At this point, beyond just getting wins to turn around a long run of losing, Orioles fans could use a few good outings from some of the Orioles' young starting pitchers for their collective psyche. By now, maybe long before now, some fans have begun to doubt these young hurlers. They have seen them go back and forth between Triple-A and the majors too much and have seen good outings, but then watched that followed up with a poor outing. They have seen them work with Rick Adair, the O's big...

We've cruised through 5 1/2 innings at Nats Park, and Ross Detwiler and Jon Niese are locked in quite a pitcher's duel. The Nationals have a 1-0 lead after Tyler Moore went yard in the bottom of the fifth, a blast which got the Nats their first baserunner since Bryce Harper singled with one out in the first. It was Moore's fifth homer of the season and his first since June 27. Prior to the Moore longball, Niese had set down 12 straight Nats. Detwiler has been pretty darn effective...

This just in: Lucas Giolito is tall. And personable. The Nationals' first-round pick is here at Nats Park today. He met with the media earlier (Byron Kerr has more on that conversation) and will be introduced to the fans tonight. Giolito turned 18 a day after reaching a contract agreement with the Nats, and he might still have some growing in him. But the kid already looks like an athlete. The Nationals expect that Jayson Werth will be cleared to resume what manager Davey Johnson called...

Needing another long reliever for tonight, the Orioles have made arrangements to purchase Brad Bergesen's contract from Triple-A Norfolk. Reliever Miguel Socolovich is expected to be optioned to Norfolk after replacing starter Chris Tillman in the first inning last night and working 2 1/3 innings. The Orioles must create room on the 40-man roster for Bergesen, who's been in the minors all season. As I just stated on "The Mid-Atlantic Sports Report," one solution is to transfer Nick...

Yet again, Ian Desmond will watch from the bench as his Nationals teammates take on a division rival. Desmond will remain sidelined tonight because of a sore left oblique, an injury which has now knocked him out of the lineup three straight days. Unfortunately for Desmond, it appears that the time off so far - both the four days of rest over the All-Star break and the last two days in which he's been held out of the Nationals lineup - hasn't allowed the oblique to make major strides in the...

He has a signed Mace Windu purple lightsaber from Samuel L. Jackson hanging in his room. He played water polo and occasionally snowboarded in California. He had never visited Washington, D.C., before July. He now pitches for the Washington Nationals. Who is he? Meet new right-hander Lucas Giolito. The Nationals' top selection (No. 16 overall) in the 2012 first-year draft met with the media Tuesday in the Nationals' dugout, sporting jersey No. 30. The agreement with the Nationals came...

Rule 5 pick Ryan Flaherty gets the start tonight at second base against Twins right-hander Samuel Deduno. Left-hander Zach Britton makes his debut with the Orioles tonight. No roster move has been announced, but second baseman Robert Andino will be placed on the disabled list. For the Orioles: Nick Markakis RF J.J. Hardy SS Jim Thome DH Adam Jones CF Matt Wieters C Mark Reynolds 1B Chris Davis LF Wilson Betemit 3B Ryan Flaherty 2B Zach Britton LHP For the Twins: Denard Span CF Ben Revere...

If there was ever a player that didn't let his slump on offense carry over to his defense, it's Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy. He continues to give the club superior defense at a premium position and that is important on a team that makes so many errors at other spots on the diamond. But at the same time, the duration of Hardy's slump has to be baffling to the player, his manager and coaches - and to the fans. Hardy has never been a big hitter for average. But he batted .269 for the Orioles...

For years, the Potomac Nationals and their fans have yearned for a stadium that matched the product on the field. That dream appears to finally be moving closer to reality. Prince William County, the Potomac Nationals, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and PTC Roadside Development LLC announced at a news conference today, that a public and private financial marriage has been put in place that would bring a 6,000-seat state-of-the-art minor league baseball stadium to Prince...

It may be hard to believe if you watched them play last night, but the Orioles would still grab an extra wild card and play postseason baseball for the first time since 1997 (as of this morning, they're a half-game out). It's shocking for a team with a minus-55 run differential (second worst in Major League Baseball), but I guess that's what a 27-14 start will do. Of late, I've seen more tweets declaring the Orioles dead than I have about what Justin Bieber had for lunch - which is saying...