The Orioles announced today that they signed free agent infielder Gui Yuan "Itchy" Xu, 19, to a minor league contract for 2016. Xu (pronounced "Shoo") is the first player signed by a major league team from the MLB Development Centers. He's listed at 6 feet and 188 lbs. The Orioles will assign Xu to the Gulf Coast League team in Sarasota. MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez reports that Xu signed for $10,000. Xu, a left-handed hitting and left-handed throwing infielder, is a native of Shenzhen, China,...

The Nationals will reportedly call up right-hander Abel De Los Santos from Double-A Harrisburg for bullpen support. The hard-throwing right-hander is 4-4 with a 2.65 ERA in 26 appearances this season. De Los Santos, 22, has struck out 35 while walking seven across 37 1/3 innings in his first year in Double-A. The Nationals acquired De Los Santos along with infielder Chris Bostick last December in the deal that sent left-hander Ross Detwiler to the Rangers. Texas released Detwiler last week...

It was a frustrating, weekend of dormant offense for the Nationals against Dodgers aces Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke, who combined to hold the Nats scoreless for 18 innings, striking out 25 batters. Amid all the whiffs and groundouts, however, the Nats did get a key bit of good news: Injured stars Jayson Werth, Anthony Rendon and Ryan Zimmerman are all off to good starts on minor league rehab assignments. Although none will be on the field for what has turned out to be a crucial series...

The Nationals offense comes out of the weekend smarting after back-to-back crippling performances from Dodgers aces Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke. No time for sulking, though, as the Mets roll into town set to throw a trio of young, right-handed power arms in a crucial three-game series. The Nats hold a slim two-game lead in the National League East over the Mets, who outlasted the Cardinals 3-1 in 18 innings yesterday. New York manager Terry Collins plans to send Matt Harvey (3.07 ERA) to...

I guess the glass-half-full Orioles fan will look at the weekend series in Detroit as a positive in that the Orioles won the series, they bounced back from a very poor game on Friday and their offense had a big game Sunday. The glass-half-empty crowd may look at it as they remain four games out of first, as they were at the All-Star break, and they lost three more days of the season. Sell off all players! Just kidding. I go back to what I wrote on Sunday morning in that a resurgent Chris...

While wondering where to get my "I Heart Shutdown Innings" tattoo ... The Orioles are off today after a grueling three-game series following the All-Star break. They must be exhausted. How's a team supposed to catch its collective breath? They also were off prior to the three-game series against the Nationals at Camden Yards that led into the break. That's six open dates on the schedule within a 12-day period. Manager Buck Showalter would prefer to have the off days spread out, but you play...

As dominant as Max Scherzer has been this year, the Nationals hold a less than impressive 11-8 record when he starts. That disappointing tally is due mostly to the lack of offensive support Scherzer has received. Sunday's shutout loss to Zack Greinke and the Dodgers totals three times this year that the Nationals have failed to score a run when Scherzer takes the mound. Overall, the Nats have plated just seven runs combined in Scherzer's eight losses. "Max, he's going to do his job every...

Don't count Bryce Harper as one of the many impressed by Dodgers right-hander Zack Greinke, who blanked the Nationals for eight frames this afternoon to extend his scoreless streak to 43 2/3 innings. "For me, I don't think he was very tough," Harper said. "He's a great pitcher, he does what he does, but when you're getting six inches off the plate, it's pretty tough to face him." Harper clearly wasn't happy with the inconsistently wide strike zone home plate umpire Bill Miller was...

Nationals reliever Blake Treinen came on in the ninth inning with the Dodgers clinging to a 1-0 lead. When he left, the Dodgers led 5-0. Andre Ethier had the key base hit on a 0-2 fastball that he lined up the middle to make it 2-0 Dodgers. A.J. Ellis followed with an RBI single to make it 3-0. Yasiel Puig's base hit past a diving Yunel Escobar scored two more runs, and L.A. led 5-0. That turned into the final score. Treinen had not pitched since July 11, and Drew Storen had closed Saturday's...

We're entering that portion of the baseball season where things start to get crazy. The non-waiver trading deadline is less than two weeks away, and teams are really starting to decide where they stand and whether or not they have what it takes to make a move. For the Orioles, this decision comes with many tentacles. The O's are a team looking to build off three straight winning seasons, which included the first division title since 1997. The problem is that the team still has a few glaring...