HOUSTON - Wondering how Nick Markakis' neck is feeling this morning? You came to the right place. Markakis almost was scratched from yesterday's Orioles lineup due to neck stiffness, but it subsided in batting practice and he made a tremendous running catch in right field to leave the bases loaded. Markakis remains in the lineup today as the designated hitter, though manager Buck Showalter indicated that he wanted to put Nelson Cruz in the outfield. Cruz came out of a game in Milwaukee last...

HOUSTON - Reliever Tommy Hunter threw a bullpen session today at Double-A Bowie and the feedback was positive. Hunter will join the Orioles in Arlington and throw on Tuesday for pitching coach Dave Wallace and bullpen coach Dom Chiti. He's expected to pitch in two rehab games before being activated from the disabled list. Hunter, on the DL with a strained left groin, could be activated on June 9 - four days after he's eligible. Matt Wieters' second throwing session today went extremely...

Now that the Orioles have three quality starts in a row, why not shoot for four? The O's three starters in the Houston series - Ubaldo Jimenez, Miguel Gonzalez and Chris Tillman - have pitched to an ERA of 1.86, allowing four runs over 19 1/3 innings. The Orioles have not had four consecutive quality starts all year. They had three in a row once before, from April 9-12. In 25 innings in this series, O's pitchers have given up just six runs and 15 hits with eight walks and 20 strikeouts. Of...

HOUSTON - Nelson Cruz will attempt to extend his hitting streak to 13 games today in the series finale against the Astros at Minute Maid Park. Cruz is batting .476 (20-for-42) during the streak, with six doubles, eight home runs, 15 RBIs and 14 runs scored. Cruz's 12-game hitting streak is the second-longest active in the majors behind Matt Carpenter (13). Cruz leads the majors in home runs (20) and RBIs (52). He also leads the majors in homers (13) and RBIs (39) on the road. Nick...

The Nationals have scored 19 runs in the first two games of their series against the Rangers and send right-hander Tanner Roark to the mound in search of an interleague sweep this afternoon. But it won't be easy. Texas ace Yu Darvish is 4-2 with a 2.35 ERA and brings so many pitches to the table that it took Nats manager Matt Williams about 30 seconds to list all all of them in a press conference yesterday. Of course, Roark is pretty solid, too. The 3-3 record and 3.47 ERA may look pretty...

HOUSTON - Orioles manager Buck Showalter waited until this morning to set his rotation for the series against the Rangers that begins Tuesday night in Arlington. Here are the matchups: Tuesday - Ubaldo Jimenez (2-6, 4.65 ERA) versus Joe Saunders (0-1, 4.15 ERA) Wednesday - Bud Norris (3-5, 4.04 ERA) versus Nick Martinez (1-1, 2.75 ERA) Thursday - Miguel Gonzalez (3-4, 4.17) versus Colby Lewis (4-4, 5.44 ERA) Norris will be working on six days rest after starting May 28 in Milwaukee. He moves...

WOODBRIDGE, Va. - Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman (right thumb fracture) went 1-for-3 with a single in his second rehab game for high Single-A Potomac Saturday night, playing for the first time in left field. He played five innings. There was a standing room only crowd of 7,000 at Pfitzner Stadium. "It felt good," Zimmerman said. "I think just getting my legs back under me and getting on the field and being in the pace of the game instead of DHing is always nice. So we will kind of...

HOUSTON - The Orioles will go for the series split today by sending left-hander Wei-Yin Chen to the mound against the Astros. Chen is 3-1 with a 5.33 ERA in five road starts this season. He's received 8.17 runs of support per nine innings. Maybe that will perk up the offense. Chen is 2-0 with a 3.14 ERA in two starts versus the Astros. He beat them on May 9 in Baltimore after allowing two earned runs in seven innings. Matt Dominguez is 3-for-6 with two doubles against Chen. Jose Altuve is...

Anytime a minor league player starts to produce very good stats at one level, the inevitable question comes up: Should he now get promoted to the next level? That topic came up earlier this week when I had a conversation with Orioles director of player development Brian Graham, one of the key front office staff members that is heavily and directly involved in such decisions. Talking about potential promotions is not an area where Graham wants to say much publicly. He doesn't want players...

HOUSTON - Nelson Cruz leads the majors in home runs and RBIs. He's homered in five of the last seven games. He's driven in five of the Orioles' last nine runs. He's still a bargain at $8 million. Manager Buck Showalter says Cruz is "in a good place." He's just glad to have Cruz in his own clubhouse. "Yeah, I see the ball well," Cruz said following today's 4-1 win over the Astros. "Like I said, I tried to be consistent for that long. I just stay with my routine and do it on a...