KANSAS CITY - The Orioles will face three left-handed starters when their road trip shifts to Arlington. The Rangers are sending Cole Hamels (7-8, 3.82 ERA), Martin Perez (1-3, 5.30 ERA) and Derek Holland (1-1, 4.73 ERA) to the mound for the three-game series that begins on Friday. The Orioles list Kevin Gausman (2-5, 4.30 ERA), Ubaldo Jimenez (9-8, 4.26 ERA) and Miguel Gonzalez (9-10, 4.78 ERA) as their starters. Hamels is 1-1 with a 4.73 ERA and 1.500 WHIP in four starts since the Rangers...

The Orioles today announced that an online charity auction for the 2130 and the 2131 numbered Orioles-themed Maryland license plates will begin on Thursday, August 27, at 12:00 p.m. ET in honor of the 20th anniversary of Cal Ripken Jr.'s record-breaking 2,131st consecutive game streak. Maryland residents who plan on using the winning license plate on a Maryland registered car can visit www.orioles.com/2131 to bid on plates 2130 and 2131. The auction for the two plates will last until the...

Nationals shortstop Trea Turner was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the first round in June, 2014. This season, in the middle of June, he was the player to be named later as part of a three-team, 11-player trade that finally brought him to the Nationals. This week, Turner is getting a chance to face the team that selected him with their top pick in 2014. Turner looked over and saw some familiar faces as he worked in a pregame fielding session Tuesday. "Yeah, it's different just seeing them...

The Nationals held a two-run lead in the sixth last night when Ryan Zimmerman's grand slam changed the complexion of the game, allowing Washington to coast to their third straight win 8-3. Zimmerman's epic homer would not have happened if not for a blown call by home plate umpire David Rackley. With two outs and Anthony Rendon on first, the Nationals had Bryce Harper at the plate facing left-hander Marc Rzepczynski. On a 2-1 count, Harper hit a grounder right at Padres first baseman Yonder...

KANSAS CITY - As manager Buck Showalter stated last night after another loss, you can't draw one circle around a specific reason why the Orioles have dropped six consecutive games, why their season is slipping away from them. It's the rotation, it's the offense's failure to score more than two or three runs, it's the inability to catch a break. It's a lot of things. The Orioles are eight games behind the Blue Jays for first place in the American League East, but still 2 1/2 behind for the...

As the Orioles have fallen under .500 with their latest loss, the real issue may be it's hard to pinpoint the biggest issue. Is the offense to blame? How about the pitching? The defense has had its share of shaky moments going back to early this year and the two errors on Sunday in the 12th inning that cost the team a game. We know that a loud chorus of fans has been blaming the club's offseason acquisitions as not nearly good enough to replace Nelson Cruz and Nick Markakis. That is certainly...

KANSAS CITY - It's not getting any better. The Orioles have lost six consecutive games for the first time since Sept. 19-24, 2013. They're under .500 for the first time since July 26. They can't find consistency in their rotation or runs in their lineup. Tonight's 3-2 loss to the Royals marked the sixth consecutive game where the Orioles have tallied three runs or fewer. It's happened in seven of their last eight games. The top four batters were 1-for-17 with seven strikeouts. Gerardo...

This Nationals season has been marred by injuries since spring training. Most of tonight's pregame attention was dominated by the return of Denard Span from the disabled list, finally making the Nats lineup whole for the first time year in the 124th game. But it was Stephen Strasburg, who twice lost large chunks of the season to DL stints, dominating the Padres over six strong innings in the Nats' 8-3 win. Yonder Alonso singled to lead off the second and Jedd Gyorko followed with a two-run...

The Nationals subdued the Padres 8-3 to start their series Tuesday at Nationals Park. First baseman Ryan Zimmerman broke the game open with a grand slam in the bottom of the sixth that provided the Nationals with an 8-2 lead. Facing Bud Norris, Zimmerman was able to get ahead in the count and then drove a fastball over the right-center field fence. It was his first grand slam since July 2013, also against the Padres. "Slider, good pitch, but a little bit off the plate," Zimmerman said of the...

The stakes were not nearly as high as they were last October, but the Orioles lost another one-run game tonight at Kauffman Stadium. Kansas City took an early 3-0 lead and held off the Orioles 3-2 tonight. The O's losing streak has now reached six - a season high. This is the club's longest losing streak since September of 2013. The Orioles are 62-63, falling under .500 for the first time since July 26 when they were 48-49. The Orioles have scored three runs or fewer for six consecutive...