Orioles catcher Matt Wieters will visit orthopedic specialist Dr. James Andrews next Monday in Gulf Breeze, Fla. after his latest throwing session today didn't produce the desired results. Wieters still is experiencing some discomfort in his right elbow, though manager Buck Showalter didn't classify it as a setback. Showalter also told reporters that today's session was one of the better ones since Wieters was cleared to throw. Surgery remains a possibility for Wieters. The Orioles will...

Washington Nationals right-hander Jordan Zimmermann today was named the National League Player of the Week. Major League Baseball made the announcement this afternoon on MLB Network. Zimmermann, 28, opened the month of June with 17 consecutive scoreless innings as he pitched back-to-back gems over the Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres. In earning his first NL Player of the Week honors, Zimmermann went 2-0, allowed just seven hits, walked one and struck out 16. He held opposing...

The Orioles welcome the Red Sox to town tonight. Despite the benches-clearing incident last night, Manny Machado is in the lineup again tonight, batting second. There has been no ruling so far on whether Machado will be suspended. Bud Norris will take the mound for the O's. He's 0-2 with a 4.56 ERA in four career starts against the Red Sox. For the Orioles Nick Markakis RF Manny Machado 3B Adam Jones DH Chris Davis 1B Nelson Cruz LF J.J. Hardy SS David Lough CF Caleb Joseph C Ryan Flaherty...

Triple-A Norfolk catcher Steve Clevenger, who broke camp as the backup to Matt Wieters in Baltimore, has been named the International League's Batter of the Week for the period from June 2-8. In his first full week in the league this season, Clevenger batted .593 with a .613 on-base percentage, 16 hits, seven doubles, 13 RBIs and nine runs scored. Clevenger went hitless in his first 11 at-bats with the Tides before stringing together five consecutive multi-hit games. He went 4-for-4 with...

SAN FRANCISCO - Good morning from sunny San Francisco. What a terrible road trip this has been in terms of travel. Three days in San Diego, now four in San Fran. Just awful. The Nationals took care of business over the weekend, winning another series, their third straight, and bumping up into a first-place tie with the Braves and Marlins atop the National League East. Here by the Bay, the Nationals will get their latest test - four games against the Giants, who have the best record in...

Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette was a guest on "The Norris and Davis Show" this morning on 105.7 FM The Fan in Baltimore and talked about the events this weekend involving Manny Machado. "Manny had a confrontation with (Josh) Donaldson and then we threw inside to Donaldson and Donaldson turned to their bench and I don't know what he said exactly but I think he asked for support from his pitching staff," Duquette said. "And later on in the series, they threw at Manny not...

Jordan Zimmermannn tossed a fantastic game Sunday, going the distance in the Nationals' 6-0 victory over the Padres. After the game, he talked to Dan Kolko about holding San Diego to just two hits in the shutout. While Zimmermann was the star of the show, the stars of the video may just be teammates Jerry Blevins and Drew Storen. Check out the hilarious antics for yourself below.

Just like California Chrome coming off his Preakness victory in mid-May, the Nationals finally seem to be rounding into form. They have won seven of their past nine games, outscoring opponents 53-16. The bats have been hot, with the fifth-best OPS in the National League at .737 since the start of the month. The starting rotation has put together two straight solid turns, and is coming off its strongest stretch of the season. Over the past six games, Nats starters have struck out 44 batters and...

High Single-A Potomac right-hander John Simms won his first game as a professional Saturday. He went seven innings, struck out a career-high 14 batters and allowed one run and two hits in a 6-1 win over Wilmington. Winning your first game as a professional is a big deal for any player, but is an especially big deal for Simms, the former Rice Owl who had pitched in 25 games and made 10 starts before finally breaking through. Director of player development Mark Scialabba told me Simms did a...

There's no point in tossing out a bunch of topics this morning, since everything seems to lead back to Manny Machado. I provided as many details as possible yesterday on the latest incident between the Orioles and Athletics, with Fernando Abad throwing twice at Machado and the young third baseman losing control of the bat. And many would say, his emotions. Machado said it was accidental. The bat slipped out of his hands. The Athletics, I'm told, were fuming in the visiting clubhouse. They...