After kicking off his rehab assignment at high Single-A Potomac and playing two games with the P-Nats, Bryce Harper has moved on to Double-A Harrisburg. Harper has joined the Senators for their four-game series against Bowie, allowing him to jump up a level while also staying local. Harper, who is rehabbing from left knee bursitis, is scheduled to play 8-9 innings tonight, according to Nationals manager Davey Johnson. Assuming all goes well over these next few days and Harper doesn't suffer...

Veteran right-hander Freddy Garcia opted out of his contract with the Orioles and agreed to a minor league deal that will keep him in the organization. He will report to Triple-A Norfolk. Garcia was optioned to make room for Kevin Gausman on the 25-man roster, and was given 72 hours to accept it. He chose free agency, but agreed to a newly structured deal. Garcia no longer is on the 40-man roster, which creates a spot for second baseman Brian Roberts if the Orioles activate him from the...

Davey Johnson is running out pretty much the same lineup today that he used in yesterday's 3-2 Nationals win over the Diamondbacks. Tyler Moore will get the start again in left field, this time against Arizona left-hander Patrick Corbin. The only change to yesterday's lineup is that Jhonatan Solano will be behind the plate, catching right-hander Stephen Strasburg. This should be a heck of a pitching matchup today, pitting two 2009 draft picks against one another. Strasburg (No. 1 overall...

After three long days, my jury duty is complete, this following more than 7 1/2 hours of deliberation last night that caused me to miss another Nationals game. I'm all done now, however, and am ready to get back into the flow this afternoon as the Nats wrap up their three-game series with the Diamondbacks and then head up to New York for three against the Mets. While I didn't get to see last night's 3-2 Nats win, I'm studying the box score right now. Here's what it tells me: Jordan...

If you believe what you read on Twitter, the high Single-A Potomac phase of Bryce Harper's minor league injury rehabilitation assignment is done. The Double-A Bowie Baysox, an affiliate of the Orioles, have tweeted that Harper will continue his recovery from left knee bursitis by playing for the Harrisburg Senators tonight and Saturday at Prince George's Stadium. Want to see Harper for yourself? Just follow the handy link for tickets. Nationals star Bryce Harper is scheduled to play in...

Cuban outfielder Henry Urrutia, who didn't make it out of Haiti until February and got a late start on his professional career, has been promoted to Triple-A Norfolk. Urrutia tweeted the news this morning, and a team official confirmed it. Urrutia batted .365/.433/.550 with 16 doubles, seven homers and 37 RBIs in 52 games with Double-A Bowie. The Orioles had been discussing his move to the International League and it finally happened today. The Orioles will have to make room for Urrutia at...

Those of you who said the Orioles couldn't possibly play as well as they did last year in close games were right. Those of you who said the O's bullpen couldn't pitch as well as it did last year, it is looking like you will be right. Last night's loss was the Orioles' sixth on the year when they were leading after eight innings. That is the most losses in the league in those games. This stat is not good: The Orioles are now 35-6 when leading after eight innings. That loss total matches...

Buck Showalter's face turned red again last night. It's become his primary color. The orange and black are secondary. Showalter has done more arguing over these past few weeks than I can remember during his entire tenure as Orioles manager. It's a nightly scene. Calls on the bases. A decision regarding warmup tosses. And he absolutely fumes over the nightly strike zones, which change like traffic signals. Many of these umpires have to go. Will the commissioner's office green light...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter had Tommmy Hunter warming in the bullpen tonight after closer Jim Johnson faced two batters. Troy Patton ended up replacing Johnson, but not until the Indians loaded the bases with no outs, tied the game on a fielder's choice grounder and took the lead on another force play. "I wasn't going to extend Jimmy any more than I had to," Showalter said after a 4-3 loss. "Same reason why Troy came in." Johnson, standing at his locker after his fifth blown save,...

Jim Johnson had recorded 12 saves in his last 12 chances, but No. 13 got away from him and the Orioles tonight as Cleveland scored twice off him in the ninth to win 4-3. "The leadoff walk, that is pretty much what led to the whole inning. Lately, that is uncharacteristic and something I need to work on," Johnson said. He walked Michael Brantley on four pitches, Jason Giambi doubled and Cleveland's comeback was on. "It was not a good quality pitch (to Giambi), but the whole inning started...