Buck Showalter often talks about playing the game 90 feet at a time. Try not to give up the extra base with mistakes in the field and advance runners and get that extra base when you can when batting. In one aspect of the game, the Orioles are doing very well at this early stage. They rank first in the American League in caught stealing percentage and the O's are second in stolen base percentage. AL leaders in caught stealing percentage as of Monday: .833 - Orioles (5-for-6) .500 - Texas...

The Orioles are preparing for only their fourth home game of the 2013 season. They can be excused if they accidentally head to the visiting clubhouse and wait to take batting practice after their opponent. The Tampa Bay Rays were able to fly out of Boston last night following the bombings that killed at least three people and injured several more, another senseless act of violence that peels away the layers of comfort and security in our daily lives. Rays manager Joe Maddon sent the following...

Six batters into tonight's game, Marlins starter Wade LeBlanc had yet to retire a Nationals hitter. Five hits - four singles and a double - and a walk led to four Nats runs, and just like that, Washington has a nice 4-0 lead after the top of the first inning. Nothing like a three-game set against the Marlins to get the Nats back on track after a rough sweep at the hands of the Braves over the weekend. Denard Span and Jayson Werth led off the ballgame with singles, and after a Bryce Harper...

I couldn't resist filing a blog entry today that didn't include a dateline. It's good to be home. Conor Jackson's contract has been placed on Triple-A Norfolk's restricted list pending receipt of a letter stating that the first baseman/outfielder desires to voluntarily retire, according to executive vice president Dan Duquette. Yesterday, Jackson informed Tides manager Ron Johnson of his decision to retire. Johnson texted Orioles manager Buck Showalter with the news. The Orioles...

The Nationals will look to snap their three-game losing streak tonight in Miami with the first of three games against the Marlins. They'll go into tonight's game without both Danny Espinosa and Adam LaRoche in their starting lineup. Espinosa was hit by a Paul Maholm pitch on the right wrist yesterday and needed to leave the Nationals' game against the Braves after four innings. X-rays on Espinosa's wrist were negative, but the second baseman said after the game that the wrist was sore and...

He has worked his way up and sometimes down on those top Orioles prospects lists. Back at Single-A Delmarva this season, 21-year-old right-hander Parker Bridwell hopes a cleaner, more consistent delivery will lead to better results. The Orioles drafted Bridwell out of Hereford (Texas) High School in the ninth round in 2010. He was ranked by Baseball America as the organization's 12th-best prospect after that season, was fourth after 2011 and rated 23rd after last year, when he went 5-9 with a...

The Nationals entered their weekend series with the Braves trailing Atlanta by a game in the division and feeling pretty good about themselves following a three-game sweep of the White Sox. The Nats leave their weekend series against the Braves suddenly trailing their division rivals by four games in the National League East after they were handed a spanking over the last three days. "I don't think they took us by surprise at all," Denard Span said. "We knew they were a good team coming...

It's hard to blame Nationals fans for feeling down after last weekend's three-game sweep at the hands of the Atlanta Braves. After a big buildup to a supposed early season showdown between the top teams in the National League East - if not the entire NL - the Nats fell flat. Almost every aspect of the game was a disappointment at some point in the series, from Ryan Zimmerman's crucial throwing errors in Friday and Saturday's losses to the bullpen on Friday to the starting pitching and...

We all saw the three-run error committed by Adam Jones in Friday's game at Yankee Stadium. I hesitate to say that it cost the Orioles the game, given that there are so many other aspects to any game than just one play, but I digress. Afterward, Jones did something that should make people stand up and take notice: He took accountability. There were several comments that came out of Jones, however the gist of all of them were, "My bad." It goes without saying that accepting accountability...

The low Single-A Hagerstown Suns placed outfielder J.R. Higley on the disabled list Sunday and Andruth Ramirez was activated. Higley fouled a ball of his foot. His injury is being evaluated further by the Nationals. Higley was hitting .273 in nine games, with two doubles, one triple and four RBIs. The Double-A Harrisburg Senators placed outfielder Steven Souza Jr., on the disabled list Sunday. Catcher Jeff Howell was promoted to Triple-A Syracuse. Catcher Kris Watts was activated from the...