The Orioles today announced that first baseman Chris Davis has been selected as the AT&T Fans' Choice Bobblehead. For the second consecutive year, fans were able to select the player they wanted immortalized in a bobblehead giveaway. The bobblehead is scheduled to be distributed during Fan Appreciation Weekend on Sunday, September 29 to the first 20,000 fans age 15 and over. Voting began on March 25 and fans voted three different ways throughout the promotion: through unlimited mobile...

For the past several seasons, Chris Tillman has been a very promising young arm for the Baltimore Orioles. However, from time to time, he is inconsistent, confounding and frustrating to watch on the mound. On Tuesday night, the Orioles defeated the Houston Astros 4-1, and Tillman was excellent, only allowing one run in seven innings of work. The Astros - universally predicted to be awful this season - were flying high and had won six straight games before facing Tillman and the Orioles. I...

A common saying among the Nationals' players and coaches this season is, "We're better than this." My question in retort is, "But, are you really?" Let's be frank here - this conversation has been running in circles for weeks now. Despite the thrilling victory on opening day in which Stephen Strasburg pitched a gem and Bryce Harper came up big at the plate, wins have been rare and cries lamenting that the team hasn't been meeting its potential are aplenty. Sure, the successful 2012...

The Nationals have certainly faced their share of tough pitchers this season. They got beat by Johnny Cueto, who had a 2.17 ERA prior to landing on the DL. They suffered losses at the hands of Adam Wainwright and Shelby Miller, two insanely talented Cardinals hurlers. Mets righty Matt Harvey pushed the Nats around in New York, and they got dominated by Clayton Kershaw out in Los Angeles. No shame in that. Plenty of teams have been there. But what's a bit troubling so far this season - in...

By the end of tonight, the Orioles will have added three new players to their organization. The First-Year Player Draft begins this evening at 7 p.m. The Orioles have the 22nd pick in the first round, the 37th overall selection - a competitive balance pick they were awarded - and the 61st overall pick in the second round. MLB Network will televise the first two rounds which will include 73 picks tonight. Counting their third round pick (98th overall), the Orioles have four of the draft's...

The Orioles hold the 22nd pick in the first round of tonight's First-Year Player Draft, which makes it a heck of a lot harder to project their selection than back in the days when they chose third or fourth. They like South Carolina high school catcher Nick Ciuffo, but they usually lean toward pitching, and University of San Francisco right-hander Alex Balog has been linked to them in some mock drafts. That's as deep as I'll venture into this guessing game. But check back with...

What can you really say after being on the receiving end of a 10-1 spanking at the hands of the Mets, who are 10 games under .500 after tonight's game? "We'll just turn the page on this one," Nationals manager Davey Johnson said. "We swung the bats better, but we didn't hit with runners in scoring position." No, they didn't. The Nats put up 10 hits tonight, but went just 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left 11 on base. In the Nats' last 15 games, they've scored three...

Regardless of how he performs, whether he's thrown seven scoreless innings or gotten lit up by the opposition, Dan Haren will always stand up after a game and give a brutally honest assessment of his start. Unfortunately for Haren, he's had as many rough outings to assess this season as he's had stellar ones. Haren went just four innings in tonight's 10-1 Nationals loss to the Mets, allowing five runs on seven hits. Three of those seven hits were home runs. In his 12 outings this season,...

One highlight in a 10-1 loss to the Mets was the major league debut for left-handed reliever Ian Krol. After allowing a double to lead off the sixth inning, Krol struck out the side. The three hitters he struck out? Daniel Murphy, David Wright and Lucas Duda - the heart of the Mets order. The three combined for five hits, five runs, two doubles and a home run in the game. Just not against Krol. "I was just trying to go out there and throw strikes," Krol said. "A little different with the...

The Orioles pitching staff tonight allowed six home runs over the game's first four innings. Houston didn't hit any more after the early barrage but that was more than enough for the Astros to post a 11-7 win over the Orioles. O's starter Freddy Garcia pitched eight innings of shutout, three-hit ball last Thursday against Washington. Tonight he gave up seven hits, six runs and four homers in three-plus innings. Garcia, who had an ERA of 1.89 over his last three starts, falls to 2-3 with an...