Davey Johnson is walking around with some pep in his step today. Part of that is because his team snapped a four-game losing skid last night, and did so in dominating fashion. Another part of it is that Johnson learned that former Dodgers and Cardinals GM Branch Rickey - a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame and famously known for being the guy to sign Jackie Robinson - liked Johnson when he was a prospect in the Orioles organization. As you can see

Which Nationals hitters deserve to be voted into the starting lineup for the All-Star Game at Citi Field on Tuesday, July 16? Maybe you favor youth, and figure left fielder Bryce Harper, all of 20, should be starting after making it as a 19-year-old reserve last year. Or you think first baseman Adam LaRoche and his Gold Glove defense can help the National League win the Midsummer Classic. Or you just want right fielder Jayson Werth and his scruffy beard standing on the base line for pregame...

Major props again to the Oakland Athletics, and their charming 500 miles of foul territory, for posting their lineup ridiculously early. For the Athletics Coco Crisp DH Chris Young CF Josh Reddick RF Jed Lowrie 2B Josh Donaldson 3B Derek Norris C Nate Freiman 1B Casper Wells LF Adam Rosales SS Tommy Milone LHP The Athletics have lost six of their last seven games. In his only career start against the Orioles, Milone allowed one earned run (two total) and six hits in 6 1/3...

BOWIE, Md. - The Double-A Bowie Baysox are back at Prince George's Stadium, where tonight they begin a seven-game homestand hosting the Harrisburg Senators. Tonight Baysox and Orioles fans have a chance to get their first in-person look at Cuban outfielder Henry Urrutia, who was activated by the team a week ago today. Over five games, the 26-year-old Urrutia is batting .316 with one double, a homer and five RBIs. He is 6-for-19 so far for Bowie with a .526 slugging percentage and .907...

The Nationals are sticking with the lineup that was so effective last night, the one that put up eight runs on 12 hits. Can't really blame them for that. The one guy left on the outside looking in, however, is Anthony Rendon, the Nats' top prospect, who was called up to the majors on Sunday to make his big league debut. The Nationals' initial idea had been to have Rendon in the lineup every day. There was no point in calling Rendon up to the big leagues, they believed, if he was just...

From the start of spring training, Nationals manager Davey Johnson preached patience. Henry Rodriguez, who led the league in wild pitches in 2011 and managed to throw 10 in 29 1/3 innings of work in 2012, continued his wild ways this spring, but the Nats' 70-year-old skipper said it was just a matter of time before the right-handed reliever figured things out. Rodriguez's 2012 campaign saw him temporarily assume the closer's role and save nine games before flaming out rather quickly and...

Could the umpiring have been any worse last night? Not to mention the official scorer. OK, I just mentioned him. You know it's bad when a pitching coach, in this case Oakland's Curt Young, comes out of the dugout for a mound visit and instead yells at the first base umpire, who ejected him. Young never did talk to Jarrod Parker. I hadn't seen that happen before last night. Did it count as a mound visit? Brian Matusz never made it to the mound last night. Two other left-handers, Troy...

Nate McLouth stole two more bases for the Orioles in the series-opening game at Oakland on Thursday night. He now has seven steals on the year in eight attempts. McLouth is tied for second in the AL right now with those seven steals with Oakland's Coco Crisp, trailing only Jacoby Ellsbury of Boston with 10. At that pace, he would steal 51 bases this season. The club record is 57 by Luis Aparicio in 1964. While McLouth may not keep up this pace or threaten Aparicio's single-season record,...

Coming into this season, what type of team did you envision the 2013 Washington Nationals being? You probably didn't see the Nats hitting a collective .235 or getting on base at a .299 clip. I'm guessing you didn't see them leading the majors in errors and sitting dead last in fielding percentage. There's a good chance you didn't see the reigning National League East champions ranking in the bottom half of the league in team ERA. Yet entering last night's ballgame, that's where the...

Jason Hammel picked up his third win. Chris Davis hit his eighth homer with two RBIs, while Nick Markakis and Nate McLouth drove in two runs each tonight as the Orioles beat Oakland 10-2 in the opener of a four-game series. The win was impressive for a few reasons: * It started badly for the Orioles, who allowed two unearned runs to fall behind 2-0 in the second inning. That inning saw J.J. Hardy and Manny Machado both commit errors and Adam Jones misplay a fly ball into a double. The...