Danny Espinosa has gotten a handful of big hits this season. Not many of them have come when he's been hitting left-handed. The dramatic difference in Espinosa's lefty/righty splits has been well-documented, but tonight, the Nationals second baseman came through with a monster hit in the sixth inning, plating two runs with a double to right. And the go-ahead knock came from the left side of the plate. It gave the Nats a 4-2 lead as we go to the seventh, and put Gio Gonzalez in line for the...

A club source confirmed that Nationals right-handed reliever Cole Kimball will be reporting to low Single-A Hagerstown on Friday. Kimball had a solid outing with the Gulf Coast League Nationals, going one inning and allowing no runs, one hit and one strikeout on June 19. I visited with several Potomac Nationals today at batting practice in Woodbridge, Va. Shortstop Ricky Hague said he will play short and second with the arrival of shortstop Jason Martinson from Hagerstown. Martinson said he...

The Major League Baseball league office has spoken. Joel Peralta has been suspended eight games for having an illegal substance in his glove Tuesday night. The Rays reliever will appeal the suspension, meaning he's still available to be used tonight in the series finale against the Nationals. Peralta faced two hitters last night and retired them both. Keeping on the reliever topic, Nats closer Drew Storen has now thrown a handful of bullpen sessions, the latest of which was yesterday....

Ross Detwiler was minding his business before yesterday's game when pitching coach Steve McCatty approached him. McCatty had some news. Detwiler was being reinserted into the Nationals' rotation. "Hey, this is what's going to happen," Detwiler recalls McCatty saying. "Be aggressive." That last word - aggressive - might be the key for the left-hander now that he finds himself back in the starting rotation. In his final two starts before being moved to the bullpen on May 26, Detwiler...

Facing Rays lefty Matt Moore, Xavier Nady is back in the Nationals' lineup tonight, playing left field and hitting seventh. The veteran outfielder will look to improve his .143 average on the season. Adam LaRoche will also get a day off, with the right-handed hitting Tyler Moore starting at first base. LaRoche has been nursing an oblique issue for much of the season and also fouled a ball off his right foot a little over a week ago. Against a lefty, manager Davey Johnson apparently feels...

With online voting for the 2012 Major League Baseball All-Star Game continuing through June 28 at 11:59 p.m., the Orioles are urging all fans to Vote Orange to send their favorite O's players to the Midsummer Classic. The starting lineup and reserve players will be announced on July 1, while the game itself will be played on July 10 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. Orioles OF Adam Jones (1,959,207 votes) has been steadily gaining ground for a starting outfield spot and trails Toronto's...

Left-hander Zach Britton turned in his finest start today at Triple-A Norfolk, holding Buffalo to two runs in six innings before Zach Phillips replaced him in the seventh. Britton allowed both runs in the second inning. He surrendered three hits, walked two, struck out five, threw a wild pitch and committed an error. He threw 90 pitches, 56 for strikes. Britton retired 12 of the final 13 batters he faced and allowed just five balls out of the infield. In his previous start, Britton allowed...

In Tuesday night's loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, Nationals manager Davey Johnson had a simple request of home plate umpire Tim Tschida: Enforce the written rules of baseball. Johnson knew that Rays relief pitcher Joel Peralta "liked a little pine tar" - that is, Peralta hid the sticky stuff in and on his glove in order to help him grip the baseball better and, therefore, have better control over his breaking pitches. Pine tar is one of those classic foreign substances that is specifically...

Left-hander Jamie Moyer made his third start for Triple-A Norfolk last night, throwing 77 pitches in four innings against Buffalo. Now the Orioles are on deck. Moyer can opt out of his contract if the Orioles don't select it from Norfolk and bring him back to the majors. As one team official said, it's "up or opt." Catchy. Moyer isn't listed among Norfolk's upcoming starters. Zach Britton starts today, followed by Chris Tillman on Friday, Dontrelle Willis on Saturday, Jason Berken on...

The whole messy affair with Rays reliever Joel Peralta's ejection for toting a glove loaded with pine tar to the mound Tuesday night just won't go away. The subject has been debated for two days now and an interesting war of words between Rays skipper Joe Maddon and Nationals manager Davey Johnson, two renowned baseball scholars, has only fanned the flames. Major League Baseball shares some of the blame, too. If Peralta's glove was confiscated Tuesday night and immediately shipped to MLB...