When they acquired catcher Jose Lobaton from the Rays on Feb. 13, the Nationals added an experienced backup backstop with good defensive skills who brought with him a reputation for preparedness and working hard. The Nationals wanted someone with substantial major league experience ready to strap on the gear in case something happened to injury-addled starter Wilson Ramos. Ramos injured his left hand in the season's first game and had surgery earlier this week to remove the hamate bone. He'll...

Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy is on the bench today for the series opener in Detroit. Matt Wieters isn't starting, but that's no surprise. Steve Clevenger figured to catch a day game following a night game and delayed departure. Jonathan Schoop makes his first start at third base, with Ryan Flaherty shifting to shortstop. Steve Lombardozzi is starting at second base. For the Orioles Nick Markakis RF David Lough LF Adam Jones CF Chris Davis 1B Nelson Cruz DH Steve Clevenger C Jonathan...

While Jordan Zimmermann is listed as the starting pitcher for the Nationals' home opener this afternoon, manager Matt Williams has a backup plan ready to go, just in case the right-hander hasn't completely shaken the flu-like symptoms that caused him to be scratched from yesterday's assignment at the Mets. Zimmermann reported to Nationals Park around 9:35 a.m. on Friday and told manager Matt Williams and the team's training staff that his fever broke around 11 p.m. Thursday night. But...

The Orioles begin a stretch of five consecutive day games this afternoon, their longest stretch of the season. According to Elias, it's the longest since they played five in a row from April 9-14, 1994. I hope they got more sleep before that first game. Chris Davis ranked second in the majors last season with 25 road home runs. Manny Machado was tied for second with 26 road doubles. Adam Jones led current Orioles in road batting average at .279 (95-for-341). Darren O'Day led the Orioles...

The Nationals just posted their lineup for today's home opener and Jordan Zimmermann is listed as the starter. Things could change if the right-hander is still too sick to pitch, but as of now, Zimmermann is set to start this afternoon against the Braves after being scratched from his scheduled season debut Thursday. As for the Nats lineup, Anthony Rendon is starting at second after Danny Espinosa played yesterday. Bryce Harper is batting sixth and Jose Lobaton is back behind the plate after...

Happy home opener, everybody. Hope most of you are either able to make it out to Nationals Park this afternoon or sneak away from the office for a few hours and catch today's game against the Braves on MASN HD. Tell your boss you have to attend a lunch meeting with a Mr. Kolko. That should do the trick. They're calling for a high of 65 degrees today, which I like. They're also calling for 30 percent chance of rain during the afternoon, which I don't like as much. We still don't know who...

The Orioles' starting pitchers failed to produce a quality start and gave up nine runs and 24 hits over 16 2/3 innings in the Boston series. The O's batters produced just seven runs in three games. Not hard to look at those numbers and understand how the Orioles lost two of three to the Red Sox. Even with that, they went to the last inning down a run last night in a 4-3 game. The hitters, who produced just a .216 average and four extra-base hits in the series, went down quickly against Koji...

The Orioles will play a game in Detroit today if the weather cooperates and they're able to stay awake. Having a night game at Camden Yards and a 1:08 p.m. game the following day in Detroit made no sense to me, and I didn't get the sense that manager Buck Showalter was enamored with it. I guess it couldn't be adjusted. It got a whole lot worse for the Orioles due to the delay in getting their charter to BWI, which pushed back their departure on bus from Camden Yards until 1:15 a.m. They...

It was kind of a bend, but don't break night for Wei-Yin Chen against Boston tonight. He gave up a career-high 12 hits but Boston never got more than a run in any inning against him. They got to him for four runs over 5 2/3 innings to beat the Orioles 4-3 tonight in the series finale. Chen was asked about facing Boston's tough lineup that has the knack for fouling off pitches and extending innings against a starting pitcher. "That is something you need to overcome as a pitcher," Chen...

It's not getting any easier for the Orioles. They dropped two of three to the Red Sox and may not leave Camden Yards until 1 a.m. because of a flight issue, which puts their arrival in Detroit around 4 a.m. They have a 1:08 p.m. game against the Tigers. Manager Buck Showalter tried to make light of it, just as he put a positive spin on Wei-Yin Chen's performance tonight. Chen allowed four runs and 12 hits, including 11 singles, in 5 2/3 innings in the Orioles' 4-3 loss to the Red...