Davey Johnson will give Anthony Rendon the day off today in Game 2 of this three-game set against the Marlins. Steve Lombardozzi will play second base for the Nationals today, giving him his first start since June 23, while Rendon gets a rest. This will be the first time Rendon isn't in the starting lineup since June 14. Dan Haren gets the start for the Nats looking to build off his first outing off the DL, when he allowed two runs over five innings in a loss to the Phillies. The...

Orioles vice president Dan Duquette and manager Buck Showalter held their annual "State of the Orioles" address today with the club's season ticket holders. It didn't take long for Duquette to get asked if the club is considering calling up Cuban outfielder Henry Urrutia. "Buck and I discussed our needs on the major league team and we thought we'd send him to Triple-A and it looks like he's got a lot of natural ability with the bat," Duquette said. "After the Futures Game, that is...

Orioles outfielder Chris Dickerson remains out of the lineup today after straining his left shoulder earlier this week, but he's going to play catch for the first time as the final test. Dickerson said he's feeling much better. He took batting practice yesterday without any setbacks. Nolan Reimold will serve as the designated hitter again today against right-hander Todd Redmond, who was in camp with the Orioles this spring. Angel Hernandez is behind the plate today. Enjoy. For the...

Stephen Strasburg has had shortened outings due to injury reasons. That kind of stuff can happen to any pitcher. You don't expect to see Strasburg leaving games after two innings when he's completely healthy. That kind of stuff also can, of course, happen to any pitcher. It's just surprising to see it happen to Strasburg. Strasburg's ERA jumped from 2.45 to 2.99 yesterday thanks to a two-inning, seven-run performance. He'd dominated the Marlins in 10 previous starts in his career,...

The Hall of Fame ceremonies take place later this month, and they haven't created much of a buzz in the baseball industry, considering that voters failed to elect any candidates for induction in Cooperstown, N.Y. Talk about a buzz kill. However, a dozen former players who never were formally inducted due to travel restrictions and illness will be honored in a July 28 ceremony that once again will link the names of Lou Gehrig and Orioles great Cal Ripken Jr. Ripken accepted an invitation to...

During the 2005 season, right-hander Scott Feldman made his major league debut for the Texas Rangers, who were managed by Buck Showalter. Now, several years later, he is reunited with his first big league skipper here in Baltimore. Feldman is settling in with his new team after the July 2 trade that sent him from the Chicago Cubs to the Orioles. He said he had heard he might be traded, but thought it would come closer to the July 31 trade deadline. "It was exciting to pick up a few games in...

After his two-hit game tonight in the O's win over Toronto, which included a two-run homer, Chris Davis is batting .313 with career highs with 35 homers and 88 RBIs. He was asked if he knew he would have those stats for the full season back in March, would he have taken those numbers? "Yeah, I think so," Davis said. "That's a productive year. But did we go to the World Series? Did we win the World Series? That is really the ultimate goal - how far did the team go? "I thought a lot of...

The Orioles' three starters in next week's All-Star Game hit home runs tonight, which seemed appropriate considering their contributions this season and the reward that awaits them. Chris Davis, Adam Jones and J.J. Hardy muscled up in the Orioles' 8-5 win over the Blue Jays at Camden Yards. "Earl would have been proud tonight," said manager Buck Showalter. "They've just been solid as people, too. They post up and they're in a good routine. Same way with Nick and Manny and Matt....

Chris Davis hit another homer. He even hit a single tonight and watched his teammates add two homers as the Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays 8-5 in front of 42,660 at Camden Yards in the opener of a weekend series. Davis' two-run homer in the second started the O's scoring and was his major league-leading 35th homer. With 88 RBIs, Davis breaks a tie with Boog Powell for most RBIs by an Oriole before the All-Star break. Powell had 86 in 1969. After hitting the homer, seven of Davis'...

Stephen Strasburg has now made 63 major league starts. Tonight's outing was his worst. By far. Strasburg is done after just two innings of work tonight. He allowed a career-high seven earned runs on five hits and four walks. He struck out two, and only half of his 66 pitches were for strikes. Strasburg had thrice allowed six earned runs in an outing (Aug. 10, 2010, July 31, 2012 and April 7 of this year). But in each of those outings, Strasburg went at least four innings of...