Whitey Herzog is a Hall of Famer because of his managing career with the St. Louis Cardinals, but the former major leaguer known as "The White Rat" had a Baltimore connection to his career. Herzog, who managed the Cardinals to two National League pennants and the 1982 World Series title, was a left-handed-hitting outfielder who couldn't hit a curveball. Herzog played eight big league seasons, including 212 games for the Orioles in 1961 and 1962. Herzog hit .280 with 12 home runs during his...

Earlier this week, Nationals Buzz guest blogger Marty Niland pointed out something I agree with. He wrote, "The Nats need to make hay against the teams they are supposed to beat until injured stars (Adam) LaRoche, Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman can return to the lineup and bring them back to full strength." One of the biggest problems facing the Nationals in 2014 is lack of consistency their overall performance due to health-related issues. This, of course, is a plague that haunts any...

Of all the Orioles hungry for success, none may be more driven to see Baltimore return to the playoffs and perform well on the big stage than Nick Markakis, a nine-year veteran of the club who has never played in a postseason game. As most Orioles fans are aware, it was a cruel twist of fate that struck Markakis down just a few weeks prior to the 2012 playoff run, which was the first time the O's had reached the postseason since 1997. That fateful day came on Sept. 8 at Camden Yards, as...

PHOENIX - As Doug Fister's Nationals debut approached last week, manager Matt Williams cautioned that fans shouldn't expect too much in the big right-hander's first start of the season. After all, not only was it the first time Fister was taking the mound in a regular season game this season, but he was coming off six weeks on the disabled list with a strained right lat. Add in that Fister was likely going to be a little fired up for his first start in a Nationals uniform, and we all knew...

When the top of the ninth began last night, Tommy Hunter had a chance, with a 1-2-3 inning, to avoid facing Torii Hunter, Miguel Cabrera or Victor Martinez. But he gave up another leadoff hit and later walked Hunter, and that brought up Cabrera with runners on first and second. I really thought this could have been that very rare instance where a team pitches around a hitter even without a base open. Instead Cabrera was pitched to and produced a game-winning three-run homer. For the immediate...

Steve Clevenger registered three-hit games on Saturday and Monday. Caleb Joseph collected his first major league hit last night, threw out two runners attempting to steal and cut down another runner trying to advance to third base on a ball in the dirt. If not for the umpires reversing an out call in the ninth inning, he would have finished with three caught stealings and probably been elected mayor. Maybe the Orioles' catching situation is in good hands after all. I've heard that the Orioles...

PHOENIX - Stephen Strasburg pitched pretty well tonight, allowing three runs over seven innings with no walks and six strikeouts. Bronson Arroyo was better, however, throwing his 16th career complete game, allowing just one run, walking one and striking out seven. The Nationals had a few chances against Arroyo, but outside of Ian Desmond's RBI triple in the second inning, they weren't able to push anything across. The D-backs tied it up in the fourth on Miguel Montero's RBI single and...

The Orioles optioned reliever Preston Guilmet to Triple-A Norfolk tonight to make room for Kevin Gausman, who starts Wednesday afternoon against the Tigers at Camden Yards. Guilmet struck out the only batter he faced tonight after replacing closer Tommy Hunter with two outs in the ninth. He retired all five batters he faced the past two nights, fanning three of them. Manager Buck Showalter wanted to talk about catcher Caleb Joseph tonight, but he knew the topic would shift to Hunter, who gave...

The Orioles announced after tonight's game that they have optioned right-hander Preston Guilmet to Triple-A Norfolk. Guilmet, 26, made two scoreless appearances totaling 1.2 innings after being recalled from Triple-A Norfolk before yesterday's game.

In the quiet of the Orioles clubhouse, Tommy Hunter talked about the ninth inning, the win that got away and his third blown save. "It sucks, man. It's not fun to lose. That's my take on it. I don't like getting beat," he said. Hunter walked Torii Hunter to put two on with two outs for Miguel Cabrera and Cabrera's three-run shot gave Detroit the 3-1 lead in the ninth. A solo shot from Victor Martinez followed as the Tigers stunned the O's in the ninth. "You can't let the best hitter in...