Right-hander Taylor Jordan was promoted last week from the high Single-A Potomac Nationals to the Double-A Harrisburg and did well in his first game with the Senators. The 24-year-old Jordan made his Harrisburg debut Sunday with four innings of shutout ball, allowing four hits, no runs, one walk and three strikeouts. In seven minor league starts this season, Jordan has gone 2-1 with a 1.12 ERA in seven starts, with 32 strikeouts and seven walks. Nationals director of player development Doug...

It's been a while since we've gotten a whiff of news about the Nationals' pursuit of a new spring training home. Depending on how you view the machinations, the saga has either plot twists befitting a taut mystery or all the kind of awkward exchange you felt when asking a date to the middle school dance. But there's new news, courtesy of this story in The News-Press of Fort Myers, one of the possible Sunshine State destinations for the Nationals. (a tip of the 'ol ballcap to @misschatter...

Freddy Garcia isn't making the Padres regret their decision to release him in spring training. Garcia has faced 11 batters in two innings and allowed two runs and five hits, with one walk and one strikeout. He's thrown 40 pitches, 24 for strikes. The Orioles turned a 5-4-3 double play on Carlos Quentin's ground ball to bail out Garcia in the first inning, but No. 9 hitter John Baker collected his first two RBIs of the season with a two-out single in the second. Garcia took a perfect game...

Here is the good news: Today's O's starter Freddy Garcia is 4-2 with a 2.51 career ERA in nine starts with seven career quality starts against the San Diego Padres. But the other side of that news is that he has not faced San Diego since June 12, 2005. Garcia makes his third Orioles start today and makes another bid to hang onto to and/or cement his rotation spot. He is 0-1 with an ERA of 4.26 in his first two outings. There certainly is some experience on the mound today at Camden Yards...

Miguel Gonzalez played catch in the outfield today, gradually increasing the distance until it turned into a long-toss session, and threw 35 pitches off the bullpen mound. He removed the bandage from around the blister on his right thumb for his last five or six throws and didn't experience any problems. Gonzalez expects to start Friday night for Double-A Bowie. He's still a candidate to start Tuesday night for the Orioles if his pitch count with the Baysox is low enough to make him...

For the Orioles, it is the case for the defense and it is a strong one. The Orioles have made just 11 errors all year, the fewest in the American League and behind only Arizona, with 10 for the fewest in baseball. While an error total alone only tells part of the defensive story, the Orioles have made just two errors over their last 17 games and just four in their last 24 games. Chris Davis said momentum in any game can turn on defense. "I think it is big for any team trying to make the...

For the third time this season, Steve Pearce is starting back-to-back games for the Orioles. After going 1-for-3 last night with an RBI single that put the O's ahead 2-1 in the eighth, Pearce is back in the lineup at DH today and batting ninth. "Yeah, definitely (excited to start again)," Pearce said. "My goal is to get to the plate, I want to hit. It's one of those things, where if you hit, you are playing." Pearce has been hitting. Over his last three starts he is 5-for-10 with a...

Steve Pearce will serve as the designated hitter again today for the Orioles after delivering a tie-breaking single in the eighth inning last night. Matt Wieters will catch a day game following a night game. 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 Ryan Flaherty 2B Steve Pearce DH Freddy Garcia RHP For the Padres Cabrera SS Venable RF Headley 3B Quentin DH Alonso 1B Gyorko 2B Blanks LF Amarista...

The 40-game mark, the quarter pole, has traditionally been one of the first real mile markers of the baseball season. It's the point at which we can no longer say, "Yeah, but it's early." By 40 games in, there's a sense of things. A lot will still happen, but the season is no longer a series of maybes. As the Orioles close in on that mark for 2013, it's safe to say they're off to a hell of a start. Here they stand at 23-16 with a 14-9 mark away from Camden Yards. They've scored 192...

I've got some good news and I've got some bad news. Let's start with the positive stuff, shall we? There's a decent chance the Nationals won't have to face Clayton Kershaw again this season. After what we saw from Kershaw last night, I'm sure the Nats' hitters are good with that. If the Nats do see the 2011 National League Cy Young Award winner again during the regular season, it'll be in one of three games at Nats Park from July 19-21, meaning they have at least two months of...