Cuban defector Henry Urrutia, who had his contract selected from Triple-A Norfolk on Friday, will make his major league debut tonight as the Orioles' designated hitter. Urrutia is batting eighth against Rangers right-hander Ross Wolf, the former Orioles farmhand. J.J. Hardy will bat ahead of Urrutia, and Brian Roberts will bat behind him. For the Orioles Nate McLouth LF Manny Machado 3B Nick Markakis RF Adam Jones CF Chris Davis 1B Matt Wieters C J.J. Hardy SS Henry Urrutia DH Brian...

When the Orioles win, Baltimore rejoices. As a kid, I knew immediately by glancing at the cartoon bird on the front page of The Sun, where Jim Hartzell's creation left little doubt whether the beloved Birds had won or lost the night before. Granted, things got tricky for late-night games or West Coast tilts, but you get the idea. Hartzell's bird heralded every game result on the paper's front page from 1966 until 1979. It debuted in 1954, when the St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore and...

Don't look now, but Manny Machado is in the midst of a slight doubles drought. He has just one over his last 14 games. Machado has 39 doubles on the year and is on a pace to finish with 65, but that would leave him two short of the all-time record for doubles in one year. Earl Webb had 67 in 1931. If Machado did produce 65 doubles, he would easily set a new Orioles single-season record, passing the mark of Brian Roberts, who hit 56 in 2009. Machado had 11 doubles in 27 games in April, 14...

Davey Johnson said last night that if Adam LaRoche was healthy enough to return to the Nationals' lineup, he'd bat Bryce Harper in the leadoff spot tonight and move Denard Span down in the order. Well, LaRoche is out of the Nats lineup yet again due to a bout with the flu. And as a result, Span remains in the leadoff spot and Harper is back hitting cleanup for a second straight day. The Nats' lineup is actually the same tonight as it was last night, with the exception of a new starting...

Pitching for the first time since going on the disabled list with a strained left oblique, Orioles right-hander Steve Johnson threw two scoreless innings this morning with the Gulf Coast League team in Sarasota. Johnson didn't allow a hit, walked one batter and struck out three. The plan calls for Johnson to continue his rehab with short-season Single-A Aberdeen, where he's expected to report on Wednesday. He's flying back to Baltimore tonight to attend his grandmother's funeral. Johnson...

The Nationals will try and keep their spirits high, remain optimistic and keep the faith that they can make a run over their final 66 games and reach the postseason. It sure would be easier to do that, however, if they didn't open the second half with another dud of a performance, one that assisted in dropping them back into third place in the National League East for the first time since June 8 and moved them seven games back of the Braves in the division. The Nats have a host of problems...

Maybe the Orioles' pitching is about to go on a real good run and maybe we are seeing the start of it in recent games. Consider these stats: * Over the last six games, the O's have recorded five quality starts and the starters' ERA is 3.43. If you could take away the game where Jason Hammel gave up six runs, the starters' ERA is 2.43 in the other five games and the Orioles have won all five. * Over the last 20 games, O's pitching has allowed three runs or less 12 times. * Over the last...

The 1-2 pitch that Andre Ethier golfed over the right-center field fence for the game-winning homer off Rafael Soriano actually wasn't in a bad spot. Don't believe me? Check out the strike zone plot on BrooksBaseball.com. Soriano had set Ethier up by pounding four fastballs on the outside corner to start the at-bat, and being ahead in the count, the Nationals' closer then tried to bury a slider down below the zone. That's what he did, but Ethier stayed on the pitch and drove it out for...

If you haven't seen it yet, check out this first pitch thrown out by singer Carly Rae Jepsen at Tropicana Field a few nights ago. (Spoiler alert: It's terrible.) After watching this, you're probably thinking: I could throw a better first pitch than that. Well, MASN is giving you the chance to show off your arm at Nats Park! One lucky winner playing MASN's "Touch 'Em All" Rewards Program will be randomly selected to throw out the first pitch in front of thousands at Nationals Park on...

The only drama following the news that Henry Urrutia would be joining the Orioles in Arlington was whether he would start against one of the Rangers' left-handers. It didn't happen last night and it may not happen Sunday, but Urrutia was a slam dunk to start tonight against right-hander Ross Wolf, the former Orioles farmhand. The Orioles didn't bring up Urrutia so he could sit on the bench every game. That would make no sense. He needs to play and they need to evaluate him. And he's...