After 43 days on the sidelines, third baseman Anthony Rendon finally saw game action today, playing three innings and taking two at-bats in an extended spring game in Viera, Fla. Nationals manager Matt Williams indicated that Rendon will ramp it up to five innings tomorrow before heading out to a minor league rehab assignment on Friday. This is a major step for Rendon, who has been sidelined since spraining his left MCL while making a stunning diving stop on a grounder in his third Grapefruit...

Danny Espinosa is back to playing second base again tonight as the Nationals begin a series with the St. Louis Cardinals. He is hitting in the eight-hole versus veteran right-hander Lance Lynn. Espinosa is batting .238 with two homers and three RBIs, but he also has a .385 on-base percentage in his first seven games with four walks and two strikeouts. Nationals manager Matt Williams has been impressed with the way Espinosa has taken to anything the club has asked him to do this season. In...

Cincinnati Reds manager Bryan Price is generally a mild-mannered, stand-up guy. But on Monday, he lost his cool and took out his frustration on reporters, questioning their approach to the job. By now, it's standard knowledge that Price fired a certain expletive 77 times in a 5½-minute explosion at reporters and then threw them out of his office. Specifically, Price was angry at C. Trent Rosecrans, beat writer for the Cincinnati Enquirer, for reporting news that Price thought was putting...

Third baseman Yunel Escobar returns to the Nationals lineup this evening after missing the previous two games with a strained groin. Escobar hasn't played since the injury occurred while running out a ground ball in the fifth inning of Friday's win over the Phillies. With center fielder Denard Span back in his normal leadoff spot, Escobar drops to sixth. He's batting .286 (12-for-42) with a homer and two doubles so far this year. Left fielder Jayson Werth will look to get his bat going after...

Everth Cabrera is leading off for the Orioles tonight in their series opener against the Blue Jays in Toronto. Delmon Young is in left field, Steve Pearce is starting at first base and Chris Davis is serving as the designated hitter. Jimmy Paredes takes a seat on the bench against Blue Jays left-hander Mark Buehrle. For the Orioles Everth Cabrera SS Steve Pearce 1B Chris Davis DH Adam Jones CF Delmon Young LF Travis Snider RF Manny Machado 3B Caleb Joseph C Ryan Flaherty 2B Bud Norris RHP For...

Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy has moved his workouts to Triple-A Norfolk, where he's expected to take batting practice and ground balls this afternoon. However, team officials confirmed that Hardy won't begin his injury rehab assignment. Hardy has been hitting on the field at Double-A Bowie and going through a series of workouts. The Orioles won't clear him for games until he's able to get full extension on his swing without any traces of discomfort in his left shoulder. The Orioles placed...

The Triple-A Norfolk Tides are off to an 8-4 start after beating Gwinnett 1-0 at Harbor Park last night. Right-hander Mike Wright pitched six scoreless innings and is 2-0 with a 1.72 ERA. After allowing three runs in his first 2015 outing, Wright has put together 12 scoreless innings over his past two starts. Tides pitchers have been good all year. Their starters have worked to an ERA of 2.33 over their last nine games, while the Norfolk bullpen has pitched to an ERA of 1.75 for the season. The...

Manager: Mike Matheny, fourth year Record: 8-3 Last 10 games: 7-3 Who to watch: 3B Matt Carpenter (.400/.449/.689, 7 doubles, 2 HR, 10 RBIs, 10 R); LF Matt Holliday (.361/.467/.389, 6 RBIs); RHP Michael Wacha (2-0, 1.35 ERA, 0.90 WHIP); RHP Lance Lynn (1-1, 1.64 ERA, 0.909 WHIP) Season series vs. Nats (2014): 5-2, 25 runs scored, 12 runs allowed Pitching probables April 21: RHP Lance Lynn vs. LHP Gio Gonzalez, 7 p.m., MASN April 22: RHP John Lackey vs. RHP Doug Fister, 7 p.m., MASN April 23:...

We are barely into the third week of baseball, but there is already a heartwarming story about one of the players on the Nationals, Rafael Martin. Martin's story is like something out of a rock and roll ballad. Martin almost let go of his dream of becoming a professional baseball player, but held on tightly, kept working hard and now he's a pitcher for the Nationals. Rafael Martin Romero was born on May 16, 1984, in San Fernando, Calif. That makes him about 31. He attended Jurupa Valley High...

For 17 years, Nationals manager Matt Williams was one of the game's most intense players - but also one of its most dangerous hitters. Williams batted .268 for his career with 378 homers and 1,218 RBIs. But those numbers don't do justice to seasons like 1994, when he belted a league-high 43 homers for the Giants, or 1999 with the Diamondbacks, when he hit .303, pounded 35 homers and drove in an astounding 142 runs. Five times an All-Star, Williams banged out more than 30 homers six times and...