First baseman Chris Davis has been voted the American League Player of the Month for April, the first Oriole to receive the honor since Melvin Mora in August 2008. Davis batted .348 (32-for-92) with eight doubles, nine home runs, 28 RBIs, 16 walks and 19 runs scored in 27 games to claim his first career Player of the Month award. Among league leaders last month with a minimum of 81 plate appearances, Davis finished first in slugging percentage (.728) and total bases (67), tied for first in...

ATLANTA - We're still waiting to see whether Bryce Harper and Jayson Werth will find their way into the Nationals' lineup for tonight's series finale against the Braves. The lineup has not yet been posted, likely because team trainers are evaluating one or both of the Nats' ailing outfielders. Harper left last night's game following a check swing in a sixth-inning at-bat. He was diagnosed with a bad bruise on his left side. The Nationals' leader in nearly every offensive category had...

Even after scoring just two runs in a loss at Seattle Monday and just three in last night's loss, the Orioles still rank third in the American League in runs scored with 141. Oakland is first with 162, followed by Boston at 145. Meanwhile, O's players' names are all over other prominent among the AL league leaders. In batting average, Chris Davis is fourth at .337, Adam Jones sixth at .333 and Nate McLouth tied for ninth at .327. Manny Machado is ranked second with 12 doubles and Jones is...

Late last night, I stumbled upon a retweet from one of the Orioles' beat writers and couldn't believe my eyes. The original tweet may rank as the dumbest that I've read since I joined the Twitter world, which explains why it was being shared. It was so absurd, it could not be ignored. You be the judge. A fan contended that Pedro Strop and Darren O'Day need to adjust their mechanics because they're losing games for the Orioles. Strop's issues are well-publicized and obvious to anyone...

Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman was able to pass a big test in his return from the 15-day disabled list Wednesday on a cool night at Pfitzner Stadium in Woodbridge, Va. Zimmerman played third base for the Potomac Nationals in his lone rehab start to test the recovery of a sore hamstring, and despite an 0-for-3 performance, he felt his swing and timing are back. "Everything feels good," Zimmerman said. "I think seeing some live pitching was good. I saw pretty much every pitch,...

Left-hander Robbie Ray received a no-decision Wednesday that might have been a bit overshadowed in the high Single-A Potomac Nationals' 3-2 loss to Carolina at Pfitzner Stadium in Woodbridge, Va. Ray did walk four batters, but did a very nice job of getting out of potential jams with seven strikeouts over five innings. He scattered four hits and allowed two runs. His pitches were so accurate at painting the edge of the plate that the Mudcats arguing of those close calls got a batter and their...

ATLANTA - When Kurt Suzuki came over to the Nationals in the middle of last season after a trade with Oakland, there was one pitcher he was especially excited to work with. He had seen plenty of highlights of Stephen Strasburg on TV and had an idea what to expect from the Nationals' ace. He had already caught Gio Gonzalez when the left-hander was with the A's. There was another Nats starter with whom Suzuki wasn't too familiar. But one of Suzuki's former teammates with the A's, Josh...

If there's one theme that we as fans have seen with the Baltimore Orioles since last season, it is this: manager Buck Showalter will find a way for everyone on his team to contribute. It seems that there is a different player contributing on a daily basis for the Orioles to attain another postseason berth; however, so far, in the first month of the 2013 campaign, one player has stood out to me. Well, it is not Adam Jones, Manny Machado, Chris Davis, nor Matt Wieters - it's Nate...

Jordan Zimmermann's 2-0 win over Atlanta last night helped the Nationals snap the team's nine-game losing streak against the Braves. It's already apparent that the Nats have a few growing pains in their transition from the 2012 season to 2013, but that's the thing about baseball - you never quite know exactly how a singular game is going to shake out, let alone an entire season, until it's all said and done. What's great about Zimmermann's success this season thus far is that his work...

Chris Tillman is making his second career start tonight against the Los Angeles Angels, and his first in their home ballpark. Considering that he's an Anaheim native, this is a pretty big deal. He may have to beg teammates for their spare tickets. Tillman owns a victory against the Angels. He allowed three earned runs in 6 2/3 innings on Aug. 14, 2009. That's it. One start, one win. Tillman has only faced three current Angels. Josh Hamilton is 0-for-6 with three strikeouts against him,...