I'm back, folks. Can't get rid of me that easily. Big thanks to the MASNsports.com staff for filling in over the last few days while I was out of town for my good buddy's wedding. I wish I could say I'm returning to the beat rested and refreshed, but that's most certainly not the case. Still, it's good to be back. I guess I missed a little bit while I was gone. Bryce Harper followed his emotional clubhouse rally-cry in Detroit with a homer on Friday, Dan Haren continued his post-DL...

It was just one outing but it was a dominating outing, one that gets your attention. Hunter Harvey, the Orioles 2013 first-round pick simply overmatched the first-place Gulf Coast League Red Sox last Thursday in his third pro outing. Over three hitless and shutout innings, Harvey walked one and fanned eight batters. He struck out the side in the first and third innings. The 22nd overall pick in June out of a North Carolina high school, Harvey threw 44 pitches and blew fastballs between 92...

The Orioles are enjoying the first of their five off-days this month, though a cross-country flight may not be everyone's idea of a perfect way to spend the afternoon. Scott Feldman figures to make his next start in San Francisco, unless manager Buck Showalter tweaks his rotation. Feldman will get to bat under National League rules, and he's not completely overmatched at the plate. Feldman is 9-for-52 with three doubles, a home run and nine RBIs in nine major league seasons. You don't...

It has come to this in the season for the Nationals where they have to sweep the Braves in the first series of the homestand starting Monday at Nationals Park. Ideally, a 3-2 road trip with a split in Detroit and at least two out of three in Milwaukee would have been good. That didn't happen with the two game sweep at the hands of Detroit to begin the road trip. Their best chance was Stephen Strasburg's start Tuesday night. The game was tied 1-1 in the sixth before Alex Avila changed that...

The Nationals came into today's game seeking their first road series sweep since September of 2012. They will leave Milwaukee still searching for that first series sweep after losing to the Brewers 8-5. The Nats came into the sixth inning with Taylor Jordan cruising while leading 4-1. Jordan quickly loaded the bases, from which the Nationals could never recover, as the Brewers scored five runs. Offensively, Adam LaRoche and Anthony Rendon hit solo home runs - it was the second consecutive...

Maybe a few things were lost in translation today, but Wei-Yin Chen, in talking about Henry Blanco's homer this afternoon, said he threw the ball where he wanted on that 0-2 pitch, but later said he threw it in a dangerous spot. Either way, Blanco - the Mariners' No. 9 hitter - put a key swing on that pitch in the seventh for a two-run homer in Seattle's 3-2 win over the Orioles. "Blanco swung the bat really well," Chen said through interpreter Tim Lin. "That is the spot I wanted to...

If we've learned anything about Orioles manager Buck Showalter over the past three years, it's that he focuses on the positive developments in a game, whether it ends with a win or a loss. Today provided the latest example. Showalter praised starter Wei-Yin Chen and deflected a question about the walk to light-hitting Brendan Ryan with two outs in the seventh inning that preceded Henry Blanco's two-run homer in a 3-2 loss to the Mariners. "He pitched outstanding," Showalter said....

Sometimes one pitch is the difference. It was today for the Mariners, as No. 9 hitter Henry Blanco hit a two-run homer in the seventh on an 0-2 pitch to give Seattle a 3-2 win over the Orioles in front of 30,759 sun-splashed fans at Camden Yards. After getting swept in a three-game series in Boston, the Mariners took the last two of this series in Baltimore. Seattle is 4-2 against the O's on the year. Danny Valencia's two-run homer in the last of the sixth had ended several innings of...

A month of MASN's "Touch 'Em All" Nationals Rewards Program is in the books. During the launch, we saw fans sign up and then fervently take to their social media accounts to earn exclusive prizes. During July, we saw so many great Facebook shares, tweets, Instagram pictures and more. After rewarding five engaged fans with autographed Ryan Zimmerman gear last month, we're at it again! We'll be giving away signed baseballs and a jersey from Gio Gonzalez this August. If you haven't done...

Wei-Yin Chen has held the Mariners to one run over six innings. He's in line for his fifth consecutive quality start since coming off the disabled list. Whether he picks up another win is another matter. The odds just improved, thanks to an unlikely source. The Orioles hadn't score a run for him through five innings, going 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position and stranding eight runners against left-hander Joe Saunders. But Steve Pearce walked to lead off the bottom of the sixth and...