BOSTON - The First-Year Player Draft continues today, and the Orioles selected University of Virginia pitcher Branden Kline with the 65th overall pick. Kline, a graduate of Thomas Johnson High School in Frederick, was 7-3 with a 3.56 ERA and 94 strikeouts in 93 2/3 innings, and was named second-team All-ACC for the Cavaliers. He served as their closer last year before moving into the rotation as a junior. We'll find out later whether the Orioles project him as a starter or reliever. The Red...

Thanks to Johan Santana's no-hitter last week versus St. Louis, the Nationals won't have to face the lefty with the elite changeup when the Mets play in D.C. this week. Santana, in his first season back after shoulder surgery, threw 134 pitches, about 20 more than he was supposed to throw, and the Mets want to give him extra time to allow his arm to get back to full strength. He'll pitch Friday. Santana is the Mets' best pitcher, but this no-hitter story could turn sour for the Mets if...

They always say you can never have too much pitching. Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo must be listening. In the first round last night's First-Year Player Draft, the club selected right-handed hurler Lucas Giolito out of Harvard-Westlake High School in California. That might strike some as odd considering the team currently has seven quality starting pitchers trying to fill five rotation spots. The Nationals' rotation continues to be the best in baseball, their trademark even, but...

After being selected by the Nationals in the first round of the First-Year Player Draft, I'm told Lucas Giolito received a congratulatory text message. That text was from none other than Bryce Harper. Quite a classy, veteran-like move by the 19-year-old former first-round pick, if you ask me, welcoming the 17-year-old Giolito to the organization. At right is a picture of Giolito taken last night and passed along by the right-hander's high school coach, Matthew LaCour. Apparently when...

BOSTON - Yesterday was a good day. The Orioles didn't lose a game or suffer an injury. Those open dates on the schedule can be a blessing. Adam Jones' MRIs in Sarasota came back negative. The left wrist and hand are fine except for the contusions. The right wrist and hand are fine except for the contusions. His ego might be bruised, too, because of the offense's struggles, but look for Jones to be in tonight's lineup. Nick Markakis was told yesterday that his right wrist is healing...

Now that he has selected a pitcher - LSU's Kevin Gausman - with his first-round draft pick, does that make Orioles scouting director Gary Rajsich more likely to take a position player today in the draft's second round? "No. I'm not inclined either way (pitcher or position player). I don't think the pick before will influence the next one. In the early rounds, I still want to get the best player," Rajsich said last night. Rajsich said he was surprised that three position players were...

The Washington Nationals' first-round selection, right-hander Lucas Giolito, is another in the long line of big power pitchers that general manager Mike Rizzo and his staff covet. And as it seems every year in early June, Rizzo finds a way to get his man. "We have been on this guy from day one," Rizzo said. "The reward outweighs the risk. He is a power body with a power arm with three plus pitches."

Asked about an hour ago which major leaguer

Kevin Gausman, the LSU pitcher drafted fourth overall by the Orioles tonight, has heard scouting reports that call him quirky. He doesn't dispute that notion."My quirkiness, well, I've always been a little weird, really," the 20-year-old right-hander said. "You know I like sci-fi movies. I eat four donuts in between every inning. So you know, that'

The Orioles tonight selected RHP Kevin Gausman of Louisiana State University with their first selection in the 2012 First Year Player Draft, the fourth overall pick of the draft. Gausman, 21, is a 6-foot-4, 185-pound draft-eligible sophomore from Centennial, CO. He went 11-1 with a 2.72 ERA (115.2IP, 35ER), 128 strikeouts, 27 walks and two complete games in 16 starts for LSU this season. Gausman was 5-6 with a 3.51 ERA and 86 strikeouts in 89.2 innings in his freshman season in 2011. He was...