Potomac Nationals outfielder Michael Taylor has been honored as the Carolina League Player of the Week for the final week of the regular season, which ended Monday. It is the third time this season Taylor received the citation. Other P-Nats honored this season include current Double-A Harrisburg Senators shortstop Jason Martinson (twice), right-handers Taylor Hill and A.J. Cole (twice), as well as right-hander Blake Schwartz. Schwartz is scheduled as the Game 2 starter tomorrow night in the...

Orioles first baseman Chris Davis has hit 12 home runs on Wednesdays this year. Yes, someone is keeping count. Why do I mention it? Because in American League history, only Tino Martinez has hit more Wednesday homers in a season. He bashed 14 for the Yankees in 1997. Davis' 12 homers are tied with Roger Maris (1961) and Frank Thomas (2000) for second. You want to know the major league record, don't you? It's OK to admit it. The MLB record for Wednesday homers is 19 by Jeff Bagwell in...

First baseman Trey Mancini has been named the Most Valuable Player for the playoff-bound short-season Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds. The Orioles' eighth-round pick in June out of Notre Dame, Mancini has hit .324 with 18 doubles, two triples, three homers and 35 RBIs in 67 games for Aberdeen. He has a .447 slugging percentage and .826 OPS. "Trey has been our most consistent bat in the lineup and his presence at first base has really solidified our infield," IronBirds manager Matt Merullo...

It's almost fall cleaning time, and the Oriole Advocates are hoping you'll get an early start on your tidying up, helping them and some faraway kids in the process. Sunday's Orioles game against the White Sox marks the annual Cardboard to Leather collection at Camden Yards. Members of the advocates will be stationed at the turnstiles to collect your gently used but usable baseball and softball equipment. So if you've got a spare ball, bat, glove or base collecting dust in a closet, feel...

The Orioles and David Rovine, Vice President of Orioles-Sarasota, today announced the addition of three new members to their Sarasota staff. Amy Tuten has been named Manager of Sponsorship Sales, Kirsten Ladendorf has joined the club as Manager of Catering and Suites and Scott Moudry has been named Manager of Ticket Operations. In addition, Trevor Markham has been promoted to Director of Operations. Tuten will create partnership opportunities with the Sarasota community and corporate clients...

PHILADELPHIA - Wilson Ramos told reporters after last night's 9-6 win over the Phillies that he was taken out of the game in the seventh inning for a pinch-runner shortly after manager Davey Johnson saw him stretching out a cramp behind his right knee. After leaving the game, Ramos went in to get treatment on the area around his surgically repaired knee, leading to a question about whether he'd need a day off today in the Nationals' series finale in Philadelphia. "Nah," Ramos said with a...

This is normally the time of year where I start to realize that I won't be able to watch baseball again for five or six months, depending on how you count the postseason and spring training. This season, the Nationals have failed to live up to expectations to a degree that has me glad the season is going to end. It isn't a feeling I am proud of, want to embrace or hope others feel. There was a clinical study recently that said sports can have a profound impact on our moods. It makes sense,...

It's September again. And Baltimore, let's agree, is a great autumn city. It's harsh in the depths of summer and winter, but fall is our reward for enduring both. This is a place for when things get just cold enough for a sweater at night. That's when we're at our best. In terms of sports, "at our best" in fall also meant, for many years, "the Ravens are back." But we're in year two now of the September experiment, when the Orioles remain relevant even as the NFL settles in to...

PHILADELPHIA - Like his manager, left-hander Gio Gonzalez realizes that tonight's 9-6 Nationals win wasn't too pretty. But that doesn't bother him too much. "A win doesn't have to be pretty, it just has to be a win," Gonzalez said. "At the end of the day, it's just one of the things. We turn the page, move forward and hopefully tomorrow will be a different game. It'll be something a little more smoother." Gonzalez might have picked up his ninth win of the season, and the box score...

PHILADELPHIA - A win is a win is a win. This win was just not one you'll see replayed on MASN's "Nationals Classics" or used as part of a defensive drills tutorial anytime soon. The Nationals beat the Phillies 9-6 tonight at Citizens Bank Park in a game that saw the two teams combine to throw 347 pitches, just 54 percent of which were strikes. Six Phillies pitchers combined to walk nine batters. The Nats made three errors, the Phillies one. The Nats had two runs score on bases-loaded...