As the Nationals welcome the Pirates to town tonight, Bryce Harper is in center field for the third time of his young career while also batting second. Outfielder Xavier Nady also starts for the first time since May 11 and Tyler Moore is in the starting lineup for the first time since May 9, batting seventh and patrolling left field. For the Nationals: SS Ian Desmond CF Bryce Harper 3B Ryan Zimmerman 1B Adam LaRoche RF Xavier Nady 2B Danny Espinosa LF Tyler Moore C Jesus Flores LHP Gio...

Xavier Avery is batting leadoff tonight in the Orioles' series opener in Kansas City. Wilson Betemit is starting at third base and Chris Davis is starting at first. For the Orioles: Xavier Avery LF J.J. Hardy SS Nick Markakis RF Adam Jones CF Matt Wieters C Nick Johnson DH Wilson Betemit 3B Chris Davis 1B Robert Andino 2B Tommy Hunter RHP For the Royals: Dyson CF Hosmer 1B Butler DH Gordon LF Francoeur RF Moustakas 3B Escobar SS Getz 2B Quintero C Paulino RHP

I can't believe that I'm passing along news concerning the death of another former Oriole. One-time left-handed reliever Kevin Hickey died Wednesday at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, according to

Potomac Nationals outfielder Kevin Keyes made a big splash as one of the top home run hitters in the system with his play in 2011, and although the competition has ramped up in high Single-A, Keyes believes he is making progress in preparing for the better pitching he sees now at this advanced level. "The Carolina League is an adjustment," Keyes said. "It is a harder league than the South Atlantic League. As a team, we are making adjustments that are making everybody better at the plate. We...

Is anyone else blown away by the fact that yesterday was just the second time in 25 career starts that Stephen Strasburg allowed more than three earned runs in a game? I still had trouble believing that was accurate, even after I had looked over all of Strasburg's outings and then double-checked the numbers later on yesterday afternoon. That's remarkable consistency out of the 23-year-old. While Strasburg has been grooving through much of this season, Ryan Zimmerman has not yet been able...

What would happen if a member of the Nationals' starting rotation were to suffer an injury? What would happen if there's more than one man down over the course of the season? I'm not saying such a tragedy is inevitable nor am I saying it will happen, but it's a definite "what if" that should be thrown into the season-long equation as a safety measure. The starting staff remains the sole portion of the Nats' lineup that hasn't seen a harsh blow thrown its way in the form of a trip to...

Last week we took a look at the top five players of the losing era. Meaning exactly what it says - the five best. It was a fun list to make, but the more illuminating exercise (and possibly more depressing) is to think about the top five players who define the losing era. By which I mean, if you had to sum up years of futility, which players would you use to do it? We have way more candidates here than we had for the first list, and as a result, it is a far more difficult proposition. Where...

Just about 24 hours after we wondered if the Orioles were teetering on the brink, we return this morning to pass out the deserved accolades to the club. I thought going into this 15-game stretch against Boston, New York, Tampa Bay and Texas that the Orioles would go about 6-9 against the four high-level opponents. Playing them consecutively over a two week run was just going to be a brutal stretch of one tough game after another and another and so on. But the Orioles went 9-6 against four...

So what nickname have we agreed upon for rookie outfielder Xavier Avery? X-Man and X-Factor seem like pretty obvious ones. I was mildly intrigued by X-Rated, but we won't delve too deeply into the reasons. X-Treme? X-Tacy? Exree Hipp? The Orioles will play their next two games in Kansas City, but my 8-2 road record will remain intact. I'm not on the trip. It's been so long since I've covered a game in Kansas City, I'm pretty sure 10-5 loss to the Royals. Trenidad Hubbard batted ninth...

Wei-Yin Chen improved to 4-0 with a 2.45 ERA in his first season pitching in the U.S. He retired 10 straight Yankees tonight. He's now gone seven innings or more in three of his last four starts. He's 3-0 with a 1.98 ERA in four starts at Camden Yards. Wei-Yin Chen talks about his strong outing in the Orioles' win over the Yankees "Compared with my last outing, I think this outing was just fine," he said through his interpreter. "I was just fine. But because I am doing good today,...