It's gone from bad to worse for Orioles starter Jason Hammel, who will spend the rest of his afternoon in the Orioles' clubhouse. And not because manager Buck Showalter removed him from the game. Hammel served up back-to-back-to-back home runs to Victor Martinez, Jhonny Peralta and Alex Avila to open the top of the fourth inning, giving Detroit a 4-1 lead. His next pitch sliced near Matt Tuiasosopo's head, hitting the Tigers left fielder on the left shoulder, and plate umpire Hunter...

Jason Hammel has matched his season high for walks today, and he hit the mark after only 1 2/3 innings. Not good. Hammel has issued three free passes, as he also did in four other starts. Factor in two singles, and he's fortunate to only be trailing 1-0. Five of the first nine batters reached against Hammel, including Matt Tuiasosopo, who singled in the second inning to score Victor Martinez after Alex Avila grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to nearly take Hammel off the hook. I also...

Is Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander in a slump? After pitching to an ERA of 2.40 when he won the 2011 American League Cy Young Award and a 2.64 ERA when he finished second in 2012, he is 6-4 now with an ERA of 3.68 over 11 starts. That almost qualifies as an off year for him. And over his last three starts, Verlander has pitched to an ERA of 9.82 with a batting average against of .354. What is going on here? Observers of the Tigers feel Verlander's fastball command has not been at its usual...

ATLANTA - Davey Johnson is going with the same lineup from 1-8 in the batting order tonight, leaving Steve Lombardozzi in the No. 2 spot, Roger Bernadina in the No. 6 spot and Danny Espinosa hitting seventh. Lombardozzi will play left field for the second straight game while Bernadina will play right. Gio Gonzalez (3-3, 3.90 ERA) starts tonight for the Nats. Gonzalez is coming off a rough start his last time out, when he allowed eight hits, four runs and four walks over 5 2/3 innings in a...

The Washington Nationals today placed outfielder Bryce Harper on the 15-Day Disabled List, retroactive to May 27, with left knee bursitis and recalled right-handed pitcher Erik Davis from Syracuse of the Triple-A International League. Nationals Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. Davis went 1-2 with seven saves and a 3.00 ERA in 21 relief appearances this season with the Chiefs, posting 10.1 strikeouts per 9.0 innings (27 K/24.0...

The Orioles had interest in signing pitcher Jon Rauch over the winter, and they were able to secure a minor league deal with him over the weekend. Executive vice president Dan Duquette is hoping that his patience pays off. Rauch will report to Triple-A Norfolk on Monday and join the Tides bullpen. A spot must be cleared for him, since the current roster is at full capacity. "He's a qualified major league reliever," Duquette said. "He had a really good year last year. He can set up and...

The Orioles have signed 6-foot-11 pitcher Jon Rauch to a minor league deal and assigned him to Triple-A Norfolk. He will report to the Tides on Monday. Rauch, 34, was 1-2 with a 7.56 ERA in 15 relief appearances with the Miami Marlins this season, with 23 hits allowed, seven walks and 15 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings. Rauch has played for eight major league teams, including Montreal/Washington, over parts of 11 seasons. He's 43-40 with a 3.90 ERA. He posted a 3.59 ERA in 73 games with the...

If the season ended today, Detroit's Miguel Cabrera would not win the Triple Crown and neither would Chris Davis. That is because they are standing in the way of each other right now. Cabrera leads the American League in batting and RBIs, but Davis has a 19 to 16 edge in homers. In many other years, Davis' .356 average and RBI total of 50 might be leading the league at this point, but Cabrera is at .372 and 61. They rank first and second in the AL right now in batting average, homers, RBIs,...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter isn't making any changes to his lineup this afternoon after his club rallied last night to defeat the Tigers 7-5 at Camden Yards. Chris Dickerson hit a walk-off three-run homer and he remains the designated hitter today. Ryan Flaherty gets another start at second base. 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 Jason Hammel RHP For the...

ATLANTA - The list of Nationals players on the disabled list will probably be growing shortly, as Bryce Harper is "likely" heading to the DL with bursitis in his left knee, a team source confirmed. The Nationals will be bringing up right-handed reliever Erik Davis from Triple-A Syracuse to fill Harper's spot on the active roster and provide support to a bullpen that will likely be without Craig Stammen and Tyler Clippard today after those two had heavy workloads last night. Harper has...