WASHINGTON - Center fielder Adam Jones remains out of the Orioles lineup tonight with back spasms. Junior Lake replaces him. Nolan Reimold is leading off and playing left field. Steve Pearce is playing right field and serving as the cleanup hitter. The Orioles' game notes include this gem from the PR department: On this date in 1994, the "cotton uniforms" episode of Seinfeld first aired featuring manager Buck Showalter. Episode one of the sixth season (the 87th overall) is titled "The...

Former Orioles first baseman Walter Young, once rated among the organization's top prospects, passed away on Saturday from an apparent heart attack. He was 35. A team official confirmed Young's death earlier today. According to this article, Young was working as a resource officer for the Lamar County School District in Mississippi. The Pirates drafted Young in the 31st round in 1999 out of Purvis (Miss.) High School before the Orioles selected him off waivers four years later. Young made his...

Since 2010, the Nationals enjoyed a solid run from Tyler Moore, Steven Souza Jr. and Michael A. Taylor, who displayed home run power at the minor league level. Moore hit 107 homers and drove in 435 RBIs in the minors. Souza crushed 93 homers and had 421 RBIs. Taylor launched 51 homers and had 273 RBIs in the minors. Souza is now with the Tampa Bay Rays after a trade that brought starter Joe Ross and shortstop Trea Turner to the Nationals. Moore has been a solid bench bat for a few seasons now...

As Andrew Stetka discussed yesterday, you know the Orioles are not going to re-sign all of their impending free agents. There's a very real possibility that they decide to let all of them walk. The choice to not re-sign Nelson Cruz, and to a lesser extent Nick Markakis and Andrew Miller, hurt the 2015 team somewhat, but a lot of that collapse has come from other key parts of the Orioles taking significant steps back. That departing group did not have much to do with the starting rotation...

With the Nats 6 1/2 games out of the National League East with 13 games to go, it looks a lot like the New York Mets are going to pull away with the division title. There still is hope, though. The Nats are 6 1/2 games out, and the Mets are coming off a series loss against the New York Yankees. If the Nats can make up enough ground to roll into New York next week within three games of the division lead, they could pull of an end-of-season upset. As much as I would love to see that happen, it is...

Following a week filled with dominance by both players, Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper and right-handed pitcher Stephen Strasburg were named co-National League Players of the Week on Monday. Major League Baseball made the announcement on MLB Network. Harper - who currently leads the National League in several categories, including: batting average (.343), on-base percentage (.470), slugging percentage (.674), home runs (41), OPS (1.143), OPS+ (206), runs scored (116), and WAR (9.6) - had...

During this final homestand, the Nationals began a campaign promoting 22-year-old sensation Bryce Harper for National League MVP. They loaded a one-page document full of mind-boggling statistics comparing Harper to his contemporaries, and in some cases, displaying prowess over some of the game's most legendary figures. Whether the Pope's arrival to D.C. later today can help the Nats miraculously turn a 6 1/2-game deficit into a NL East crown in the next 13 days should be irrelevant for...

When Chris Davis hit a two-run homer in the third inning on Sunday against Tampa Bay, it was a milestone home run for the 2015 Orioles. It was Baltimore's 200th homer of the season and it gave the Orioles four consecutive seasons hitting 200 or more homers, starting in 2012. Before you think that is not a big deal, only three teams in Major League Baseball history have had more consecutive 200-homer seasons: 8 - New York Yankees (2000-2007) 7 - Chicago White Sox (2000-2006) 5 - Texas Rangers...

What could be better than losing the season's final off-day on Thursday and making the horrible drive to D.C. four times instead of three? What could possibly top spending all day and a large chunk of the night at Nationals Park without actually covering a game? The baseball gods have a wicked sense of humor. The Orioles will be eliminated from the division race with a loss tonight or a Blue Jays win over the Yankees. You may have stopped checking a while ago. The Rays dropped into last place...

WASHINGTON - The Orioles' game against the Nationals tonight in D.C. has been postponed due to rain. The game will be made up Thursday at 4:05 p.m., eliminating the off-day for both clubs. The alternative was a doubleheader Tuesday or Wednesday. No word yet on how the rainout impacts the Orioles' rotation, but the starters are expected to be kept in order. Ubaldo Jimenez would start on Tuesday, followed by Chris Tillman on Wednesday and rookie Tyler Wilson on Thursday. This is the second...