Schoop's double into the left field corner to break a scoreless tie. Aggressive send by third base coach Bobby Dickerson. Aggressive reaction from fans who were thrilled by the run and the sun. Kim fell behind 0-2 on a foul ball and called strike, then...

Their season-opening homestand shortened now to five games by last night's postponement, the Orioles look to sweep what is now a two-game series against Tampa Bay. A win today would give them just the second 5-0 start in team history and match the 1970 Orioles. Right-hander Vance Worley makes his 2016 season debut this afternoon facing Tampa Bay right-hander Jake Odorizzi. Worley went 4-6 with a 4.02 ERA last year for Pittsburgh in 23 games, eight as a starter. Worley pitched better out of the...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter still can't provide an exact date for Adam Jones' return to the lineup. He's confident, however, that Jones is getting close and the injury isn't related to the oblique. Jones hasn't played since Wednesday night and it's not known whether he'll play Monday afternoon in Boston. "Any time you're dealing with that area, it's such an unknown," Showalter said. "It's so tough because you don't want to test it all the time and never give it a chance (to...

The baseball schedule is a funny thing. The Nationals barely have been playing because of scheduled off-days and unscheduled rainouts, having taken the field only 12 times in the last 21 days. Now, though, they're looking at a grueling stretch in which they're scheduled to play 35 games in 36 days. With that in mind, manager Dusty Baker is trying to make plans to give many of his regulars a day off at some point in the next week. It begins today, with Ryan Zimmerman not in the lineup for the...

Hyun Soo Kim makes his Orioles debut today, starting in left field and batting ninth for the series finale against the Rays that also closes out the homestand. J.J. Hardy is back at shortstop, but Adam Jones remains out of the lineup. Joey Rickard is in center field. Manager Buck Showalter said there's one movement at the end of Jones' swing that still brings some discomfort in the rib area. The Orioles own a 1.50 ERA, with six earned runs in 36 innings, that ranks first in the American...

Orioles right-hander Mike Wright left spring training as the club's No. 4 starter. He was set to make his first 2016 start on Friday night against Tampa Bay. Then Chris Tillman pitched just two innings on opening day due to rain and had his next start moved up to Friday. Wright would have to wait another day, as he was pushed back to start last night versus Tampa Bay. But then last night's game was postponed, but not before Wright did a full warm-up, which meant he could not start today and...

Right-hander Joe Ross makes his 2016 Nationals debut Sunday against Marlins right-hander Tom Koehler. The pair was supposed to match up yesterday, but that game was postponed. This is that big step year for Ross. This will be the first time in his young career that he has been handed the ball from the beginning of the season with the responsibility of being a full-time starter. He certainly has the ability and makeup to shine. Ross, 22, was 5-5 in 16 games (13 starts) in 2015 with a 3.64...

The weather has been bad and the Orioles have been good. That pretty much sums up the first few days of the 2016 baseball season in Baltimore. After losses yesterday by the Detroit Tigers and Pittsburgh Pirates, the Orioles are the only unbeaten team remaining in the major leagues. They sure tried hard to get Saturday's game in. Other area teams postponed games, but the Orioles tried to play Tampa Bay. The weather finally won that battle and we had our first postponement. So what is your take...

Temperatures are expected to rise into the 50s today, with zero chance of rain. This qualifies as baseball weather in Baltimore as the season's first homestand draws to a close. Outfielder Hyun Soo Kim is expected to make his Orioles debut against Rays right-hander Jake Odorizzi. Vance Worley will take the mound in his Orioles debut. Two of the last three Orioles to get into a game will take the field unless there's been a change in plans with Kim. We know for sure that Worley is...

If it feels like it has been a while since the Nationals last played a ballgame, it has been. They had Friday off. Then yesterday's game got rained/snowed/colded out. So it's been nearly 72 hours since their last game, which in baseball terms is an eternity. In fact, the Nats have only played a ballgame in 12 of the last 21 days, thanks to rainouts and off-days. That's pretty unusual. The good news: The sun is out today and they'll be able to play. The bad news: It's going to be quite cold...