How's this for a Mother's Day present? The Nationals and Major League Baseball have announced that Laurie Jo Neary, a mother of three who was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in 2008, is the winner of the team's Honorary Bat Girl program. The program recognizes baseball fans who have been affected by breast cancer and have demonstrated a commitment to "Going to Bat" in the fight against the deadly disease. Neary was diagnosed with the breast cancer four years ago and has since undergone...

Orioles outfielder Nolan Reimold has been on the disabled list since May 4 (retroactive to May 1) with a herniated disk in his cervical spine. He is eligible to come off the DL on May 16 and will likely play in some minor league games before his return to the active roster. "Right now, I feel alright," Reimold said this afternoon. "As far as all this goes, the top of my forearm is still numb and my thumb is numb. Other than that, just some aches in the shoulder area. I took a dosepak and...

The Nationals are bringing on another Scott Boras client. Michael Gonzalez, a left-handed reliever who has spent nine seasons in the big leagues, has agreed to a minor league deal with the Nats, the team announced. Gonzalez will report to the Nationals' Viera, Fla., complex. He has previously spent time with the Rangers, Orioles, Braves and Pirates, posting a career line of 17-21 with a 2.94 ERA and 56 saves. Two of the last three seasons, however, Gonzalez's ERA has been above...

After a stretch where he has just one hit over his last four games and 17 at-bats, Nick Markakis is now batting .230 on the year with three homers, 11 RBIs and an OPS of .687 in 29 games. After driving in 60 runs in 2010 and 73 last year, Markakis has just three RBIs over his last 13 games and is not giving the Orioles your standard three-spot batting order production right now. But manager Buck Showalter said today he is not considering moving Markakis to another spot in the lineup at this...

The Orioles removed left-hander Dana Eveland from last night's start with Triple-A Norfolk so he can start here Friday night. Eveland tossed five scoreless innings and threw 63 pitches before coming out of the game. He's allowed nine earned runs in 36 2/3 innings this season, and only two in his last 13 innings. Eveland isn't on the 40-man roster, so the Orioles would have to make room for him. One possibility is transferring second baseman Brian Roberts to the 60-day disabled list. His...

Mark Reynolds will serve as the designated hitter tonight. Wilson Betemit gets the start at third base. For the Orioles: Endy Chavez LF J.J Hardy SS Nick Markakis RF Adam Jones CF Matt Wieters C Chris Davis 1B Wilson Betemit 3B Mark Reynolds DH Robert Andino 2B Jake Arrieta RHP It continues to rain here. I don't have any inside information on the weather, and the Orioles haven't revealed contingency plans in case there's a postponement. I'm just checking weather.com and waiting like...

Both Ryan Zimmerman and Adam LaRoche return to the Nationals' lineup tonight against the Pirates. And just in time, with Jayson Werth going to the DL. Take a look at Davey Johnson's new 2-3-4 in the batting order. Bryce Harper takes over in the No. 2 spot and will play right field tonight. Here are the lineups for both teams: Nationals Ian Desmond, SS Bryce Harper, RF Ryan Zimmerman, 3B Adam LaRoche, 1B Danny Espinosa, 2B Rick Ankiel, CF Wilson Ramos, C Roger Bernadina, LF Edwin...

The Nationals announced this afternoon that they have reinstated third baseman Ryan Zimmerman from the disabled list. Jayson Werth will, in essence, take Zimmerman's place. Werth has been placed on the 15-day DL, retroactive to May 7, after having surgery yesterday to repair a broken left wrist. The Nats' right fielder is expected to return somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 weeks from now. This DL stint is Werth's first since 2008. He entered this season as one of just nine National...

Here is a daunting stat: Texas has won six games in a row against the Orioles and has outscored the Birds 60-15 in those games. Yes, that is an average of 10 runs per game. In three of those games, Texas scored 13 runs on the Orioles and last night they did that one better. Last year, in going 5-1 against Baltimore, the Rangers had a team batting average of .343 and OPS of .940 with 18 doubles and eight homers. Yeah, that is pretty good. The 2012 Rangers lead the American League in runs,...

Even though he has played just eight games this season, Bryce Harper already ranks among the top rookies in baseball in Wins Above Replacement. As crazy as that sounds, that makes him a viable Rookie of the Year candidate. We shouldn't be surprised, though. Harper is the type of player who was born to win the Rookie of the Year award. He has been ranked the No. 1 prospect in baseball the last two seasons, his pro debut was national news and he even appeared on the cover of Sports...