Bryce Harper is back in the Nationals lineup after exiting early in Thursday's contest with what was determined to be a mild left hamstring strain. As usual, he'll be roaming right field and batting cleanup. Ian Desmond will sit for the second straight game. Desmond has 15 errors in 66 games this season. Max Scherzer will take the mound (7-5, 1.93 ERA) this afternoon, one start removed from his outstanding one-hitter, in which he allowed just one bloop hit and struck out 16. For the...

The Orioles are still looking for their first win of the year at Rogers Centre in Toronto. They are 0-4 there and 3-7 overall in 10 games against the Blue Jays. Mike Wright's outing of 1 1/3 innings last night was the shortest by an O's starter this year. Five times in 2015 O's starters have pitched three or fewer innings. Once it was due to a rain delay, but the other four times were all against Toronto: * 3 innings by Bud Norris, allowing eight runs April 10 * 2 2/3 by Chris Tillman...

The roster moves are official. The Orioles reinstated pitcher Kevin Gausman from the 15-day disabled list and selected reliever Mychal Given's contract from Double-A Bowie. Givens will wear No. 60. Rule 5 pick Jason Garcia was transferred to the 60-day disabled list to make room for Givens on the 40-man roster. The logical transaction. The Orioles also optioned pitchers Mike Wright and Tyler Wilson to Norfolk. Wright threw 48 pitches in 1 1/3 innings last night and no longer has a spot in the...

Mychal Givens is listed among the Orioles' relievers today. The club is purchasing his contract from Double-A Bowie and optioning Tyler Wilson to Triple-A Norfolk. Givens would be making his major league debut. The Orioles selected him in the second round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft out of Plant (Fla.) High School. Givens, the shortstop-turned reliever, is 3-1 with a 1.60 ERA and 12 saves in 23 appearances at Bowie, with 54 strikeouts in 39 1/3 innings. His fastball touches the upper...

In the first inning of Joe Ross' third big league start last night, the rookie right-hander stood on the mound and peered down at Pirates All-Star center fielder Andrew McCutchen, the National League's 2013 MVP. "I try not to make it more than it is just because I want to stay focused on what I'm trying to do and execute my pitches," Ross said. "But, I mean, it's hard not to recognize when you look at the lineup and hear him getting announced and you see him in the box. It's pretty...

Nationals reliever David Carpenter was outstanding Friday in shutting down a potential late inning rally against the Pirates. His hold helped the Nationals to a 4-1 victory before a sellout crowd of close to 39,000 at Nats Park. "It was just fun to get back into that type of situation that I'm used to," Carpenter said. "Just glad that I was able to come and strand the runner on first and get the ball to Drew (Storen). That's what it's all about. If we can do that, in that order, we are...

Now just a couple of weeks away from his 23rd birthday, is stardom also close by for Orioles third baseman Manny Machado? This year he's shown both more power and patience at the plate, producing the best numbers of his career and he appears on his way to a big season. Machado's bat has really heated up this month. In 18 games, he is batting .347, slugging .611 and with an OPS of 1.009. He has six homers in 72 at-bats in June and has hit eight homers in his last 19 games.ma He is also drawing...

The Nationals' starting rotation was described as potentially historic coming into this season. When critics were searching for new superlatives for the Nats' big five, nobody had any idea, not even the Nationals brass, that 22-year-old rookie Joe Ross would provide some of the most dominating performances to help hold the team together before the All-Star break. In just the third start of his big league career, Ross fanned 11 Pirates while holding them to one run on six hits with only one...

Following Friday's 4-1 win over the Pirates, Nationals manager Matt Williams had an update on right fielder Bryce Harper. Harper did not play in the game as he nursed a sore left hamstring strain. Williams said Harper worked in the weight room and got treatment throughout the day after slipping on the wet field Thursday night against Tampa Bay when making a throw from the outfield to the plate. "He did OK," Williams reported. "He did some leg work today, didn't hit, but did some leg work...

BOWIE, Md. - Right-hander Dylan Bundy, the Orioles' top pitching prospect, said after tonight's Double-A Bowie game that he had his scheduled follow-up MRI this morning. The initial reading showed infllammation only in his right shoulder, as the first one showed on May 27. That appears to be good news for Bundy, meaning there is no structural damage in the shoulder. Already coming back from Tommy John surgery in June 2013, Bundy was throwing well for the Baysox when he felt some discomfort in...