The All-Star break has pretty much ended for the Orioles, who are holding a workout today in Oakland before starting a three-game series on Friday. There shouldn't be any news coming out of it, since manager Buck Showalter already announced his second-half rotation on Sunday. Chris Tillman, Wei-Yin Chen and Kevin Gausman will start against the Athletics, and Bud Norris, Miguel Gonzalez and Tillman will start against the Angels in the series that follows. Ubaldo Jimenez will attempt to throw in...

I got some more insight from Team USA hitting coach Mark Harris, who got to work with and watch Nationals prospects Michael Taylor and Lucas Giolito play Sunday in the All-Star Futures Game. Team USA beat team World 3-2 at Target Field in Minneapolis. Harris, the hitting coach at Double-A Harrisburg, had this to say about Taylor's season. Giolito did give up a home run in the game, but he also was able to work through his pitches, get his fastball to 97 mph and gain experience in a big game at...

The Orioles will be among the teams attending Cuban outfielder Rusney Castillo's workout July 26 at the University of Miami. The session is termed a "showcase" for interested clubs. Castillo, 26, defected to the Dominican Republic in December and the Orioles scouted him two months later. They want to take another look at him. Castillo, listed at 5-foot-9 and 185 lbs., has spent the majority of his career in center field, but he also has played the corner positions on a more limited basis....

The Orioles have promoted outfielder Mike Yastrzemski to Double-A Bowie, his third affiliate since the start of the 2014 season. Yastrzemski, chosen in the 14th round of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft out of Vanderbilt University, was batting .312/.364/.462 with seven doubles, a triple, one home run and 19 RBIs in 23 games at advanced Single-A Frederick. He also was 5-of-5 in stolen base attempts. Yastrzemski began the season at low Single-A Delmarva and batted .306/.365/.554 with 14 doubles,...

If the Nationals are going to win the World Series, they'll have to take at least one game on the road. Getting a little ahead of ourselves here? Yup. But hey, there's nothing else going on in the sports world today. The American League representative in the World Series will hold home field advantage this year, after the AL All-Star squad earned a 5-3 win in last night's Midsummer Classic. The last five World Series champions have all held home field advantage. Only one of those times was a...

Nationals right-hander Tyler Clippard got his chance to pitch in his second All-Star Game in the fifth inning tonight at Target Field in Minneapolis. He was able to put out a fire started by Cardinals right-hander Pat Neshek. With the game tied 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth, Neshek allowed a run-scoring double by Mike Trout that scored former Nationals prospect and current Athletics catcher Derek Norris and gave the American League a one-run lead. Clippard relieved Neshek and recorded two outs...

The World Cup is over. The All-Star Game is over. I no longer have a reason to live. Wait, I still have my reader mailbag, which allows me to churn out another sequel to the "Because You Asked" series. As you know, sequels rarely live up to the original, but these don't cost you anything except a few minutes of your time. And they exist because of you. You ask, I answer, you ask again, I wonder whether I'm operating inside the cone of silence, Then, I wonder whether you get the...

It never fails. A player catches a routine fly ball and leads off the next inning. Adam Jones did it tonight in the All-Star Game at Target Field in Minnesota, squeezing Andrew McCutchen's fly ball to center field to end the top of the second and immediately coming to the plate in the bottom half. Happens all the time, folks. But seriously, Jones took a Clayton Kershaw pitch out of the strike zone and popped up to third baseman Aramis Ramirez. He's 0-for-1. Jones is hitting behind teammate...

Is the Home Run Derby still going on? I half-expected to wake up this morning and still see some sort of swing-off or bonus round going on at Target Field in Minnesota. The hour-long rain delay before the Derby didn't help matters last night, but my goodness, does that event seem to go on forever. They might have cut down the number of outs in each round from 10 to seven, but that still didn't seem to help much. There are just too many participants, in my opinion, and too many players advance...

Double-A Harrisburg Senators center fielder Michael Taylor has made big steps this season at the plate. Taylor is batting .323 through 88 games with 110 hits. Last season, he hit .263. He has 16 doubles, two triples, 18 homers, 27 stolen bases and 54 RBIs. Last season for high Single-A Potomac, he had 10 homers in 133 games. Harrisburg batting coach Mark Harris, who has worked with Taylor for a few seasons on his approach and swing, was the hitting coach for Team USA at the Futures Game on...