Right-handed pitcher Lucas Giolito and infielder Trea Turner have been selected to represent the Washington Nationals in the 2015 SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game, which will be played at 3:00 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, July 12th at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio. Major League Baseball made the announcement today on MLB Network. Giolito, 20, is considered by many, including industry experts Baseball America and MLB.com, as the top pitching prospect in all of baseball. He is the consensus...

The Orioles today announced that they have reinstated right-hander Miguel Gonzalez from the 15-day disabled list and optioned right-hander Mychael Givens to Double-A Bowie. Gonzalez, 31, was placed on the 15-day disabled list on June 11, retroactive to June 10, with a right groin strain. He made one rehab start with Double-A Bowie, allowing two runs on four hits, while walking one and striking out four over 5.0 innings of work. In 12 starts with the Orioles this season, Gonzalez is 5-4 with a...

The Orioles optioned reliever Mychal Givens this morning to make room for starter Miguel Gonzalez on the 25-man roster. Still waiting for the club to announce whether Givens is headed to Double-A Bowie or Triple-A Norfolk. Givens retired the Red Sox in order in the eighth inning last night in his major league debut. Nolan Reimold is starting in center field with Adam Jones on the bench. Chris Parmelee is starting at first base and Chris Davis is serving as the designated hitter. Steve Pearce is...

Entering this year, the Nationals were expected to cruise through the regular season and into October on the shoulders of their imposing starting rotation. But injuries to right-handers Doug Fister and Stephen Strasburg and inconsistent pitching from lefty Gio Gonzalez interfered with the expected success that most assumed would simply be a foregone conclusion. Even Jordan Zimmermann ran into a rut, losing his previous three starts coming into last night, with an ERA of 7.63 over the...

On an emotional night, Ian Desmond delivered a walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 11th inning, scoring Bryce Harper to give the Nationals their fifth straight win in a 2-1 triumph over the Braves. It's been a season full of ups and downs for Desmond, who is likely to be playing his last year with the Washington Nationals, the only professional organization he has known. But news of the passing of Kimberly Knorr, wife of Nationals bench coach Randy Knorr, on Tuesday extended far deeper...

That was one ugly last of the sixth inning last night for the Orioles. They made two errors and allowed five unearned runs in helping Boston to a 5-1 win. Consider that the Orioles had allowed just one unearned run in 21 games in June before giving up five in one inning last night - ugly indeed. The Orioles allowed eight unearned runs in all of April and seven in all of May. So last night's mess was an outlier - one they must move past quickly as they try to beat former Oriole prospect Eduardo...

Right fielder Bryce Harper scored the winning run as the Nationals dropped the Braves 2-1 in 11 innings. He started the rally with a double. But the big concern after the game was the way he went into second base awkwardly on his right leg. It appeared at first that maybe he had reinjured his left hamstring. Manager Matt Williams said during post game that it was not the hamstring, but instead it was pain in his right leg. "It was a cramp when he went into second," Williams said. "Standing...

The Orioles and Red Sox are playing the rubber match this afternoon at Fenway Park after splitting the first two games of the series. The Orioles need to bounce back after allowing five unearned runs last night. And yes, you see what I did there. Did anyone else think J.J. Hardy looked uncomfortable while running the bases after reaching on Dustin Pedroia's errant throw on an attempted double play? Something didn't look right. Mychal Givens retired the side in order in the eighth inning and...

With the addition of David Carpenter, the return of Casey Janssen from the disabled list and Tanner Roark transferring out of the rotation, the Nationals bullpen might have found some stability. An upgrade would still be a good idea, but it isn't of the urgency that it seemed just a couple weeks ago. On the other hand, the Nationals bench is still depleted due to injuries to starting position players. Danny Espinosa, Clint Robinson, Michael Taylor, and Tyler Moore are now needed for...

It took 71 games, but I can now comfortably say that the Orioles have effectively replaced Nick Markakis' production from last season. Markakis was a lot of things to the Orioles in 2014. He was a Gold Glove corner outfielder, a table-setter atop the lineup and, of course, a clubhouse leader who provided a veteran presence on a team that advanced to the American League Championship Series. That's a lot to replace; no one player could fill those shoes. Defensive metrics were never a fan of...