Denizens of Natstown were pleased that Bryce Harper was voted into the starting outfield at the All-Star Game, no small achievement considering No. 34 has spent so much time on the disabled list recovering from left knee bursitis, which may or may not be related to his frequent run-ins with outfield walls with varying degrees of give. And D.C. was giddy yesterday when the Mets' David Wright named the 20-year-old slugger to his squad for the July 15 Home Run Derby that precedes the Midsummer...

June wasn't kind to Adam Jones. The Orioles centerfielder hit just .237/.248/.386 with four home runs and 20 RBIs after hitting .311/.344/.546 in May and .327/.350/.522 in April. Jones' batting average dipped from .319 on May 31 to .292 on June 30. On July 4, Jones did something at the plate that he hadn't done in 45 games: He drew a walk. The coverage of Jones' walk-less streak combined with his declining numbers led to much debate about his plate discipline this season. I took a look at...

In one corner, there was the champ - or at least the one who was supposed to make the Nationals World Series contenders. Dan Haren stood there weighing in at a cool $13 million. In the other corner was John Lannan - dispatched twice last season by general manager Mike Rizzo as a pretender - weighing in at a paltry $2.5 million. Rarely does a personnel decision get such a head-to-head comparison. But Rizzo fired Lannan to begin the 2012 season. He cut him from the team and then did not offer...

PHILADELPHIA - With the Nationals dropping the opener of their four-game series with the Phillies last night, the Braves capitalized on the opportunity to put some more space between themselves and Davey Johnson's bunch. Atlanta scored six times in the 14th inning of its game with the Marlins last night, and with that victory, the Braves pushed their division lead back to five games. After getting held scoreless and to just four singles by John Lannan, the Nats' slash line against...

The Orioles just could not get the big hit, especially early in last night's game. They went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position in the first three innings and 1-for-12 on the night in the loss to Texas. Going back to the start of the last road trip, the Orioles are batting only .128 (6-for-47) with runners in scoring position over the last seven games and they have lost five of those seven. It's probably not a big enough sample size to get concerned about the offense. The Orioles have...

Kevin Gausman warmed up in the bullpen last night as the game moved toward the later innings and the Orioles were trying to avoid another loss. He didn't pitch, making him available in long relief tonight or Wednesday. Manager Buck Showalter prefers having a right-hander to back up lefties Zach Britton and Wei-Yin Chen, the next two starters to face the Rangers. What happens to Gausman beyond this week remains something of a mystery, but he's expected to be optioned to Triple-A Norfolk,...

PHILADELPHIA - John Lannan isn't the type to talk openly about wanting to stick it to an organization or shove a strong performance in anyone's face to prove a point. He could go that route, but Lannan just isn't that kind of guy. That's why the left-hander downplayed the fact that his best outing in years - eight scoreless innings of four-hit ball - came against the team that drafted him, sent him to the minors last season and then cut him loose this winter. "The first time back, I...

After giving up just two runs in six innings in his first O's start, Scott Feldman gave up seven runs and nine hits in his second O's start tonight. His former team, Texas, knocked him out of the game during a six-run sixth inning as the Rangers won 8-5 in the series opener. "It wasn't too good," Feldman said. "Got an early lead there and wasn't able to hold it down. It stings to give up a big inning like that. That sixth inning was a rough one. Made some decent pitches, it just seemed...

PHILADELPHIA - The Nationals optioned John Lannan to Triple-A Syracuse the day before opening day last season and then non-tendered him this winter. Today, Lannan got his payback. The left-hander, who was twice the Nats' opening day starter but spent the vast majority of last season in the minors, threw eight shutout innings against his former team today, leading the Phillies to a 3-2 win. The Nats made things interesting in the ninth by getting to Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon for two...

You can point to the meltdown in the sixth inning tonight as a major reason why the Orioles lost to the Rangers 8-5 at Camden Yards. Or you can focus on how the Orioles went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 runners. I chose the latter during manager Buck Showalter's postgame press conference. "That was one of them," Showalter said. "We had some opportunities, but you've got to tip your hat to (Derek) Holland. Maybe tomorrow, some of those flares will go our way....