For Baltimore native Steve Johnson, it's been quite an afternoon. He got to play for his hometown team on the field at Camden Yards for the first time. He pitched two innings against the Tigers and gave up a Miguel Cabrera homer in his major league debut. But Johnson left to the cheers of the crowd after the top of the eighth. He walked the first two batters, but later fanned two to strand a pair in scoring position as the Camden Yards fans cheered him on. "Just walking off the field in the...

Steve Johnson appeared in his first major league game today, served up his first major league home run and was optioned to the minors for the second time. That's enough to make anyone's head spin. The Orioles needed to create room for tomorrow's starter, Chris Tillman, on the 25-man roster. Johnson threw 47 pitches in two innings, including a changeup that Miguel Cabrera deposited into the right-center field seats, and didn't figure to be available for a few days. Johnson shook hands...

The Orioles announced after today's game that they have optioned right-hander Steve Johnson to Triple-A Norfolk. Johnson made his major league debut in this afternoon's game against Detroit, allowing one earned run on a solo home run, walking two and striking out two. He is 3-6 with a 3.11 ERA (66.2IP, 23ER) in 15 games (10 starts) for the Tides. He was acquired by the Orioles with infielder Josh Bell on July 30, 2009 in exchange for left-hander George Sherrill. Steve, and his father,...

Nationals closer Drew Storen continued his rehab from elbow surgery with an appearance for Double-A Harrisburg and did not have his best stuff. With the Senators leading 4-1 in the seventh, Storen surrendered four runs on three hits to Richmond, including a solo homer that lost the lead. Richmond's Johnny Monell cranked a solo shot, No. 8 on the season, with two outs in the seventh off of Storen to give the Flying Squirrels a 5-4 lead. Storen also allowed a single, a triple and a sacrifice...

There is a saying in baseball that momentum is only as good as that day's starting pitcher. If the Orioles had any momentum after Saturday's 13-inning win, Justin Verlander squashed it. He gave up just three hits over eight innings today as Detroit beat the Orioles 4-0 to take the series finale in front of 30,439 at Camden Yards. Verlander retired 16 of the last 17 Orioles, and walked two and fanned eight, throwing 117 pitches. He improved to 10-5 on the year and lowered his ERA to...

The local kid already made good. Today, he made better. Steve Johnson, a graduate of St. Paul's who was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk this morning, made his major league debut in the eighth inning and received a loud ovation from the Camden Yards crowd. Johnson, pitching for the first time since July 8, walked the first two batters he faced. He ran the count full to Jhonny Peralta and went 3-1 on Alex Avila. The last pitch to Peralta was extremely close. Ramon Santiago laid down a...

The injuries keep mounting for the Orioles. Second baseman Robert Andino left today's game in the top of the sixth inning after appearing to jam his left shoulder while diving for a ball. Alex Avila singled to score Prince Fielder and extend Detroit's lead to 3-0. Andino continued to lie face-down on the ground, as if frustrated that the ball got past him. He actually was dealing with the pain. Andino paced around the infield with assistant athletic trainer Brian Ebel at his side and...

Any concern that the Nationals' pitching staff would waver in the second half was dispelled by the first three games in Miami. "Quality start" hardly describes what Jordan Zimmermann, Gio Gonzalez and Stephen Strasburg served up over the weekend. They limited the Fish to three runs in three games which should have been enough for more than two wins. But the All-Star break turned a simmering debate about the Nationals' pitching into an open debate. During a slow sports week, the topic...

There's been no shortage of fireworks through the first few innings of today's ballgame. We've got Ozzie Guillen dropping F-bombs in the direction of Nationals players or their manager, Roger Bernadina laying out to make a diving, run-saving grab, Davey Johnson giving it to first base umpire D.J. Reyburn and Stephen Strasburg sending his OPS to ridiculous levels. The Nationals lead 2-0 in the sixth thanks to RBI singles from Strasburg and Steve Lombardozzi. Strasburg's base knock came...

Miguel Gonzalez has allowed one run with his name spelled incorrectly on the back of his jersey and one run with the proper spelling. Maybe he should try "Miguel" and see how that works for him. Austin Jackson hit a leadoff home run in the first inning while Gonzalez wore a jersey with "Gonzales" stitched on the back. He changed jerseys in the second inning and the Tigers scored again on Brennan Boesch's double and Jhonnhy Peralta's RBI single. Gonzalez allowed only one run over seven...