So ... anything worth talking about this morning? The Nationals' season is only three games old, but there have been no shortage of compelling storylines already. There's Ben Revere's strained oblique on his very first swing as a National. There's Bryce Harper's two home runs, leaving him on the precipice of 100 for his young career. There's Daniel Murphy's impressive debut with his new team. There's Jayson Werth and Michael A. Taylor's 0-fers to begin their respective seasons....

For Orioles outfielder Joey Rickard, it was a reluctant curtain call. It's not that he didn't greatly appreciate the crowd chanting his name after he hit his first major league home run in the eighth inning tonight. It's just - as he would later explain - not exactly something he would do. But with some prodding from a teammate, Rickard took his first major league curtain call tonight moments after his first MLB home run. "Yeah, you know. That's not me," Rickard said. "I was just going...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter said no tests are scheduled for Adam Jones and he remains hopeful that the center fielder will return to the lineup on Friday for the series opener against the Rays at Camden Yards. Jones is bothered by discomfort in his rib area. The Orioles will check him again after he arrives at the ballpark. "Right now we're in pretty good shape," Showalter said, "but we'll see what tomorrow brings." Showalter wasn't going to use closer Zach Britton, Brad Brach or...

The ball came screaming off Daniel Murphy's bat, soaring over Giancarlo Stanton's head in right field. And when it caromed off the wall and back towards the infield, the sellout crowd of 41,650 at Nationals Park roared with delight as the home team turned the basepaths into a merry-go-round. Anthony Rendon scored. Bryce Harper scored. Ryan Zimmerman scored. And Murphy slid headfirst into third base, slapping his hands together and letting out a loud "Woo!" having just completed his first...

Right-hander Tanner Roark gave up five base hits in the first inning Thursday against the Marlins, allowing three runs. But the Nationals quickly erased the deficit. Then in the second inning, a rain delay of 1 hour, 25 minutes prevented Roark from getting back on the field right away. The Marlins changed their pitcher after the long break, but the Nationals stuck with Roark. Manager Dusty Baker said he met with pitching coach Mike Maddux and Roark during the rain delay and decided to keep the...

A rain delay, a rally and a win. And a Joey Rickard curtain call. The O's started a winning rally before a brief rain delay of 21 minutes in the bottom of the seventh. When play resumed they scored twice to go from trailing by one run to leading by one. They won 4-2 tonight to record an impressive season-opening three-game sweep of the Minnesota Twins at Camden Yards. Mark Trumbo and J.J. Hardy singled off Twins starter Phil Hughes to put runners on the corners in the seventh when the rains...

Ubaldo Jimenez wasn't going to get the best of Joe Mauer in every at-bat. It just seemed that way. The Twins' first baseman was 1-for-14 against Jimenez until tonight, when he homered to right-center field with two outs in the first inning to put the Orioles in an early hole. Brian Dozier struck out and Danny Santana was thrown out trying to steal after reaching on an infield bunt single. Mauer stepped to the plate and spit on the odds. Miguel Sano followed with a single, the third hit off...

Major League Baseball is trying to make sliding plays at second base safer, but, as the season starts, the debate has shifted to whether MLB has gone overboard with regulations. This started in October's playoffs when the Dodgers' Chase Utley slid late into second base and broke the leg of Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada. A rules committee was formed. Now there are rules that put restrictions on the play where a runner can break up a double play. Are the rules too severe? The new Rule 6.01 says...

After posting 3-2 and 4-2 wins over Minnesota the last two nights, the Orioles seek a three-game sweep of the Twins tonight at Camden Yards. Their last three-game home sweep of Minnesota came April 6-8, 2012. After going 0-7 versus Minnesota in 2015 and being outscored 43-18, the O's could have a 3-0 start this season with a victory tonight. O's pitching has allowed just 12 hits on four runs so far with six walks to 23 strikeouts. The two starters - Chris Tillman and Yovani Gallardo -...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter eased into specifics today on Adam Jones' injury, saying there were "a lot of reasons" why the center fielder's name didn't appear in the lineup. "I'm trying to get everybody a start before we get through this homestand," Showalter said. "Got Caleb (Joseph) and Nolan (Reimold) in there." Jones is out because he was "a little sore in the rib area yesterday," Showalter said. "He wants to play. He says he's fine. Probably not real happy with the old...