For the last two weeks, I've been stuck home sick from work. It sounds sort of nice, but I assure you that after a while, the novelty of that sentiment wears off and then the boredom hits. As a result, I had to miss one of my favorite baseball games of the year - the Fourth of July. As I sat home that day waiting for the results of that 9-4 victory against the then-first-place San Francisco Giants, I longed to be at the 100-plus degree ballpark sweltering in the hot, hot D.C. heat. That's...

There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you still get the same soaking. -- From "Hagakure" If nothing else this season, the Orioles have succeeded at keeping us on the edge. They have been like the summer weather in which they play, at...

The Orioles today announced that they have recalled left-hander Zach Britton and selected the contract of right-hander Brad Bergesen from Triple-A Norfolk. Additionally, right-hander Miguel Socolovich has been optioned to Norfolk and infielder Robert Andino has been placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to July 16, with a left shoulder subluxation. To make room for Bergesen on the 40-man roster, infielder Nick Johnson has been transferred to the 60-day DL. Britton opened the season...

So, about that rotation ... Zach Britton didn't record an out in the fifth inning last night. Chris Tillman didn't get out of the first inning on Monday. Miguel Gonzalez couldn't get the final out in the sixth on Sunday. Now it's Tommy Hunter's turn - because the Orioles don't have a whole lot of choices. Hunter is working on normal rest. He's on the 40-man roster. He's got a pulse. Advantage, Hunter. The bullpen is completely out of whack. Manager Buck Showalter has done a...

This is just one man's take, but I feel like last night's game was about as much fun as a baseball game can be in the middle of July. Some might prefer a 1-0 pitchers' duel. I'll take a back-and-forth, standing ovation-inducing, walk-off-ending 5-4 contest between two division rivals. Actually, if you think about it, last night's game had it all. If you're the pitchers' duel type, that's what you got for seven innings as Ross Detwiler and Jon Niese befuddled hitters and tossed up...

The Orioles and 12 other major league teams have a chance to add a pick in next June's First-Year Player draft today when baseball holds its first Competitive Balance Lottery this afternoon. The lottery, scheduled to take place at 1:30 p.m. in New York, is a mechanism designed to help teams perceived to need the most assistance by awarding extra draft picks to some of them. The 10 smallest-market teams and 10 lowest-revenue teams will have the chance to win one of six extra selections in the...

Twenty-five-year-old Tyler Moore started it all with a solo homer. Twenty-three-year-old Steve Lombardozzi added a huge insurance run with a RBI double. Nineteen-year-old Bryce Harper helped to complete a comeback with a late RBI triple. This pattern is not unusual for the Nationals this season. Moore is in his first season in the bigs, of course, but the young guns have been the perfect complement to players that have been in the majors for a while, and it has added up to a special...

Pitchers Alex Meyer and Aaron Barrett have been pitching lights out all season for the Single-A Hagerstown Suns, and just a few days into the second half, they are getting rewarded. According to a club source, the right-handers have been promoted to high Single-A Potomac and will report Thursday. Barrett is 3-2 with a 2.60 ERA in 31 games, and has recorded 31 saves. He has established himself as one of the top up-and-coming, late-inning performers in the Nationals' chain. Barrett hasn't...

Davey Johnson walked into the interview room next door to the Nationals' clubhouse, sat down at the table in front of reporters and broke into a big smile. "Wow! That's my kind of ballgame," Johnson said. This was certainly another crazy one, one which saw the Nats jump out to a 2-0 lead, lose it in the ninth when Tyler Clippard blew his first save since taking over the closer duties, tie it up in the bottom of the ninth on a dramatic two-out, two-strike RBI single by Danny Espinosa, fall...

Zach Britton is making his first start for the Orioles in 2012. Samuel Deduno is making his second major league start. The combination works if you're a fan of low-scoring games. The Orioles carried a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the fourth inning before Jamey Carroll's two-out double knotted the score. They moved ahead early, getting a leadoff single from Nick Markakis in the first, a two-base throwing error on Deduno and a wild pitch. I guess that qualifies as manufacturing a run, though...