Orioles executive vice president Mike Elias spent about 15 minutes in the dugout today talking about the state of his 12-18 team and why he thinks it can get back to playoff form and meet the high expectations carried into the season. He blames injuries and inconsistencies among players. And he continues to take responsibility for the record based

CINCINNATI – Sometimes, a player takes great care and thought before signing with a new team. And sometimes, Andrew Chafin gets a call from the Nationals, and the veteran reliever just says yes right away. “They called and said: ‘We’ve got a job for you.’ I said: ‘Alright, let’s do this thing,’” the left-hander said. “So then I showed up today. It’

Jackson Holliday moves up to sixth in the order for tonight’s series opener against the Royals at Camden Yards. Heston Kjerstad is in right field and Ramón Laureano is in left. They occupy the last two spots in the lineup. Dean Kremer is trying to lower a 7.04 ERA and 1.565 WHIP over six starts. He’s surrendered 40 hits in 30 2/3 innings. Kremer fa

CINCINNATI – Hello from Great American Ball Park, where we could be in for a wild weather weekend. There are thunderstorms expected later this afternoon. It probably won’t postpone tonight’s series opener, but it could delay first pitch (which is already at the earlier-than-usual time of 6:10 p.m.). Then it’s supposed to rain all day Saturday and i

The Orioles have moved past a hard April, when they went 9-16 after a 3-2 March. Taking two of three games from the first-place Yankees had to feel good. Some of the heat lifted. However, there’s a long way to go. The temperature can fluctuate. The homestand continues tonight with a series against the Royals, who beat them twice last month in Kansa

PHILADELPHIA – Brad Lord had handed over the ball to his manager four times previously as a big league starter, but this one was different. Different, because he was handing the ball to Miguel Cairo, not Davey Martinez. And different, because no matter who he was handing the ball to, he was doing so beyond the fifth inning and with the Nationals le

PHILADELPHIA – The Nationals made a move to bolster their bullpen today, signing Andrew Chafin to a $1 million, major league deal. But the veteran left-hander won’t be joining the team until Friday in Cincinnati, and with Colin Poche designated for assignment to clear a roster spot for him, the Nats were left with a depleted relief corps for tonigh

PHILADELPHIA – The Nationals made their first significant bullpen change of the season this evening, signing veteran left-hander Andrew Chafin to a major league deal and designating Colin Poche for assignment. Chafin, 34, has 601 games of big league experience with six different clubs, the first 380 of them with the Diamondbacks. Owner of a 3.42 ER

PHILADELPHIA – This series has not gone the way the Nationals hoped it would. They nearly pulled off a remarkable rally in Tuesday’s opener, only to fall in the bottom of the ninth. Then they put up little fight Wednesday during a lopsided loss. So now they have to win tonight or else be swept out of town before heading to Cincinnati for the weeken

PHILADELPHIA – Josh Bell doesn’t need to be told. He knows how much he’s struggling. The Nationals designated hitter knows his batting average (.137 after an 0-for-4 showing Wednesday night). He knows his average exit velocity (86.4 mph). He knows his numbers with runners in scoring position (5-for-31). And, most importantly, he knows his team’s re