The Washington Nationals recalled left-handed pitcher Felipe Rivero on Monday and optioned left-handed pitcher Matt Grace to Triple-A Syracuse. President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. Rivero, 23, returns to the Nationals for his second Major League assignment of the season. The hard-throwing left-hander made his Major League debut with one inning of work on April 17 in the Nationals' 7-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. Rivero was placed...

After playing just three road games over a 20-game stretch since May 11, the Orioles begin a two-city, seven-game road trip tonight at Houston. This is the first time this year they are playing outside the Eastern time zone. A loss tonight and the Orioles would match a season-high at four games .500. They begin the road trip with a 23-26 record after losing the last two days to Tampa Bay. The Yankees and Rays are tied for the American League East lead at 26-25, with the Orioles in third place,...

The Orioles still don't have any players in the top three in voting for the 2015 All-Star Game. Adam Jones remains fourth among American League outfielders with 1,514,836 votes, trailing Kansas City's Alex Gordon, who's third with 1,917,834. Manny Machado is fourth among third basemen with 419,979 votes, putting him far behind leader Mike Moustakas, who's garnered 2,385,024 votes. Caleb Joseph is fifth among catchers with 309,609 votes. Salvador Perez, another member of the defending...

The Double-A Bowie Baysox pulled off more ninth-inning magic Sunday. For the second time in May, Bowie won a game with a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the ninth. Bowie entered the last of the ninth down 4-1 to Harrisburg and pulled within 4-2 on Brandon Snyder's single. Then Quincy Latimore hit the slam to give the Baysox the dramatic win and complete a five-run rally. The slam came as Bowie was down to its last out. The 26-year-old Latimore, a fourth-round draft pick of the Pirates in...

Unless there's an unexpected change in plans, the Orioles won't bring up a reliever for tonight's game against the Astros at Minute Maid Park. The situation needed to be monitored after Thursday's doubleheader against the White Sox, when the Orioles used all seven relievers while gaining a split. They weren't out of the woods yesterday, and starter Chris Tillman lasted only 4 2/3 innings. Manager Buck Showalter used three relievers - Chaz Roe, Oliver Drake and Brian Matusz - in a 9-5 loss...

With two outs and a man on first in the bottom of the seventh inning on Friday came the pitch felt round the Natosphere. Reds reliever Tony Cingrani drilled Nationals slugger Bryce Harper in the back - right between the numbers - with a 94 mph fastball. No matter whether it was intentional, Harper was not happy, and neither were fans posting on Nats message boards. They demanded payback. The most obvious target was Reds first baseman Joey Votto, who exchanged words with the bruised Harper after...

Bryce Harper left Cincinnati without a homer in the Reds' three-game sweep. It may wind up being a theme. Harper's travel arrangements have most likely already been booked to return to Great American Ball Park in mid-July for the 86th Major League Baseball All-Star Game. The 22-year-old was announced last week as the frontrunner in the early release of the National League's fan vote. It was no surprise since Harper has been captivating audiences and terrorizing pitchers through the season's...

The impending return of Matt Wieters to the Orioles is going to create more questions than answers for the short term and the long term. As many know, Wieters has been rehabbing in the minors following Tommy John surgery. He's set to come off the disabled list later this week, but following some comments from Buck Showalter yesterday, I immediately question his role. Wieters could join the club Thursday in Houston and serve as the designated hitter, or Friday in Cleveland to be the catcher....

Nationals infielder Anthony Rendon, who is on the 15-day disabled list with an oblique injury, went 1-for-4 with a double in his third straight rehab start for Double-A Harrisburg. He was the designated hitter in the Senators' 6-4 loss at Bowie. No word on when Rendon will return to Nationals, who are home through June 7. It appears Rendon will be getting a few more rehab games so he can really "square up the ball" and get his timing back, according to Nats manager Matt Williams on the...

Manager: John Gibbons (8th season) Record: 23-29 Last 10 games: 5-5 Who to watch: LF Chris Colabello (.368/.417/.568 with 4 HR, 14 RBIs), 3B Josh Donaldson (.312/.372/.604 with 15 HR, 39 RBIs), 1B Edwin Encarnacion (12 HR, 32 RBIs), LHP Mark Buehrle (6-4, 4.97 ERA), RHP Roberto Osuna (1.75 ERA in 25 2/3 IP) Season series vs. Nationals: First meeting (0-3 in 2012) Pitching probables: June 1: RHP R.A. Dickey vs. RHP Jordan Zimmermann, 7:05 p.m., MASN June 2: RHP Marco Estrada vs. RHP Max...