It didn't take long for the Orioles to make the first adjustment to their rotation. Chris Tillman will start Friday night against the Rays on three days' rest after working only two innings on opening day. Mike Wright will be pushed back to Saturday night. The Rays are starting Chris Archer, Drew Smyly and Jake Odorizzi. Manager Buck Showalter is withholding the identity of his No. 5 starter until making sure the weather doesn't impact any games this week. Brian Matusz will pitch one inning...

ATLANTA - Hello again from Turner Field, where tonight the Nationals and Braves wrap up their abbreviated, two-game series to open the season. Odd scheduling for this one, with the 4:10 p.m. start on Monday, then an off-day, then a 7:10 p.m. start tonight. The Nats aren't real happy this is a night game, what with their own home opener scheduled for 4:05 p.m. Thursday. All of this, of course, is weather permitting. Tomorrow's forecast in D.C. looks awful (90 percent chance of rain), so the...

The Double-A Harrisburg Senators announced their 2016 roster highlighted by No. 1 Nationals prospect right-hander Lucas Giolito. The starting rotation to begin the season is all right-handers: Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, Tyler Mapes, John Simms and Austen Williams. The roster also includes seven top 30 prospects according to Baseball America: Giolito, Lopez, Rafael Bautista, Williams, Abel de los Santos, Chris Bostick and Nick Lee. Here is the roster: PitchersDakota Bacus Abel De Los Santos Robert...

Rule 5 pick Joey Rickard is batting ninth again for tonight's game against the Twins at Camden Yards. Manny Machado continues to lead off for the Orioles and Adam Jones is batting second. Mark Trumbo is batting cleanup after collecting four hits from that spot on opening day. Orioles starter Yovani Gallardo is 6-3 with a 2.52 ERA and 10 quality starts in 16 career outings against the American League Central. He was 3-0 with a 1.03 ERA in six starts last season. Machado is the active major...

After an oh-so-quick, two-game road trip to Atlanta to open the season, the Nationals have returned to D.C. and today will get to celebrate their home opener. That's weather permitting, of course, and the forecast does not look good for today's scheduled 4:05 p.m. game against the Marlins, with heavy rain predicted pretty much all day. If this one gets postponed, look for it to be made up Friday (major league clubs purposely schedule an off-day following the home opener specifically for this...

After being hired as the Orioles' executive vice president of baseball operations following the 2011 season, Dan Duquette has made little noise in the Winter Meetings each offseason. He hasn't been completely quiet however, as he always participates in the Rule 5 Draft. Duquette has selected six players in the major league portion of the Rule 5 Draft in his time with the Orioles, with four of those players breaking camp with the major league club in their respective year. Here are those...

There are plenty of things that really help swing a season one way or the other. For the 2016 Nationals, the answer is painfully obvious. Let's look at a few possibilities: The bullpen - it stunk last year, except maybe not as much as you remember. The Nats ranked 10th in the majors in bullpen ERA. Mismanaged and maybe too much in its own head (a.k.a. mismanaged), but not necessarily what made 2015 bad. I have more faith in their free agent acquisitions, young talent and a dnew pitching coach...

When the Orioles added 30-year-old right-hander Yovani Gallardo to their starting rotation, they knew were getting a veteran pitcher with a solid track record. One that has made 30 or more starts seven consecutive seasons, pitching to a career ERA of 3.66. He's also a pitcher with a career .576 winning percentage at 102-75. But while Gallardo has been a winning pitcher six of seven seasons since 2009, he has gotten those wins as a different style pitcher in recent seasons. Once a guy who...

The Orioles' eight-man bullpen should be in good shape tonight with the off-day and only Tyler Wilson working more than 1 1/3 innings on opening day. Wilson threw 38 pitches in three scoreless innings. Vance Worley and T.J. McFarland are available as long men if starter Yovani Gallardo makes an early exit against the Twins. With the Orioles needing a fifth starter on Sunday, manager Buck Showalter's selection won't be available in relief after tonight. Mychal Givens was awarded a hold on...

ATLANTA - For the first time in nine years, and for only the second time in club history, the Nationals' opening day payroll is down from the previous season. The Nationals' current roster (the 25 active players, plus those on the major league disabled list) is earning a combined $141,652,646 this season, ranking 11th in baseball, according to figures calculated by USA Today in its annual salary survey). That's down nearly $25 million from last year's opening day payroll, which ranked sixth...