At the tail end of last season with the high Single-A Potomac Nationals, first baseman Steven Souza was frustrated with his play and ended his season earlier than he had originally intended. After an offseason to think and to rededicate himself to game he loved, Souza came into spring training with a new attitude and an open mind with his new team, the Single-A Hagerstown Suns. Through hard work, concentration and a positive mental state, Souza felt better about himself, and it showed in his...

FLUSHING, N.Y. - This is kind of remarkable given where his season numbers lie at this point, but over his last nine starts, Gio Gonzalez has pitched to a 4.93 ERA. Over that time, he's given up 27 runs and 49 hits over 49 1/3 innings. The last time he threw, Gonzalez delivered his worst start as a member of the Nationals, going just 3 1/3 innings and allowing six earned runs. That start, ironically enough, came against the same Mets team he'll face tonight. He'll again oppose R.A....

Omar Quintanilla gets another start for the Orioles tonight, shifting over from shortstop to second base. Chris Davis has returned to left field after starting at first base last night. For the Orioles: Nick Markakis RF J.J. Hardy SS Jim Thome DH Adam Jones CF Matt Wieters C Wilson Betemit 3B Chris Davis LF Mark Reynolds 1B Omar Quintanilla 2B Wei-Yin Chen LHP More trade rumors: The Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo tweeted that the Orioles and Marlins are "discussing scenarios." No names were...

FLUSHING, N.Y. - Over the Nationals' last four games, Michael Morse has nearly torn the cover off two baseballs. The first such incident came at Nationals Park on Friday, when Morse took a Tommy Hanson pitch and deposited it over the red seats in left-center and off a railing just short of the Red Porch, a spot 465 feet from home plate. That ball was the longest home run in the history of Nats Park, according to HitTracker. The second massive longball came last night, when Morse crushed a...

On Friday, Kevin Gregg and members of the Orioles training staff, in conjunction with the PLAY Campaign, will welcome 100 youth from the Y of Central Maryland and HC Drug Free. PLAY, which stands for Promoting a Lifetime of Activity for Youth, is a public awareness campaign of the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society (PBATS), in conjunction with the Taylor Hooton Foundation. The PLAY campaign combats childhood obesity and promotes healthy living and decision making among young people...

Dylan Bundy is receiving the kind of national press treatment previous phenoms, such as Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper, know all about. Tonight, the Orioles' 19-year-old top pitching prospect will be featured on the premiere episode of the NBC Sports Network's "Sports Illustrated" show at 9 p.m. This afternoon, a Tom Verducci SI feature on Bundy and O's pitching development coordinator Rick Peterson went live on the web. The print edition, which labels the story "The Dylan Bundy...

FLUSHING, N.Y. - Once the Nationals blew open last night's game in the 10th inning and took a four-run lead, Davey Johnson decided he didn't need to waste another bullpen arm for the bottom of the frame. Instead, he just left Tom Gorzelanny in the game, asking him to notch the final three outs. Before Gorzelanny could work the bottom of the 10th, however, he had to hit in the top half. Getting a rare plate appearance, Gorzelanny, who already had two singles this year, looked at five pitches...

What a difference a week makes. Just seven days ago, the Orioles appeared to be a team that had slid out of wild-card contention in the American League, their starting rotation was in shambles with Jason Hammel's knee injury and the downward spiral had officially begun. Over the weekend, the Orioles picked up four games in the AL East race thanks to a nifty little winning streak and some help from the Oakland Athletics. As of this morning, the Birds are half-game back in the wild card race...

The brand-new Washington Nationals, attracting 35,000 fans a per game in D.C., visit Atlanta tied for first place with the Braves, who have ruled the National League East since 1991. The team that wins the three-game series will own first place. In Game 1, after eight innings, the Nationals lead 2-1. Ace and All-Star Livan Hernandez is masterful, baffling the Braves with his pinpoint control. However, to quell the Braves' strong lineup, he has thrown more than 100 pitches. Manager Frank...

Last night was a real rarity for the Orioles. Not only did they lose for just the sixth time this year when their starting pitcher produced a quality start, but they lost for just the second time when their starter went seven innings or more. Tommy Hunter gave up just three runs over seven innings, but took the 3-1 loss at Cleveland. It was the sixth straight quality start for the Orioles - a season high - and the starters' ERA is 2.21 in those half-dozen contests. The Orioles are now 23-2...