HAGERSTOWN - The older brother of the Nationals' famous young hitter, a new-look uniform and a brand new manager highlight the 2013 version of Single-A Hagerstown Suns. Tripp Keister was promoted from the GCL Nats and takes over for Brian Daubach, who moved on to Single-A Potomac. The Suns feature several talented draft picks and eight Dominican players this season. They also will wear red- and blue-trimmed uniforms, more in tune with their top team, the Washington Nationals. "I think we...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Tampa Bay left-hander David Price retired the first two Orioles in the top of the first inning. Then he ran into a little trouble. It was compounded when catcher Matt Wieters ran into a changeup. Wieters launched a two-run homer to left-center field following Adam Jones' double, giving the Orioles a quick 2-0 lead over the reigning Cy Young Award winner. Price missed with a 95 mph fastball, then tried an 87 mph changeup. Wieters, batting cleanup today, responded with...

Well, if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best, right? Today the Orioles face one of the American League's best on opening day in Tampa Bay lefty David Price. He went 20-5 with a 2.56 ERA last year and won the AL Cy Young Award in a close vote over Justin Verlander. He was the first AL East pitcher to win the award since Boston's Pedro Martinez in 2003. Price was dominant against the Orioles last season, going 2-0 with a 0.40 ERA, allowing just one run and 13 hits in 22 1/3...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Three players in the Orioles clubhouse made an opening day roster for the first time in their major league careers: Pitchers Miguel Gonzalez and T.J. McFarland, and third baseman Manny Machado. McFarland is getting his first exposure to the majors after being selected from the Cleveland Indians' organization in the Rule 5 draft. "Before I came over here, I was looking at T.J. and wondering what must be going through his mind right now," said manager Buck Showalter....

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Orioles manager Buck Showalter looked ahead at the upcoming pitching matchups and figured that he needed to get Steve Pearce in the lineup today as the designated hitter against Tampa Bay's David Price. The Orioles may not face another left-hander for a while, and Showalter didn't want Pearce to sit for too long. "It looks like we're going to go quite a while, the equivalent of about 10 days if you go back to the last time Stevie played in a game, before we face a...

BOWIE - Double-A Bowie manager Gary Kendall has set his season-opening pitching rotation as the Baysox are working out today in the wind and cold at Prince George's Stadium before they open on Thursday at Harrisburg. Mike Wright will start on Thursday and pitch the opener and be followed by Jake Pettit, Kevin Gausman, Eddie Gamboa and Julio Rodriguez. "Mike Wright was here last year and threw a big game for us in the playoffs last year," Kendall said of his game one starter. "I know he...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Manny Machado will become the fourth Oriole to start on opening day at 20 or younger, joining Brook Robinson, Ron Hansen and Boog Powell. Robinson was 19 on April 15, 1957. Did anyone here attend that game? Hansen (1958) and Powell (1962) were 20. The last Oriole to play on opening day at 20 was pitcher Wally Bunker in 1965. Brian Roberts is making his ninth opening day start at second base, passing Rich Dauer for the most by an Oriole at the position. Adam Jones...

Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg made a compelling case on opening day to be considered the two best talents ever to play Major League Baseball in Washington, D.C. Facing a depleted Miami Marlins roster, Strasburg seemed to hardly work up a sweat as he breezed through seven innings on 80 pitches without allowing a run. On a day when Ricky Nolasco had his good stuff, Harper hit two laser shots that bored through a slight incoming breeze to easily reach the right field stands. The final score...

Opening day is one of my favorite holidays of the year. Second only to Christmas, if we're being honest. Yes, I know that opening day technically isn't a holiday, but for me it's the day that not only indicates that warm weather is around the corner (whether you believe it or not), but also a time of hope for 30 different fan bases across North America. I celebrate its meaning this time every year. Each team takes the field tied for first place on opening day, full of optimism about the the...

It's hard, after seeing what we saw yesterday at Nationals Park, not to think big picture. It's hard not to think about what could be happening two or three years down the road, possibly more. It's hard not to envision Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg putting together dominating performances like Monday's in front of consistently packed houses, with fans clamoring for tickets to watch the dual phenoms in person. Despite their relative lack of big league experience, we still got to see...