Orioles pitcher Bud Norris will make his first start tonight since Sept. 8 against the White Sox. He was skipped in the rotation because of a sore right elbow. Norris made one relief appearance, allowing a run in the 18th inning in Friday night's 5-4 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field. In his last start, he surrendered four runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings. Norris is 4-1 with a 4.50 ERA in eight starts with the Orioles, and is 2-1 with a 7.40 ERA in four starts at Camden Yards, with 17...

ST. LOUIS - Jordan Zimmermann will have one shot at reaching the 20-win mark this season. That shot comes this afternoon in St. Louis. Tigers righty Max Scherzer put himself in a situation (with significant help from his teammates in terms of run support) where he had five cracks at notching his 20th win before he finally hit that mark. That's what getting to getting to 19 wins by Aug. 24 will do for you. Zimmermann notched his 19th win his last time out, and with today being his final start...

I am getting reports that fall instructional league is off to a good start. As you would imagine, the camp emphasizes fundamentals and different individual aspects tailored to each player's specific needs. Second baseman

ST. LOUIS - Jordan Zimmermann will be seeking his 20th victory of the season when the Nationals meet the Cardinals in a 1:45 p.m. game this afternoon. He'll be trying to give the Nationals back-to-back 20-game winners, after Gio Gonzalez went 21-8 in 2012. The only other 20-game winner in franchise history was Ross Grimsley, who notched 20 wins in 1978. The Nats will stick with pretty much the same lineup against Cardsinals rookie right-hander Shelby Miller, who is trying for his 15th win....

The questions will come up a lot over the next few days and weeks: Was the 2013 season a failure for the Orioles, and should fans be disappointed? The answers to those questions will be yes and yes for many of you, I would expect. After making the playoffs and winning 93 games last season, a playoff berth was a fair and realistic expectation for the 2013 Orioles, and they didn't make it. But where does that leave the Orioles as fans begin to look to the future? One writer believes they're...

This is a tale of two teams. One has an average age of 27.8 and the other 31.8. One has a solid young core composed of a 20-year-old former Rookie of the Year outfielder with back-to-back 20-homer seasons, a young pitching staff with three top-of-the rotation starters who are finishing the season with a 3.50 ERA or lower, a converted third baseman playing second who has slashed line drives all over the park since being recalled, and veterans in a third baseman that always seems to be an .800...

With last night's loss, the Orioles are officially out of the 2013 playoff picture. Would it be wrong to call that a relief? We've suspected this day was coming for a while. Last Friday's epic 18-inning loss to the Rays basically sealed the deal. That game had all the markings of a last stand and the Orioles, to their credit, did what they do: They fought hard. They simply didn't have an extra gear this time around. To finally know that they won't be revisiting the postseason is indeed...

ST. LOUIS - As if the Nationals don't see enough young hurlers with upper-90s fastballs in their own division - with Matt Harvey, Jose Fernandez, Craig Kimbrel and others - they had to deal with another one last night. Michael Wacha is just 22. He's made just 15 big league appearances. But when you throw 98 mph and can control a changeup that comes in around 88-89, you've got a good chance to be successful in the bigs. Add in a sharp curveball, and you can see why they're excited about...

The Orioles begin the next phase of the 2013 season and it's down to only five games. For the first time, they will arrive at the ballpark today knowing they won't return to the playoffs. They've been mathematically eliminated. It went from improbable after leaving Florida to impossible after the 10th inning. Five more games and they will clean out their lockers and scatter across the country. Five more games, and manager Buck Showalter may be in more of a reflective mood. Same...

In a way, it was somewhat symbolic of the 2013 season. In the defeat that officially eliminated the Orioles from the playoffs, they lost a lead, didn't score enough runs and came up one run short. They are going to come up short of the playoffs and not make it back-to-back postseason trips. They have lost six in a row and still need at least one win to be able to say they've had consecutive winning seasons. In the quiet of the Orioles clubhouse just minutes after last night's game, Nate...