He is the leading hitter in the Orioles minor leagues and he's been doing very well at two levels this season. Christian Walker, the club's fourth-round pick last June out of the University of South Carolina, began this season pounding baseballs for low Single-A Delmarva. Moved to high Single-A Frederick May 12, he picked up in the Carolina League right where he left off in the South Atlantic League. "He just needs to continue the process and the day-to-day grind," O's director of player...

Anthony Rendon leapt high into the air to snare a line drive during Sunday's game. It was not until the slow motion replay was available that the athletic nature of the play could be appreciated. Rendon was easily three feet or more off the ground when the ball settled into his outstretched mitt. His standing leap was one that most basketball players would covet. It was the kind of play that Danny Espinosa has been making routinely at second base for the past three seasons. When Rendon made...

Baseball is a game of constant adjustments. This offseason, Chris Davis worked on fixing the holes in his swing and the adjustment resulted in a league-leading 20 home runs in his first 52 games. Now the rest of baseball has adjusted to Davis and it's his job to take back that advantage and start crushing baseballs over the fences of ballparks across the country again. Davis, the leading vote-getter at first base for the American League for the All-Star Game, hasn't homered since May 29 and...

The Nationals have injuries, but several teams have made the injury excuse obsolete this season. The Cardinals have the best record in baseball, even though they have four starters - Jake Westbrook, Chris Carpenter, John Gast and Jamie Garcia - on their disabled list, as well closer Jason Motte and shortstop/leadoff batter Rafael Furcal. The Yankees are contending the American League East even though they have two shortstops - Derek Jeter and Eduardo Nunez - on the disabled list. Their DL...

A day after Bryce Harper went to Florida to get a second opinion on his swollen left knee from Dr. James Andrews, we're still waiting on the details of Andrews' findings. The Nationals have been pretty quiet on the Harper front so far, choosing not to release much information to this point, but we should know more today on what lies ahead as far as treatment options on Harper's knee and the rehabilitation process needed to get Harper back on the field. One sign that Harper received some...

Seeing Tommy Hunter now thriving in a bullpen role, it is hard to remember he used to be a starting pitcher for this team. But he was in the club's season opening rotation last year and made a start as late as Aug. 22. But he went 3-0 with an ERA of 0.71 out of the bullpen last September and he has carried that success into this year. His latest impressive outing was last night. He gave up a run against the Angels, but he also struck out Albert Pujols with one out and the bases loaded and...

Remember back in early May when Orioles second baseman Alexi Casilla sat at his locker in the visiting clubhouse at Target Field and informed reporters that he was prepared to give up switch-hitting and concentrate on batting exclusively from the right side? Well, forget it. Casilla told me yesterday that he's decided to continue batting from both sides of the plate. The experiment is over. "I'm going to stay hitting from the left side, too. I'm going to keep switch-hitting," he said....

Orioles manager Buck Showalter offered praise for the Camden Yards grounds crew and the umpiring crew following tonight's soggy 4-3 victory over the Angels. The rain delay lasted 2 hours, 14 minutes. The game itself lasted 2 hours, 23 minutes. At one point, it seemed highly unlikely that it would resume in the bottom of the sixth as the rain came down in buckets and the field was under water. "What a job the grounds crew did. When they put the tarp out there, you wouldn't like the chances...

Tommy Hunter said it was simple. He issued what he called a couple of bad walks that put him in what he called a pretty sticky situation. But with the O's up 4-2, the bases loaded and one out in the seventh, he got Josh Hamilton to hit a ground ball, but Chris Davis threw late to second as a run scored to make it 4-3. The situation, as he said, was still pretty sticky as Hunter faced Albert Pujols with the bases still loaded. He got ahead 0-2 in the count and threw a high fastball right by...

As he is currently leading all American League outfielders in All-Star Game votes, one thing is for certain: Adam Jones is a tough competitor on the field. But what about off the field? Well, it's up to you to find out. MASN is giving Orioles fans the chance to meet Jones and compete head-to-head with the center fielder during the CareFirst BlueCross Blue Shield Adam Jones Fan Challenge. Maybe you want to challenge him to a bubble-blowing contest, a competitive eating contest or a game of...