The Orioles placed reliever Tommy Hunter on the 15-day disabled list today with a strained left groin. The move is retroactive to yesterday. To take Hunter's place, the Orioles recalled reliever Preston Guilmet from Triple-Norfolk. He's in the clubhouse and available to pitch tonight. Brad Brach remains with the club despite working four innings last night. Hunter, 27, is 1-1 with a 6.06 ERA in 16 1/3 innings. He's recorded 11 saves in 14 chances, and has allowed 31 baserunners. Hunter...

PITTSBURGH - Matt Williams had said he planned on giving Jayson Werth and Ian Desmond a day off during this four-game series against the Pirates. Neither of those two players will be sitting in the series opener, however. Werth is starting in right field, hitting third, while Desmond is at short, batting fifth. Blake Treinen makes his second big league start after officially being recalled from Triple-A Syracuse. He has a 0.77 ERA in four major league appearances coming into tonight. The...

The Orioles today announced that they have placed right-hander Tommy Hunter on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to May 21, with a left groin strain. The Orioles have recalled right-hander Preston Guilmet from Triple-A Norfolk. Hunter, 27, is 1-1 with 11 saves and a 6.06 ERA (16.1IP, 11ER) in 19 games for the Orioles. His 11 saves are tied for the third-most in the American League. Guilmet, 26, has appeared in two games for the Orioles, striking out three in 1.2 scoreless innings. In 15...

One way the Nationals could add the most power to their lineup prior to Bryce Harper's July return would be to get Ryan Zimmerman back on the field and keep Anthony Rendon at third base. So Zimmerman would play at first base? Nope. Adam LaRoche returns Sunday and he would be back at his usual spot on the right corner of the infield. So where would Zimmerman play? How about left field? Zimmerman is more of a power hitter than Nate McLouth, who is a better defender in left field....

The Indians announced today that right-hander Justin Masterson will make tonight's start against the Orioles at Camden Yards. Masterson was scheduled to pitch Friday night, but he's taking Josh Tomlin's place tonight on short rest. Tomlin worked three innings in relief yesterday against the Tigers. The Indians haven't announced their starter for Friday. One game at a time. Wei-Yin Chen starts the series opener for the Orioles. Bud Norris, Ubaldo Jimenez and Miguel Gonzalez will start the...

When we last saw the Orioles at Camden Yards, they were getting swept by Detroit in a three-game series. The O's have lost their last four at home as they begin a four-game series tonight with Cleveland. The Orioles are 9-10 in home games and 14-11 on the road. They have scored nine runs total in their last four games at the Yard. But the offense got going over the last three games as the Orioles hit six doubles and homers scoring 23 runs. Wei-Yin Chen (5-2, 3.69) makes his ninth start of...

PITTSBURGH - Hello from the Steel City, where the Nationals will spend their next four days before heading right back to D.C. again for a lengthy homestand. Pittsburgh doesn't necessarily have a great reputation as a travel city, but I kind of like it here. The downtown area by the bridges is gorgeous when the weather is nice (it makes for a solid area to go for a jog, if I can force myself to do so) and I really enjoy PNC Park. The press box is pretty high up, but the sight lines are...

There is some solace in the fact that a team that has had its opening day lineup on the field for all of three innings and has relied largely on backups is only 1 1/2 games back of the division lead, but how much longer can backups be expected to tread water? The injury to Wilson Ramos was one the Nationals were built to withstand. They acquired Jose Lobaton expressly for that purpose. The loss of Ryan Zimmerman was a blow that was not going to be easily recovered from. Zimmerman was off to a...

Through his first 30 games of the season, Chris Davis had hit just three home runs. After hitting a major league-leading 53 home runs in 2013, Davis was on pace to hit less than half of that total this season. Steve Pearce was matching Davis's power production in half the amount of games played, while Matt Wieters had two more homers in four less games. The questions were beginning to roll in from Baltimore fans. What's wrong with Davis? Did he rush back from his oblique injury? Is he being...

PITTSBURGH - The Orioles split six games on their road trip, found their offense and lost at least one reliever. Sounds about right. Brad Brach figures to be optioned after working four innings last night. The Orioles need another long man. And someone could be headed to the disabled list. Manager Buck Showalter wouldn't reveal the name, only that the Orioles were short one reliever. Could it be Tommy Hunter? He pitched Tuesday night, but something may have cropped up yesterday. As I wrote...