The Nationals beat today's deadline to sign 2014 draft picks by coming to terms with their first-round pick, right-hander Erick Fedde out of UNLV. Fedde went 8-2 with a 1.76 ERA in 11 starts as a junior this season, but his year was cut short by Tommy John surgery. However, the Nats did miss out on two of their top-10 round picks, failing to agree to contracts with second-round left-hander Andrew Suarez and ninth-round first baseman Austin Byler. The silver lining is that Washington receives...

The Orioles open the second half of their season tonight with a familiar lineup. Once again, Steve Pearce is in left field and Nelson Cruz is the designated hitter. Caleb Joseph is behind the plate for starter Chris Tillman, and Jonathan Schoop is at second base. For the Orioles Nick Markakis RF Steve Pearce LF Adam Jones CF Nelson Cruz DH Chris Davis 1B J.J. Hardy SS Manny Machado 3B Caleb Joseph C Jonathan Schoop 2B Chris Tillman RHP For the Athletics Coco Crisp CF John Jaso DH Yoenis...

The Orioles announced today that they signed right-hander Brandon Koch, their 33rd-round selection in the 2014 First-Year Player Draft out of Temecula Valley (Calif.) High School. Koch had signed a national letter of intent to play for UC Riverside. Today was the deadline for signing picks. The Orioles continue to make changes to their minor league rosters, promoting reliever Jon Keller from low Single-A Delmarva to advanced Single-A Frederick. Keller, 21, was 3-0 with a 1.59 ERA in 24...

The Nationals announced today that the club agreed to terms with right-hander Erick Fedde, the No. 18 overall pick in the 2014 First-Year Player Draft. The 21-year-old Fedde is a 6-foot-4, 180-pound junior out of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. He was the Mountain West pitcher of the year and underwent Tommy John surgery in early June. He went 8-2 with a 1.76 ERA (15 earned runs in 76 2/3 innings) and 82 strikeouts in 11 starts for the Rebels. UNLV baseball coach Tim Chambers told me...

Right-hander Jordan Zimmermann will start Tuesday night against the Colorado Rockies in Denver if everything goes well during his throwing this week. Zimmermann left last Friday's game at Philadelphia in the fourth inning with a right biceps cramp. An MRI revealed a biceps strain. He was not place on the disabled list. Zimmermann threw from 100 feet yesterday and will throw longer yardage today. Manager Matt Williams confirmed that Zimmermann is good to go and outlined this week's...

The Oakland A's have had a terrific first half. If their 59-36 record didn't tell you that, maybe their run differential will. Not only is Oakland's plus-145 run differential the best in the majors, the 2014 A's are one of five American League teams to have a run differential of plus-139 or better at the All-Star break since 1940. The Orioles are on this list twice. Plus-168: The 1969 Orioles Plus-157: The 1998 Yankees Plus-149: The 2001 Mariners Plus-145: The 2014 A's Plus-143: The 1966...

Right-hander Stephen Strasburg gets the nod tonight as the Nationals open a three-game series against the National League Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers. For the NationalsCF Denard Span 2B Anthony Rendon RF Jayson Werth 1B Adam LaRoche 3B Ryan Zimmerman LF Bryce Harper SS Ian Desmond C Wilson Ramos RHP Stephen Strasburg Note: The time for the Nats' game in Atlanta on Sunday, Aug. 10 has been changed. Originally scheduled for 1:35 p.m., the game will now be broadcast nationwide on "Sunday...

With the second half of the season starting, today is the perfect time to reflect on some of the best plays from the Nationals' season so far Nate McLouth made a fantastic sliding grab before crashing into the wall in foul territory. Your browser does not support iframes. With the Nationals trailing 7-6 in the eighth, Jayson Werth blasted a grand slam to lead them to a win over the Marlins. Your browser does not support iframes. Danny Espinosa and Kevin Frandsen teamed up to hit the...

Jeff Samardzija is living, breathing, spitting, scratching proof that wins and losses don't provide an accurate measurement of a pitcher's effectiveness and worth. Samardzija, who starts tonight against the Orioles, is a combined 3-8 with the Cubs and Athletics, but he's also registered a 2.78 ERA in 19 starts. He's allowed 108 hits, walked 32 and struck out 113 in 123 innings. The Orioles have never faced Samardzija and I'm guessing that most of them would have to look up the spelling of...

There is a 5 p.m. Eastern time deadline today for major league teams to sign their 2014 draft picks. Heading into today, the Orioles had signed 30 of their 38 selections, including 19 pitchers. The Orioles are working to add one more player to that and will likely end today with 31 picks signed from this draft. One player they will not get is left-handed pitcher Brandon Bonilla. He was taken in the 25th round out of Grand Canyon (Ariz.) University. Bonilla is the son of former Orioles...