FLUSHING, N.Y. - Tonight marks the third straight game that Jesus Flores will watch from the bench, with rookie catcher Sandy Leon taking over behind the plate. Leon's major league tenure has gotten off to a nice start, as he's hitting .385 in 13 at-bats. But the Nationals are looking forward to getting Flores back in the starting lineup once his back tightness has subsided. Manager Davey Johnson said today that he'll still play things carefully with Flores, wanting to make sure that the...

The Orioles' five-game win streak has certainly been fueled by excellent starting pitching, and the Orioles have given up just ten runs over those five games. As for the offense, the Orioles are certainly not putting up big numbers there. They currently rank third in the AL in homers and ninth in slugging, but only 11th in runs and batting average and 12th in OBP. But they have averaged 4.6 runs per game during the win streak, a tick up from their season average of 4.15 runs per game. Last...

Washington Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman has been named the National League Player of the Week for the period ending July 22nd. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network. In eight games last week, Zimmerman led the Majors with 15 hits and 32 total bases and ranked second in the N.L. with a .500 (15-for-30) batting average. The 27-year-old belted five home runs and notched a 1.067 slugging percentage, ranking second in the Majors in both categories. His nine runs scored...

FLUSHING, N.Y. - The Nationals have posted their lineup for tonight's 7:10 p.m. game against the Mets at Citi Field, and Jesus Flores isn't in it - or behind the plate - for a third straight game. Sandy Leon will catch Jordan Zimmermann tonight. Here are tonight's lineups: For the Nationals: 2B - Steve Lombardozzi RF - Bryce Harper 3B - Ryan Zimmerman LF - Michael Morse 1B - Adam LaRoche SS - Danny Espinosa CF - Roger Bernadina C - Sandy Leon P - Jordan Zimmermann For the Mets: SS -...

Omar Quintanilla will follow up two appearances with the Orioles as a defensive replacement at second base with his first start tonight at shortstop. J.J. Hardy gets a rare breather, and it comes after he collected two hits, including a home run, and drove in three runs yesterday afternoon. Ryan Flaherty stays at second base, and Endy Chavez replaces Chris Davis in left field. Davis is starting at first base. For the Orioles: Nick Markakis RF Endy Chavez LF Jim Thome DH Adam Jones CF Matt...

After spending all of the last two seasons at Single-A Delmarva, Ty Kelly was considered a decent player but was not listed among the Orioles' top minor league prospects. But his play this year should be getting him some attention. He recently moved up to Double-A Bowie from Single-A Frederick, and is 9-for-23 with four RBIs in his first six Baysox games. But Kelly, a 13th-round pick out of Cal-Davis in 2009, put up some really impressive numbers at Frederick. In 76 Keys games, he batted...

FLUSHING, N.Y. - The Nationals have made it official, placing Ian Desmond on the 15-day disabled list with what they're calling a left oblique strain and recalling outfielder Corey Brown from Triple-A Syracuse. Desmond's DL stint is retroactive to July 22, the day after his last game played. Chien-Ming Wang will make a rehab start for Double-A Harrisburg tonight, which will be his third outing since landing on the DL with a hip strain. Meanwhile, the Braves made the first big pre-trade...

The Washington Nationals today recalled outfielder Corey Brown from Syracuse of the Triple-A International League and placed shortstop Ian Desmond on the 15-Day Disabled List (retroactive to July 22) with a left oblique strain. Nationals Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. Brown batted .300 with 19 doubles, seven triples, 21 home runs and 58 RBI in 95 games this season with Syracuse. The 26-year-old ranks among International...

With speculation the Atlanta Braves have acquired pitcher Ryan Dempster, the pressure intensifies for right-hander Chien-Ming Wang to figure out what is wrong with his approach. A step in that direction could occur tonight as the right-hander gets another shot to prove he is good enough to get outs for the Nationals when he starts for the Double-A Harrisburg Senators. This will be his second start for the Senators this season. He lost that earlier outing, going four innings, allowing seven...

You may choose to focus on one set of Tommy Hunter statistics and ignore the others, depending on whether you view the glass as half full or half empty. Half full: Hunter is 9-2 with a 2.82 ERA in 19 career appearances in July - the most wins and lowest ERA for any month. He has a 1.10 WHIP (lowest) and opponents are batting .225 (lowest) against him. In his only start for the Orioles this month, he held the Twins to one run and didn't walk a batter in 7 1/3 innings, which began the...