After a day of rest, the Orioles begin a huge three-game series tonight against the Tampa Bay Rays at Camden Yards. The Orioles open this series one game ahead of Tampa Bay in the AL East and also for a wild card berth. Both teams are playing well. Tampa Bay has won six of its last eight and is 21-11 over its past 32 games. The Orioles have won 11 of 16 and are 23-11 over their last 34 games. Since the All-Star break, the Orioles are 33-22 while the Rays are 32-22. Against the AL East, the...

I made the bold move of detaching myself from Twitter last night, so I'm playing catchup to all the Juan Pierre questions. For example: * Did the Orioles get Pierre? * Have you heard the Juan Pierre rumblings? Any hope of that trade happening? * Any truth to the Juan Pierre rumors? * Is there any truth to the Juan Pierre rumor? (that the O's have acquired him?) * Did the Orioles get Juan Pierre? What did they give up to get him? Is he going to play on Tuesday? Will he be batting...

When it comes to Orioles vs. Yankees, emotions run high. But no matter how upset some Orioles fans are over Nick Markakis getting hit Saturday night by CC Sabathia, you are not going to convince me that Sabathia did that on purpose. Believe me if I thought that, I'd be among the first to express anger about it. Some fans are still expressing the opinion today that the Orioles should have retaliated yesterday. For what? There was no reason to throw at any Yankees in Sunday's game (although...

The Nationals have Ryan Zimmerman and Ian Desmond back in the lineup after both infielders sat out Sunday's 8-0 loss to the Marlins. Manager Davey Johnson has planned to give Zimmerman Sunday off and Desmond asked for a bit of a breather to rest his sore hamstring. The Nats will have both their third baseman and shortstop on the field tonight when they open a three-game set with the Mets. Gio Gonzalez will take the mound for the Nats, shooting for his 19th win of the season. Should he get...

Longtime Orioles voices Joe Angel and Jim Hunter are among 41 veteran broadcasters chosen as candidates for the 2013 Ford C. Frick Award, which is presented annually by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y., for excellence in baseball broadcasting. More than 12,000 votes were cast in the first round of fan voting on the Hall of Fame's Facebook page. Every broadcaster, active or retired, who has broadcast at least 10 consecutive years for a team or network was...

The Nationals have added third baseman Matt Skole and right-handed pitcher Aaron Barrett to their Arizona Fall League team, the Salt River Rafters, per a club source with knowledge of the situation. Skole and Barrett will still attend instructional league workouts, which begin September 15, in Viera, Fla., before they travel to Scottsdale, Ariz., for the AFL season. Skole was named the Nationals' minor league Player of the Year last week after hitting 27 homers and 104 RBIs for low Single-A...

So Stephen Strasburg has thrown his final pitch of the 2012 season, with the Nationals pulling the plug on their ace right-hander. We all knew it was coming - and have since general manager Mike Rizzo announced a strict though nebulous innings limit before spring training. It shouldn't have come as a surprise, even though manager Davey Johnson's Saturday morning announcement caught most people off guard, since the Nationals had previously said he'd pitch Wednesday at Citi Field. Well, at...

The conventional wisdom early in 2004 was that Washington, D.C., might not be ready for baseball quite yet. In upstate New York, much the same was said of John Lannan as a college pitcher who was not really ready for the big leagues. And yet here they both are, together, at this critical juncture in 2012. Every game for the next two weeks will take on added importance. It is all on the line now as Lannan steps in this week for Stephen Strasburg. Lannan and Washington both came out of nowhere...

I think that most people my age in this area have very similar stories with regard to the Orioles. Our parents raised us as O's fans and we grew up idolizing Cal Ripken Jr. I'm no different, as Cal was my boyhood hero, however I liked him for a slightly different reason. The best memories of my life were spent at my grandparents' house in Rising Sun, Md., which is about 15 miles from Aberdeen. My dad and my uncles passed their love of this team onto me, and I was told that Eddie Murray and...

The Nationals lost 8-0 to the Miami Marlins on Sunday, but the 11-game homestand was a rousing success and will be an example of another major step in their most memorable season to date. The Nats went 8-3, sweeping Chicago Cubs, getting three of four against the Cardinals and one from the Marlins. Starting Monday, the Nationals have a 5 1/2-game lead over the Braves. The Nats match up with their final regular season series with Atlanta this weekend at Turner Field. But back to an amazing...