Orioles right fielder Nick Markakis and wife Christina are the proud parents of a baby boy, Toby, born this afternoon in Baltimore. Toby Markakis weighs 8 pounds. "Everything seems to be fine," Showalter said. "I can tell how tired Nicky was because he texted 7 pounds and 16 ounces. That is 8 pounds, right? That's a big boy." Markakis was waiting for his sister-in-law to arrive at the hospital before heading to Camden Yards, if he's comfortable leaving after talking to the doctors....

Orioles manager Buck Showalter often talks about playing the game 90 feet at a time. But many nights, we see the Orioles lacking in the area of situational hitting. They've been a little better at that in this series against New York, particularly Monday night, when they had a sacrifice bunt and two sac flies. It was just the fifth time this season the O's had more than one sacrifice fly in a game. There was also a key play in that game by J.J. Hardy that helped the Orioles score a run....

After missing the last four games with left hip inflammation, Bryce Harper is back in the Nationals lineup today, playing left field and hitting cleanup. Harper went back to D.C. over the weekend to get checked out by Nationals medical director Dr. Wiemi Douoguih. He was told to sit out Monday and Tuesday's games, but took batting practice at Citi Field yesterday and felt well enough to have Davey Johnson write him back in the lineup for tonight's contest. This will mark just the fourth...

Nick Markakis was up early this morning to be with his wife, Christina, for the birth of their third child. Doctors were supposed to induce labor today. Michael Morse is starting in right field. Danny Valencia is batting fifth as the designated hitter. Left-hander Andy Pettitte is 28-6 with a 3.52 ERA in 44 career games against the Orioles. He's 16-4 with a 4.11 ERA in 24 appearances at Camden Yards. Adam Jones is 9-for-26 (.346) with a triple against Pettitte. Morse is 4-for-9. J.J. Hardy...

The Orioles will join Major League Baseball tonight to commemorate the 12th anniversary of September 11 by wearing special caps with the American flag for tonight's game against the New York Yankees. The game-worn, autographed and authenticated hats will be auctioned online at www.orioles.com/auction beginning at 7:00 p.m. tonight, with all proceeds to benefit the Frank J. Battaglia Signal 13 Foundation, which provides financial assistance to Baltimore Police Department personnel who suffer...

Major League Baseball has changed the starting time of the Sept. 21 game between the Orioles and Rays at Tropicana Field from 7:10 p.m. to 1:05 p.m. to... wait for it... accommodate a FOX national television broadcast. The game, the second of four between the two clubs to close the road portion of the Orioles' regular season schedule, will no longer air on MASN2. Also, a reminder that Saturday's game in Toronto will start at 4:07 p.m. and air on MASN2. It originally was slated for 1:07...

Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth should be a factor in the National League's MVP voting. But if the team pulls off a miracle and becomes a wild card team, Werth's case gets stronger. He missed May with an injury, but there's no arguing that his average, on-base percentage and power in the second half have carried the Nationals' reawakened offense. He might win the NL batting title, and, in addition, he has all the leadership intangibles. The competition: * Freddie Freeman and Chris...

List the best free agent pick-ups of this past offseason, and it will be difficult to leave off Hyun-jin Ryu or Yasiel Puig. Go back one season earlier and there is an argument to be made that the best free agent signings were once again of non-MLB players in Yoenis Cespedes and Yu Darvish. This offseason, that could be the case once again with rumors of Masahiro Tanaka being posted and Jose Abreu already a free agent. And while the Nationals made a run at Aroldis Chapman, there was never any...

The other day I got to thinking about Cal Ripken. I've got this old baseball. In great shape, still in the Rawlings box. Model RO-A. "Official American League Baseball" from back when the American and National Leagues were separate entities. "Cushioned Cork Center," it says. Emblazoned with the script signature mark of then-AL president Bobby Brown. I'm not actually sure when or how I got the ball. It must have arrived shortly after my family moved to Maryland in '88, right around the...

When Kevin Gausman came out to pitch the eighth last night, I was totally fine with that. There, I said it. No problem with the kid on the mound with a one-run lead last night. That is how I felt then and I won't act differently now that he gave up three runs that put New York into the lead. Buck Showalter said a couple of relievers were not available last night and if he was referring to Tommy Hunter and Darren O'Day, that made Gausman pitching the eighth even more understandable. Gausman...