Jason Hammel threw off a mound today for the first time since going on the disabled list with a strained right flexor mass. He used all of his pitches, including a slider that had brought the most discomfort to his arm, and is moving closer to an injury-rehab assignment. "It went real well," Hammel said. "It felt great. I felt the extension that I was looking for that I didn't have before, so outstanding. "We'll go again on Sunday. I'm not trying to stay on the DL, I'm trying to get...

The Orioles are three games behind the Athletics for the final wild card spot, and the teams are starting a three-game series tonight at Camden Yards. You can do the math. Ryan Flaherty is serving as the designated hitter and Brian Roberts is starting at second base. Nick Markakis is batting sixth. For the Orioles Nate McLouth LF Manny Machado 3B Chris Davis 1B Adam Jones CF Matt Wieters C Nick Markakis RF J.J. Hardy SS Ryan Flaherty DH Brian Roberts 2B Bud Norris RHP A light raining is...

The Orioles have traded veteran pitcher Freddy Garcia to the Atlanta Braves for cash considerations. Garcia had been pitching at Triple-A Norfolk. Garcia was 8-3 with a 2.84 ERA in 13 starts with the Tides, with 15 walks and 61 strikeouts. He went 3-5 with a 5.77 ERA in 11 games (10 starts) with the Orioles. Catcher Luis Exposito has been activated from the minor league disabled list and will take Garcia's roster spot at Norfolk. For the Athletics Coco Crisp CF Jed Lowrie SS Josh Donaldson...

David DeJesus has another new team. Just days after joining the Nationals, DeJesus has been acquired by the Tampa Bay Rays. DeJesus joined the Nationals on Monday, only to be put on revocable trade waivers just hours later. The Rays put in a claim and the teams were able to work out a deal before Friday's 1 p.m. Eastern time deadline. The Tampa Bay Times was the first to report the acquisition. DeJesus played in three games with the Nats, and went 0-for-3 with a sacrifice in four plate...

The Kurt Suzuki trade is now official. The Nationals announce they've sent Suzuki to the Athletics for right-handed pitching prospect Dakota Bacus, who will report to low Single-A Hagerstown. Jhonatan Solano will join the Nats in Kansas City and become the new backup catcher to Wilson Ramos. What a wacky road trip this has already been for the Nationals. Three rain delays in seven days, including one that lasted a full two hours yesterday. Two games in a span of six days that lasted at...

It's just not Stephen Strasburg's year. It was supposed to be, but it's not. Strasburg was efficient Thursday afternoon at Wrigley Field. He was pounding the zone. He was striking batters out, with eight Ks. He was inducing ground balls, with eight groundouts. He had seven scoreless innings on 86 pitches. He gave up a leadoff home run by Brian Bogusevic on the first pitch of the eighth. That ended Strasburg's bid for a shutout, but he got the next three outs on 10 pitches to finish the...

The Washington Nationals today acquired right-handed pitcher Dakota Bacus from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for catcher Kurt Suzuki. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. Bacus, who will report to Hagerstown of the Single-A South Atlantic League, joins the Nationals after going 9-5 with a 3.56 ERA (48 ER/121.1 IP) in 26 games/21 starts for Beloit of the Single-A Midwest League. Bacus ranked among Athletics farmhands in ERA...

A little over a year ago, the Nationals acquired catcher Kurt Suzuki in a trade with the Athletics. Now, Suzuki is heading back to Oakland. The Nats have traded Suzuki to the A's, a team source confirmed late tonight, a deal that sends the 29-year-old catcher back to the team that drafted him and the only other team he's known. It's unknown at this time what the Nationals will be acquiring in return. The Washington Times first reported the Suzuki deal. Since the July 31 non-waiver trade...

Chris Davis has tied Jim Gentile for third on the Orioles' all-time single-season home run list. Barring injury or an unimaginable power outage, Davis will hit his 47th homer and push Gentile further down the list he once topped. This is familiar territory for Gentile, who established at least a half-dozen team records in 1961. The past half-century has been an extended exercise in removing pieces of that magical 1961 season from the record books, one by one. Rather than diminishing the...

When I presented one writer's take on Cuban outfielder Dariel Alvarez yesterday, I mentioned that several members of the O's front office had mentioned to me how impressed they were with Alvarez's play so far in his first few weeks in the organization. Alvarez went 4-for-9 in three games in the Gulf Coast League when he was recently activated and he's been with Single-A Frederick since Aug. 15. In eight games with the Keys, Alvarez is batting .419 at 13-for-31 with two doubles, two homers...