The Washington Nationals today selected 30 players on the third day of Major League Baseball's 2013 First-Year Player Draft. Nationals Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo, Nationals Assistant General Manager & Vice President of Player Personnel Roy Clark and Nationals Director of Scouting Kris Kline made the joint announcement. Over the three-day Draft, the Nationals selected a total of 39 players: 14 right-handed pitchers, eight left-handed...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Major League Baseball released the latest round of voting results in the American League for the All-Star Game on July 16 at Citi Field in New York, and there's a new leader at shortstop. J.J. Hardy has overtaken the Rangers' Elvis Andrus, joining teammates Chris Davis and Adam Jones as leaders at their respective positions. Nick Markakis moved up to fourth among outfielders. Hardy, an All-Star in 2007, is aiming to become just the third Orioles shortstop to earn a...

The Nationals have been lacking any real offensive production out of the No. 2 spot in their lineup for much of the last five weeks. Jayson Werth is now back after missing nearly all of May with a hamstring injury, and he's brought the pop back to the No. 2 hole. Werth crushed a two-run homer to left with two outs in the third inning, putting the Nats on the scoreboard. It was Werth's fifth homer of the season and first since he returned to the Nats' lineup earlier this week. That's been...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Orioles manager Buck Showalter was asked before today's game whether he will use reliever Pedro Strop in the same role or ease him back into competition after a stint on the disabled list. "He's physically ready to go," Showalter said. "We'll let the game dictate it and the needs of our bullpen physically. But I'm hoping there was a byproduct of him having the injury in that it gave him a fresh start, something he didn't get with the WBC." Strop hasn't pitched...

Following the selection of center fielder William Ballou in the 15th round, the Nationals picked another center fielder in the 16th round. At No. 496, the Nationals picked Willie Allen out of Western Oklahoma State College. The 6-foot-2, 191-pounder, is in his second season at the JuCo level, and throws and bats right-handed. In the 17th round, the Nationals selected catcher Geoffrey Perrott out of Rice University. The 22-year-old batted .271 in 57 games, with nine doubles, one triple, one...

The Orioles today announced that they have reinstated right-hander Pedro Strop from the 15-day disabled list. Strop was placed on the DL on May 25, retroactive to May 24, with a lower back strain. He is 0-2 with a 6.11 ERA (17.2IP, 12ER) in 22 appearances for the Orioles this season.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Infielder Wilson Betemit also made the trip from Sarasota to Tropicana Field today to visit with teammates and provide an injury update. Betemit remains on the 60-day disabled list with a Grade 2/3 PCL tear in his right knee. He's hitting in the cage, running and throwing, but his return isn't expected until after the All-Star break. Betemit will begin participating in fielding drills next week. "I feel a lot better," he said. "Before, I couldn't run. Now I can...

The Nationals will play a split doubleheader against the Twins on Sunday, June 9 with the rescheduled game beginning at 7:05 p.m. Gates for the 7:05 p.m. game will open 1.5 hours after the last out of the 1:35 p.m. game or 6:00 p.m., whichever is later. For more information on exchanging tickets purchased through nationals.com or the Nationals telephone charge line, please call 202.675.NATS(6287). On gamedays, the Nationals Park Box Office is open Monday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. until 30...

The two rainouts over the last two days gave the Nationals a chance to rest some banged-up players and get a bit of a breather after a 10-1 whipping at the hands of the Mets on Wednesday. It also allowed them to not need to call up a starter to pitch today against the Twins, but that was only a temporary fix. Tomorrow's doubleheader will leave the Nats short of rested starters Wednesday, meaning they'll need to bring up someone to make a start against the Rockies in Colorado. That guy will...

Anthony Rendon is back at second base for the Nationals in the delayed opener of a three-game interleague series against the Minnesota Twins. Here are the lineups for today's 4:05 p.m. game at Nationals Park. For the Twins: 3B Jamey Carroll C Joe Mauer RF Ryan Doumit LF Josh Willingham 1B Justin Morneau CD Aaron Hicks 2B Brian Dozier SS Pedro Florimon RHP Kevin Correia For the Nationals: CF Denard Span RF Jayson Werth 3B Ryan Zimmerman 1B Adam LaRoche SS Ian Desmond 2B Anthony Rendon LF...