SAN DIEGO - Manager Matt Williams had been hoping to give Ian Desmond and Jayson Werth a day off for nearly two weeks now. He just needed to find the right time. Yesterday, with the Nationals having won four of their last five, Williams sat Desmond for the first time all season. Today, with the Nats coming off a sweep of the Phillies and facing Padres righty Tyson Ross, Williams will rest Werth and put the left-handed-hitting Nate McLouth in right field. Here's tonight's Nats lineup in...

I'm not certain whether I'm setting up a reverse jinx here, but Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis has homered in back-to-back games for the second time this season. He's never homered in three straight. Last night, Chris Tillman became the first Orioles pitcher to make two starts lasting one inning or fewer in the same season since Zach Britton on July 8 and July 30, 2011. Bob Turley and Joe Coleman each made four such starts during the 1954 season, the most in club history. Due to the...

It's the O's against the A's tonight. Within that battle is the challenge of the Orioles hitters against the Oakland pitchers. While the Orioles have been scoring some runs lately, Oakland has the major league's best team ERA at 2.90. Over the last 26 games, they've been even better with a team ERA of 2.43. In that time, A's starting pitchers have worked to an ERA of 2.61. That pitching has helped Oakland win 18 of its last 26 games. The A's come to town with the AL's best record at...

The Orioles today announced that they have recalled LHP Tim Berry from Double-A Bowie and selected the contract of RHP Evan Meek from Triple-A Norfolk. Additionally, the club has placed RHP Miguel Gonzalez on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to May 31, with a strained right oblique and optioned RHP Preston Guilmet to Triple-A Norfolk. Berry, 23, has gone 3-3 with a 4.12 ERA (63.1IP, 29ER) and a career-best 3.31 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 11 starts for the Baysox this season. A 50th round...

Veteran left-hander Johan Santana injured his Achilles tendon today while pitching at extended spring training. He was examined and the Orioles are awaiting the results. Santana was hit on the backside by a line drive, and he felt pain in his Achilles while chasing the ball. Santana, on the 15-day disabled list while recovering from shoulder surgery, likely was making his last start in extended spring training before joining an affiliate. Kevin Gausman will be officially recalled on Saturday...

UNLV right-handed pitcher Erick Fedde said Friday that he is thrilled about the opportunity he has in front of him with the Nationals and that he's pleased to be selected in the first round, despite undergoing ligament replacement surgery Tuesday. "After Tommy John, I just was hoping going into the draft that I get selected hopefully in the first round still," Fedde said on a teleconference. "That was my expectation and hope, and I was lucky enough for that to happen." When he initially...

Steve Pearce is starting in left field tonight in the Orioles' series opener against the Athletics at Camden Yards. Nelson Cruz remains the designated hitter. Nick Hundley gets the start against A's left-hander Tommy Milone despite his odd splits. For the Orioles Nick Markakis RF Manny Machado 3B Nelson Cruz DH Adam Jones CF Chris Davis 1B J.J. Hardy SS Steve Pearce LF Jonathan Schoop 2B Nick Hundley C Wei-Yin Chen LHP Update: Right-hander Kevin Gausman is in the Orioles clubhouse, but...

The Orioles are bringing 23-year-old left-hander Tim Berry to Baltimore, but there's no word on whether he will officially be recalled from Double-A Bowie this weekend. The Baysox were in Portland, Maine, when he was asked to make the trip to Baltimore. Berry could be placed on the taxi squad or be added to the 25-man roster if the team has a need. Berry, the Orioles' sixth-best prospect according to Baseball America, would be making his major league debut if he joins the club. I'm...

The Orioles had to wait until the second day of the First-Year Player Draft to make a selection, but in the third round this afternoon, they drafted a high school pitcher from Florida. In the third round: The O's selected left-handed pitcher Brian Gonzalez from Archbishop McCarthy High School in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Gonzalez is 6-foot-1 and 230 pounds. According to Baseball America's scouting report on Gonzalez, he throws his fastball 87 to 90 mph, touching 91, and throws a changeup and...

My son hears J.J. Hardy's name on the Orioles broadcast and he starts a chant: "J.J. Hardy ... clap, clap, clap-clap-clap." He hears the familiar bugle music that long ago signaled the cavalry and he yells "Charge." He visits my office and immediately wants to see the "baseball men," meaning a Brian Matusz bobblehead and an Orioles garden gnome (It was a gift, OK? No judging.) He's either a fan of an Orioles legend or of off-color comedy because he plays with a replica statue and calls...