Tyler Moore called up to Nationals (updated)
Tyler Moore called up to Nationals (updated)
Byron Kerr
Nationals
In has been a rough couple of days on the field, but the Nationals are not resting on their laurels. With injuries to key personnel continuing to mount, general manager Mike Rizzo has made another move to shore up an offense that is averaging just three runs per game. When third baseman Ryan Zimmerman went on the disabled list with a shoulder injury, Rizzo called up phenom Bryce Harper. Now it appears the Nationals are ready to make another big move. According to this tweet from the...
Plenty to pull out of late-night thriller out west
Plenty to pull out of late-night thriller out west
Dan Kolko
Nationals
I have a question, one raised by a buddy of mine late last night. How would have the sports world have reacted if Bryce Harper had hit a game-winning home run and responded as Matt Kemp did after his walk-off blast yesterday - extending his arm, tossing his bat, prancing towards home plate and chucking his helmet high in the air? I think Twitter and ESPN's headquarters would have simultaneously combusted. I'm not ripping on Kemp, because personally I don't see anything wrong with his...
Chris Davis trying to make the most of his chance with O's
Chris Davis trying to make the most of his chance with O's
Steve Melewski
Orioles
In case you are wondering, the ball Chris Davis hit down the right-field line in the seventh inning last night just landed. It didn't hit the warehouse, but did become the 25th homer hit by an Oriole to land on Eutaw Street in Camden Yards history. So far, so good for the Orioles first baseman. Through 19 games he is batting .313 with four homers, 11 RBIs and an OPS of .934. After last night's 10-1 win over Oakland, Davis talked about how grateful he is to be getting the chance to start...
Harper's in the hit column (Nats lose in 10 innings)
Harper's in the hit column (Nats lose in 10 innings)
Dan Kolko
Nationals
After starting his major league career by going 0-for-2, Bryce Harper found his way into the hit column. And he did it in style. Up with two outs in the seventh inning, Harper smoked a 3-2 belt-high fastball from Chad Billingsley to straight-away center field. The ball was hit so hard that, despite the fact it looked like it barely got more than 25-30 feet off the ground, it traveled all the way to the base of the wall in center. Harper sprinted around first, and as he approached second,...
Chris Davis and Wei-Yin Chen talk after the Orioles win over Oakland
Chris Davis and Wei-Yin Chen talk after the Orioles win over Oakland
Steve Melewski
Orioles
After he had driven in four runs in the Orioles' 10-1 win over Oakland and homered for the third time in his last four games, first baseman Chris Davis said getting regular playing time has been a key to his good start for the club. "It means a lot. I don't remember if it was 'Baseball Tonight' or 'SportsCenter,' but I heard some of the guys who have played talk about how big it is to know mentally that you are going to be in there every day," Davis said. "To know that they have...
Showalter speaks after 10-1 victory
Showalter speaks after 10-1 victory
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
Here's a sampling of manager Buck Showalter's comments following tonight's 10-1 rout of the Oakland Athletics before 26,926 at Camden Yards: On the second-inning baserunning: "It's one thing to be aggressive, it's another thing to be kind of smart. The situation presented itself. Push the envelope a little bit. There were a lot of good at-bats there. Ronny (Paulino) stayed inside a ball. If nothing else, he's going to get the runner over and the run in. Same way with (Ryan) Flaherty....
Harper grounds out in his first at-bat (flies out in his second)
Harper grounds out in his first at-bat (flies out in his second)
Dan Kolko
Nationals
There would be no 500-foot home run, no legendary welcome-to-the-big-leagues moment which people will be talking about for decades to come. Bryce Harper's first major league at-bat ended in a slow ground ball back to Dodgers pitcher Chad Billingsley, who tossed to first to nab a sprinting Harper by a step. That's it. The kid's a bust. Get rid of him. Harper will smash many homers in his career, but when he came to the plate in the second inning with baseball fans across the country tuning...
The Orioles offense finally breaks out in rout of Oakland
The Orioles offense finally breaks out in rout of Oakland
Steve Melewski
Orioles
It was a matchup of a team that has been struggling to score runs against the club with the best ERA in the league. But the Orioles reversed course tonight and scored 10 runs on 14 hits to beat Oakland 10-1 and even this three-game series. The A's began the night with a 2.68 team ERA that was tops in the American League and was even better at 1.99 over the A's previous nine games. The Orioles offense finally broke out after scoring just 30 total runs on a .216 team average over the past ten...
Davis homers onto Eutaw Street
Davis homers onto Eutaw Street
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
I would have guessed I-95. Chris Davis hit an absolute bomb down the right field line in the bottom of the seventh inning, the ball easily clearing the flag court and bouncing on Eutaw St. to increase the Orioles' lead to 10-1. Davis, who connected off former Orioles reliever Jim Miller, is 3-for-4 with four RBIs and two runs scored. He's batting .313. That's the 59th ball to land on Eutaw St., and the 25th time that an Orioles player has put it there. Davis hadn't done it before...
Chien-Ming Wang strong in first rehab start
Chien-Ming Wang strong in first rehab start
Dan Kolko
Nationals
I can't blame anyone if Chien-Ming Wang isn't exactly the top Nationals player in on their mind tonight. But while Bryce Harper was getting set to debut at the major league level a couple hours ago, Wang was making his 2012 debut on the minor league level. Pitching for Single-A Potomac in his first rehab start since suffering a left hamstring injury March 15, Wang went four innings against the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, allowing just one run on four hits. Wang walked none and struck out...