O's right-hander Tommy Hunter passed his final test with his left groin strain last night when he pitched an inning for Single-A Delmarva. Now he's ready to return to the Orioles roster and will be activated off the disabled list in time for today's game. Hunter threw 11 pitches in a scoreless second inning for Delmarva last night. He fanned two batters and hit one, but that runner was thrown out trying to steal. "I felt good," Hunter said this morning. "Able to throw the ball over the...

SAN DIEGO - Rafael Soriano seems to be a lightning rod for criticism among Nationals fans. Now I'm not here to tell fans how to feel about players. If you want to have certain feelings about a certain player, you're definitely entitled. It's a free country. And a free blog. But I am going to use this post to defend Soriano. Going into last night's outing, which ended in a blown save, the veteran right-hander had converted 12 of his 13 save opportunities on the season. He had a 0.78 ERA...

Manager Buck Showalter said after last night's game that pitcher Kevin Gausman has a chance to be a difference-maker for the Orioles. For one night, he sure was. Gausman had a start where he gave up one run in six innings against Detroit last year. But this was probably the best of his seven career major league starts. In a 6-3 win over Oakland, he beat the team with the best record in the American League, a team that leads the majors in walks and on-base percentage, is second in runs and...

SAN DIEGO - The Nationals were one out from locking up their third straight series win and picking up their fifth straight victory overall. Then Yonder Alonso connected on a 1-0 fastball from Rafael Soriano - a pitch that was supposed to be down and away but stayed over the heart of the plate - and tied the game in the bottom of the ninth. Two innings later, Cameron Maybin blooped a single into right field off Craig Stammen, scoring Chase Headley with the game-winning run and sending the Padres...

The Orioles will make a roster move today. I have that sentence saved on my laptop. Just a simple cut-and-paste. Reliever Tommy Hunter will be activated from his one-inning rehab assignment at Single-A Delmarva. His groin is fine - a sentence I'd rather not save on my laptop. The Orioles will need to create a spot for Hunter on the 25-man roster. Would they designate Evan Meek again after purchasing his contract two days ago? Meek wasn't sure he'd make it onto the field yesterday. Twenty...

Kevin Gausman picked up his first major league win as a starter tonight. But for a few moments in the top of the sixth inning, he was thinking like a reliever. It helped him get out of a second and third, one-out jam in the Orioles' 6-3 win over Oakland. "When I got into a little jam in the sixth, I kind of went back to when I pitched out of the bullpen last year," Gausman said. "Guys on second and third, one out, that is when you have to bring your 'A' game. Pitching out of the bullpen...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter isn't ready to state that young pitcher Kevin Gausman is here to stay. Too many factors at play, including the pending return of Miguel Gonzalez from the disabled list. For now, Showalter gladly will accept tonight's outing - which produced Gausman's first major league win as a starter - and try not to look too far ahead. Gausman held the Athletics to one run over seven innings in a 6-3 victory. His next turn comes up Thursday against the Blue Jays at Camden...

The Nationals let a good opportunity get away from them in the top of the first of tonight's game against the Padres at Petco Park. Two hard-hit balls with one out and the Nationals were in business. Kevin Frandsen singled to right and Jayson Werth, looking fresh after a getting Friday's game off, raked a double to deep right field. Frandsen went to third. But with Adam LaRoche at the plate, Frandsen got caught too far off third base and was thrown out by catcher Rene Rivera for the second...

The Orioles made 30 picks on day three of the 2014 First Year Player Draft on Saturday, completing rounds 11-40. This year, the Orioles selected 38 players overall, 27 pitchers and 11 position players, with 30 of the selections being college products. The Orioles selected 20 right-handed pitchers, seven left-handed pitchers, six infielders, and five outfielders. ROUND, PLAYER, POS, SCHOOL, HOMETOWN, D.O.B., HT, WT 3 (90), Gonzalez, Brian, LHP, Archbishop McCarthy HS, Miramar, FL, 10/25/95,...

In a matchup of former first-round draft picks, the O's right-hander had the decided edge tonight. Kevin Gausman gave up just one run over seven innings to outduel Sonny Gray as the Orioles beat Oakland 6-3 in front of 44,202 fans, the third sellout of the season. Gausman became the first O's starter to pitch seven innings or more since May 17. The O's had gone 18 games in a row without such an outing. He gave up a solo homer to Coco Crisp on an 0-2 fastball in the third, but just three...