Triple Crown contender Miguel Cabrera hit his 19th home run tonight in Detroit. Triple Crown contender Chris Davis hit his 24th home run in the following inning. Two heavyweights standing toe-to-toe in the center of the ring, if you'll excuse the boxing analogy. Cabrera is ahead on points right now, since he belted a two-run shot off Jake Arrieta in the bottom of the first inning. Davis countered with a solo shot off Max Scherzer, the ball landing pretty much in the exact same spot. Cabrera...

PHILADELPHIA - Nationals manager Davey Johnson had a chat with his Phillies counterpart, Charlie Manuel, during the early stages of batting practice today. The two oldest managers in Major League Baseball had something in common that they could discuss. "We cried on each other's shoulders about our offenses," Johnson quipped. Asked who did more crying, Johnson said that he did because he's the older of the two, but really, the fact that the Nats are tied for 28th in the majors in runs...

PHILADELPHIA - A week ago today, Dr. James Andrews saw Bryce Harper and confirmed that Harper has bursitis in his injured left knee. Dr. Andrews gave Harper cortisone and PRP (platelet-rich plasma) shots in the knee to try and get rid of the swelling and inflammation that had plagued him for weeks, and told the Nationals outfielder to rest for a week. Today, Harper was examined back in D.C. by Nationals medical director Dr. Wiemi Douoguih, and was given the go-ahead to begin what head trainer...

The Orioles announced today that left-hander Zach Britton will start Tuesday night's game against the Tigers at Comerica Park. Jason Hammel is being pushed back again while recovering from a stomach virus. The Orioles are off Thursday, and Hammel could start Friday night in Toronto. Britton made one start for the Orioles this season, allowing six runs and 10 hits in six innings in an April 29 game in Seattle. He's 3-2 with a 3.28 ERA in 11 starts with Triple-A Norfolk. Britton has allowed...

This past weekend, the Washington Nationals and Inova Blood Donor Services (IBDS) kicked off the first of two summer blood drives by knocking their overall donation goal out of the park. With more than 700 people registered to donate blood at Nationals Park on Saturday, June 15, IBDS collected more than 730 units of blood. "Nats fans truly rallied around blood donation. More than 1,890 patients will benefit from the record number of blood products collected at the ballpark in one day,"...

Chris Dickerson is serving as the Orioles' designated hitter for tonight's series opener against the Detroit Tigers. Ryan Flaherty is starting at second base. Nothing unusual about this lineup. 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 Chris Dickerson DH Ryan Flaherty 2B Jake Arrieta RHP For the Tigers Austin Jackson CF Torii Hunter RF Miguel Cabrera 3B Prince Fielder 1B Victor Martinez DH Jhonny...

The Orioles Gulf Coast League (GCL) team will play its first home game of the 2013 season at the Ed Smith Stadium complex on Saturday, June 22 at 10:00 a.m. vs. the GCL Rays. The GCL, which includes 14 teams in Florida, gives recently drafted or signed players their first experience in professional baseball. The Orioles GCL home games, which run through August, are open to the public at no cost. Parking also is free and located in the east lot. Game times and location are subject to change...

PHILADELPHIA - Both Denard Span and Adam LaRoche are out of the Nationals lineup for tonight's series opener against the Phillies. Span fouled yet another ball off his right foot yesterday (something he's done quite a bit over the last couple of months) and will get today off. So will LaRoche, who is mired in an 0-for-15 slump, with six strikeouts in his last four games. With Phillies left-hander John Lannan getting the ball tonight, Nats manager Davey Johnson is sitting two left-handed...

It never gets old. And neither does Manny Machado, who's still only 20. Machado has 99 hits this season. According to Elias, if he gets his 100th hit tonight, he will tie Alex Rodriguez (100 hits in 71 games in 1996) and Ty Cobb (100 hits in 71 games in 1907) for third-fewest games reaching 100 hits to start a season by a player under 21. Al Kaline (101 hits in 68 games in 1955) and Mike Trout (100 hits in 69 games in 2012) are the only players under 21 to reach 100 hits in a season faster...

Bryan Harvey, the former big league pitcher and father of the O's top draft pick, said he expects negotiations with the Orioles to sign Hunter Harvey to heat up and maybe even conclude this week. "Hopefully, they start talking today," Bryan Harvey said. "They called last week and said be patient. They had a couple things they wanted to get done, so hopefully we get everything going and it gets done this week. "I don't think there should be that big of a holdup. It's not like we're...