PHILADELPHIA - General manager Mike Rizzo said today that outfielder Bryce Harper is "a couple days" away from starting baseball activities as he works his way back from bursitis in his left knee, a condition that has held Harper out of the Nationals' lineup for the last 20 games. Harper got a cortisone shot in his knee last Monday and was told by Dr. James Andrews to rest the knee for a week. Harper was cleared to start some ground-based exercises this Monday after getting examined by...

PHILADELPHIA - We've gone over the Nationals' sub-par offensive numbers countless times to this point. They've scored 3.47 runs per game, the second-fewest of any team in the majors. They have the second-lowest on-base percentage in the big leagues at .291. Their team OPS is .666, fourth-worst in Major League Baseball. This team continues to struggle putting runs on the board, leading some to question the job security of hitting coach Rick Eckstein. But while Eckstein might be a popular...

BOWIE, Md. -- The Double-A Harrisburg Senators face off against the Bowie Baysox at Baysox Stadium tonight here at Prince George's County. It is right-hander Taylor Jordan (5-0, 0.66) taking on Bowie's right-hander Mike Wright (6-0, 3.92). This will be Jordan's seventh start and ninth appearance. He has two complete games and two shutouts with 39 strikeouts to only six walks. Opponents are batting .181 against Jordan. Last night, Harrisburg trounced Bowie 9-1 behind Paul Demny's seven...

Well, it was not a bad last 24 hours for the Orioles. They beat Justin Verlander and Rick Porcello and took another series win against the first-place Detroit Tigers. The Orioles scored six runs in the fourth today, added three in the seventh and four in the ninth in a 13-3 win over Detroit. That is a season high in runs for the O's. The Orioles are 12-5 this season against the American League division leaders - Boston (5-2), Detroit (4-2) and Oakland (3-1). The Orioles have moved 11 games...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter found another safe spot for reliever Pedro Strop today, inserting him into the eighth inning with a six-run lead. Strop responded by retiring all three Tigers he faced, striking out two, and watched the Orioles extend their lead to 13-3. The Orioles tacked on four more runs against Jose Valverde in the top of the ninth on Adam Jones' two-run double that followed singles by Manny Machado and Nick Markakis, and a long two-run homer by Chris Davis that may have...

PHILADELPHIA - The Nationals will look to snap a three-game losing streak and salvage a game out of this three-game set in Philly tonight. If they aren't able to do so, the Nats will fall to a season-worst three games under .500 and drop back into third place in the National League East behind the Braves and Phillies. Davey Johnson has Adam LaRoche back in the cleanup spot tonight against the right-handed Kyle Kendrick, and the left-handed-hitting Roger Bernadina will play left field....

The Orioles scored six runs for Chris Tillman today. He gave them five-plus innings. Tillman won't pick up his 10th quality start, but he could improve to 6-0 on the road this season. Since Aug. 21, 2012, Tillman has made 12 consecutive starts on the road allowing three runs or fewer. He's charged with three today, the last two scoring after T.J. McFarland entered the game with two runners on base and gave up a double to Matt Tuiasosopo. McFarland has let 10 of 16 inherited runners score...

PHILADELPHIA - The Nationals today officially made a move that has been expected for the last couple of weeks: They optioned second baseman Danny Espinosa to Triple-A Syracuse. Espinosa was placed on the disabled list back on June 4 with a fractured right wrist. He got a cortisone shot in the wrist in order to relieve some of the inflammation in there and had played six games with Syracuse on a minor league rehab assignment. Today, the Nats reinstated Espinosa from the DL and officially sent...

With just over two weeks of voting left, the Orioles are continuing their push to be well-represented at Major League Baseball's All-Star Game in New York this July by hosting four Vote Orange rallies over the next week. The Vote Orange Street team will visit restaurants and taverns in Federal Hill this Friday, June 21, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. and will then canvass Canton Square restaurants and taverns on Sunday, June 23 from 1:00-3:00 p.m. Orioles outfielder Nate McLouth will appear at Modell's...

The Washington Nationals today returned from rehab and reinstated second baseman Danny Espinosa from the 15-Day Disabled List. The Nationals then optioned Espinosa to Syracuse of the Triple-A International League. Nationals Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. Espinosa, who played in six games for the Chiefs during his just-completed rehab assignment, is a career .230 hitter (329-for-1428) with 79 doubles, eight triples, 47...