The Washington Nationals today returned from rehab and reinstated catcher Wilson Ramos from the 15-Day Disabled List and optioned catcher Jhonatan Solano to Syracuse of the Triple-A International League. Nationals Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. Ramos, who missed the last 14 games with a left hamstring strain, is batting .300 with two homers, three RBI, three walks and three runs scored in six games this season with the...

Double-A Bowie right-hander Kevin Gausman made his fifth start Sunday for the Baysox. He threw well, allowing just five hits and one run over a career-high 7 2/3 innings. He threw a season-high 94 pitches, but took a tough 1-0 loss at home against Harrisburg. Gausman is 1-3 with a 3.77 ERA. Over 28 2/3 innings, he has a 29-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Eastern League left-handed batters are hitting .283 against him and right-handed batters are hitting .258. He allows an average of .208 when...

The first month of the season is coming to a close, and here are things we can take away from April: * There's no need to panic when a team goes bad for a week. Last week, the Nats were struggling and on the verge of falling into a big hole in the NL East. But they won three weekend games against the Reds, and with the Braves getting swept in Detroit, things are calmer in the division. If the Nats had continued to play inattentive baseball and had the Braves not cooled down, the Nats could...

New Orioles catcher Chris Snyder is expected to meet up with the Orioles tonight in Seattle, but his contract won't be selected until Tuesday, which allows Luis Exposito to serve in a backup role for one more game. The Orioles will need to create room on their 40-man roster, which also could impact Exposito. Stay tuned. Executive vice president Dan Duquette has been interested in Snyder since joining the Orioles' front office. He considered signing Snyder the past two winters and again in...

With the advent of the internet, we're, in theory, no longer bound to listen to only local radio as most stations stream their programming online. So being interested in some local perspective on the NBA playoffs, I tuned into WEEI-Boston's midday "Mut and Merloni" show last week. At that moment, they were talking about the American League East and specifically about the Toronto Blue Jays. While they did agree that on paper they were a good team, they also said they felt that the culture...

I'm off to Atlanta, ready for some quality National League East baseball and a city that doesn't have a ridiculous pollen count. I forgot to take my allergy pill yesterday and probably ripped off 150 sneezes in a 12-hour span. My apologies to everyone near me in the press box. When the Nationals last saw the Braves back at Nationals Park a little over two weeks ago, they got their butts handed to them. Not much other way to put it. Atlanta outscored the Nats 18-5 over that three-game...

Don't panic Birdland, don't panic. In this social media age, which includes our blog comments here, we saw some big-time venting after the Orioles' loss last night. The fans now can react publicly and immediately and they do when it doesn't go well. Don't hold it in, I guess. OK, let's talk big picture first. The Orioles have won 15 of 25 games. They have won four straight series. They are 4-1 in five AL East series and 9-6 in AL East games. They are 8-5 in road games. They even look...

The Orioles didn't wait long to find another backup catcher. According to a text message from executive vice president Dan Duquette, the Orioles have acquired catcher Chris Snyder from the Los Angeles Angels for reliever Rob Delaney in a minor league deal. Update: The Orioles and Angels both announced the trade. Snyder, 32, could join the Orioles in Seattle on Monday night, according to Duquette, and will have his contract selected this week. Luis Exposito, who met up with the club in...

I could hear the blood pressure of some fans rising after yesterday's loss. My ears popped when it spiked. It's never easy to surrender a five-run lead, blow a two-run lead in the ninth and commit back-to-back throwing errors in the 10th that hands a game to the opponent. That'll make you chew nails for the rest of the night. To the fans who wondered why Jim Johnson didn't pitch yesterday, I'll repeat that he was used on five of the previous six days. No game is worth having his arm fall...

Syracuse Chiefs starter Danny Rosenbaum is off to a great beginning for 2013. Fresh off his return to the Nationals from the Colorado Rockies, who plucked him in the Rule 5 draft, Rosenbaum is 2-1 with a 1.14 ERA in four starts. Rosenbaum has tossed 23 2/3 innings and allowed only three runs, 16 hits, one homer, eight walks and has struck out five. Saturday's gem over Durham was the best of all the starts so far this season. Against the Bulls, Rosenbaum went seven innings, allowing only...