PHILADELPHIA - It's an absolutely gorgeous day at Citizens Bank Park, as the Nationals get set to open a three-game set with the Phillies. The Nats won't see Cliff Lee in this series, but they're likely to get two of the Phillies' other big three starters. Cole Hamels will take the mound tonight, Kyle Kendrick will go tomorrow and while the Phillies haven't officially announced their starter for the series finale on Thursday, Roy Halladay would be able to get the start on regular...

The Orioles today announced the winners of their player development and scouting awards for 2012, including outfielder LJ Hoes as the club's top minor league player and right-hander Dylan Bundy as the club's top minor league pitcher. The winners will be honored before tonight's game against the Toronto Blue Jays. Hoes, the Brooks Robinson Minor League Player of the Year, hit a combined .287 with five home runs and 54 runs batted in for Norfolk and Bowie. He also had a .372 on-base...

As expected, the Orioles have named outfielder LJ Hoes as their minor league Player of the Year and Dylan Bundy as their minor league Pitcher of the Year. The winners will be honored before tonight's game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Camden Yards. Hoes will receive the Brooks Robinson Award after batting a combined .287 with five home runs and 54 RBIs for Triple-A Norfolk and Double-A Bowie. He also had a .372 on-base percentage, 20 stolen bases and 79 runs scored - the latter stat...

What can be said, written or thought about Brooks Robinson that hasn't already been said, written or thought? Simply put, he's Mr. Oriole, the enduring face of the franchise when the O's finally weaved themselves into the tapestry that is Baltimore, right beside steamed crabs, marble stoops and painted screen doors. If you don't have a Brooks Robinson autograph, that means you've probably never tried. As a kid, I remember thinking how cool it was for the best third baseman of all time to...

Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig has gotten a lot of heat over the years. How's Selig look in comparison to his NFL counterpart, Roger Goodell, this morning? While everyone will still be busy ripping Goodell for subjecting us to replacement officials who look completely overmatched, I'll be making the trip up to Philadelphia this afternoon for the Nationals' final 2012 series at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies are still technically in the mix for a postseason berth, but in...

Growing up, my dad always had old sayings that he would use to help teach me a life lesson. They were always simple, thought-provoking sentiments about whatever struggles I happened to be facing at the time, and many of them stick with me today. One such saying has particularly been of interest to me throughout the last five months. As I have watched the Baltimore Orioles go from 69 wins in 2011 to 88 wins (and counting) in 2012, I can't help but hear my dad saying, "You make your own...

When LJ Hoes hit a home run on Aug. 19 for the Triple-A Norfolk Tides against the Charlotte Knights, it was not just another key hit for the Orioles' 22-year-old prospect. It was a home run dedicated by Hoes to his grandfather, Charles Eguster Hoes, who died from ALS three days earlier after battling the disease for about two years. Yeah, that run around the bases was special and had plenty of meaning. "The last time I talked to him, among his last words were, he told me to hit him a home...

I thought about having a replacement ref handle my blogging duties this morning, but he kept writing about the Royals. Manny Machado made a dazzling play at third base during the Red Sox series, diving to snatch a ground ball along the line, jumping to his feet and throwing out the runner with another one of his missiles. In Game 2 of last night's doubleheader, Machado ranged to his left to glove Yan Gomes' grounder, skidded to a stop and fired a perfect strike to first baseman Mark...

After giving up five runs over five-plus innings in Game 2 tonight, Wei-Yin Chen talked about his outing against Toronto. "I can just tell you I don't have really good stuff tonight," Chen said through his interpreter. "I didn't pitch well today. After the first batter in the first inning, I walked the guy and started feeling like it's not a good day for me. I tried to fight through it, but it's not my day." Chen has an ERA of 5.90 in five September starts, and was asked if fatigue is...

The Yankees won tonight while the Orioles split their doubleheader, leaving a 1 1/2-game gap between the top two teams in the American League East. Wei-Yin Chen took the loss in Game 2, allowing five runs and nine hits in five innings. He's completed seven innings only once in his last nine starts and hasn't won since Aug. 19. "It's hard to do," manager Buck Showalter said after the 9-5 loss to the Blue Jays. "He spoiled us at a very high level this year and will again. You've been...