Nate McLouth made a triumphant return to the Orioles' lineup tonight. One night after sitting on the bench against a left-hander, McLouth hit his 11th career leadoff home run to give the Orioles a quick 1-0 lead. Mariners starter Brandon Maurer threw four straight fastballs to McLouth, at 91, 91, 93 and 91 mph. He might want to mix in an off-speed pitch. He might want to just avoid McLouth, who has reached base in 23 of his last 37 plate appearances. He's 16-for-30 with 14 runs scored in...

ATLANTA - This is one of the more bizarre outings I've seen turned in by a starting pitcher in some time. Gio Gonzalez has struck out nine batters through four innings. His stuff has been good, his velocity is there and his pitches have plenty life. Outside of the strikeout numbers, however, everything else has gone wrong for Gonzalez. The Nationals left-hander has allowed five runs in his four innings of work. He's allowed seven hits. He's walked five Braves batters. He threw a wild...

The good teams seem to avoid long losing streaks and the Orioles will try to avoid having a three-gamer tonight. Prior to last night, the Birds had not lost back-to-back games since losing three in a row April 6-8. The 2013 Orioles are 7-2 after a loss. Some other notes on the Orioles: * Manny Machado is batting .412 (14-for-34) during an eight-game batting streak with three doubles, a triple and five RBIs. He has raised his average from .250 to .300 during this stretch. Machado is...

The Orioles announced a flurry of roster moves before tonight's game in Seattle. They officially recalled former UMBC pitcher Zach Clark from Triple-A Norfolk and optioned left-hander Zach Britton to the Tides. Also, the Orioles purchased catcher Chris Snyder's contract and designated catcher Luis Exposito for assignment to create room on the 40-man roster. And finally, the Orioles reinstated pitcher Steve Johnson from the disabled list and optioned him to Norfolk. Clark, 29, is 1-2 with...

The Orioles today announced that they have recalled RHP Zach Clark from Triple-A Norfolk, selected the contract of catcher Chris Snyder and optioned LHP Zach Britton to Triple-A Norfolk. The club has also designated catcher Luis Exposito for assignment and reinstated RHP Steve Johnson from the 15-day disabled list and optioned him to Triple-A Norfolk. Clark, 29, is 1-2 with a 4.56 ERA (25.2IP, 13ER) in five starts with the Tides this season. He went 15-7 with a 2.79 ERA (167.2IP, 52ER) in...

Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman was scratched from Tuesday's doubleheader for the high Single-A Potomac Nationals at Pfitzner Stadium in Woodbridge, Va. Zimmerman is expected to be in the lineup Wednesday for the P-Nats, to test his hamstring under live game conditions. If everything goes well, Zimmerman is likely to join the Nationals in Pittsburgh when they start a weekend series with the Pirates on Friday. Rain in the area forced postponement of Monday's game at Potomac. The...

ATLANTA - Stephen Strasburg hasn't been pitching at a Cy Young level thus far this season. But he also hasn't pitched poorly. The latter point is one that Nationals pitching coach Steve McCatty wants to emphasize. McCatty passionately defended Strasburg this afternoon, saying that the expectations that media members and fans have placed on Strasburg have reached unfair levels, with it getting to the point that Strasburg almost is in a no-win situation. "You guys put these levels on this...

Whatever roster move is being made by the Orioles today, it won't involve outfielder Chris Dickerson. He's starting in right field tonight against the Seattle Mariners. Nick Markakis is serving as the designated hitter. Nate McLouth is back in left field and atop the order. For the Orioles Nate McLouth LF Manny Machado 3B Nick Markakis DH Adam Jones CF Chris Davis 1B Matt Wieters C J.J. Hardy SS Ryan Flaherty 2B Chris Dickerson RF Jason Hammel RHP

ATLANTA - Davey Johnson expressed concern last night after hearing that Stephen Strasburg had been dealing with some tightness in his forearm during his outing in the Nationals' 3-2 loss to the Braves. Today, the Nationals feel confident that all is well with their ace right-hander. General manager Mike Rizzo said that Strasburg has some irritation on his forearm, but reiterated that the Nats expect Strasburg to be able to make his regularly scheduled start on Saturday in...

OriolesREACH and Major League Baseball will host a private screening of the movie "42" for 300 junior varsity baseball and softball players from 12 Anne Arundel County high schools this Thursday, May 2, at 10:30 a.m. at Hoyt's West Nursery Cinemas in Linthicum. Students from Annapolis, Arundel, Broadneck, Chesapeake, Glen Burnie, Meade, North County, Northeast, Old Mill, Severna Park, South River and Southern High Schools will attend the screening. Former Orioles pitcher Ken Dixon will speak...