With Matt Wieters catching last night's series opener against the Red Sox, Caleb Joseph figures to set the target tonight for starter Wei-Yin Chen. Wieters will serve as the designated hitter unless manager Buck Showalter strays from the script. Joseph remains fifth in All-Star voting among American League catchers. He still finds it hard to comprehand that he's on the ballot, let alone that he's received 400,802 votes. "It's an honor just to be on the ballot, for sure, but I'm not naive...

The Nationals managed to put only a solo homer from Bryce Harper on the scoreboard tonight as they fell 6-1 to the Yankees. Runs figured to be hard to come with right-handers Max Scherzer and Masahiro Tanaka showcased in the night's premier pitching duel, and they were until the bottom of seventh inning. With the game knotted at 1-1, Scherzer came out to start the frame having already thrown 100 pitches. He gave up consecutive singles to Yankees left fielder Ramon Flores and center fielder...

Orioles right-hander Miguel Gonzalez left tonight's start in the fifth inning with a right groin strain. He had a similar injury in 2012 and did not go on the disabled list. He hopes to avoid the DL again this time and is hopeful of making his next start. "I hope so. I hope I can. If not, in 2012, kind of did the same thing. Missed a start and I was able to go after that," Gonzalez said after tonight's game. "Just felt some discomfort and really thought that I could keep going. But it just...

The Orioles are deciding whether to place starter Miguel Gonzalez on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right groin muscle. Gonzalez left tonight's game with one out in the fifth inning and the bullpen completed a 1-0 win over the Red Sox before 28,460 at Camden Yards. Closer Zach Britton recorded his second five-out save in a week. With a six-man bullpen, the Orioles could DL Gonzalez and bring back left-hander Cesar Cabral, who doesn't need to stay down the minimum 10 days if he's...

A few weeks ago, Brian Matusz and the Orioles became part of a league-wide discussion about foreign substances used by pitchers on the baseball. That kind of started up again late last week when it was announced that Matusz's eight-game suspension was being upheld (never mind the fact that Milwaukee's Will Smith had his shortened to six games for the same offense). I come at this from various angels. First off, I'm not a fan of opposing managers asking umpires to check guys. At a time when...

The Orioles did not beat their former farmhand who is now pitching well with Boston. But they did beat Boston. Pushing across the game's only run on a wild pitch, the Orioles beat the Red Sox 1-0 at Camden Yards in the series and homestand opener. Miguel Gonzalez was throwing well on his way into the fifth inning of a good pitchers' duel with Eduardo Rodriguez when he was forced from the game by a right groin strain. Four Orioles pitchers combined on a five-hitter as the O's recorded their...

The Orioles are short a reliever tonight and they just lost their starting pitcher to an injury. Left-hander T.J. McFarland replaced starter Miguel Gonzalez with one out in the fifth inning and Blake Swihart at third base. Manager Buck Showalter, pitching coach Dave Wallace and head athletic trainer Richie Bancells came to the mound after Dustin Pedroia bounced out. Gonzalez walked to the dugout and McFarland was given ample time to warm up. McFarland got a strikeout and fly ball to strand...

In a game featuring top-flight starting pitching, a couple of solo homers are the only runs on the scoreboard. Nationals starter Max Scherzer flinched first. Leading off the third inning, Yankees second baseman Stephen Drew belted a fastball over the right field fence. Scherzer missed on the heater, leaving it on the inner half of the plate and Drew made him pay with his eighth longball of the season. Bryce Harper answered for the Nats in the fourth. Facing a 1-0 count with two outs, Harper...

The Orioles made eight selections on Day Two of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft on Tuesday, completing rounds 3-10. After two days of the Draft, the Orioles have selected 11 players overall, six position players and five pitchers, with four of the selections being college athletes. The Orioles selected four outfielders, three right-handed pitchers, two left-handed pitchers, and two infielders. The Draft will conclude tomorrow, June 10, with rounds 11-40 starting at 12:00 p.m. ET.

As some Orioles fans stood to applaud Matt Wieters tonight before his first at-bat, it became more evident that he hadn't played a game at Camden Yards in a very long time. Wieters' last appearance came on May 10, 2014. He went 0-for-5 with a strikeout against the Astros. Wieters hadn't caught a game at Camden Yards since the second game of a May 1 doubleheader against the Pirates. He worked behind the plate for 10 innings in a 6-5 win. Before tonight, Wieters was batting .417 (5-for-12)...