The Orioles today named Jonathan Schoop as the winner of the Brooks Robinson Award as their minor league Player of the Year. They named pitcher Tim Bascom the winner of the Jim Palmer Award as minor league Pitcher of the Year. The 19-year-old Schoop began the year at Single-A Delmarva and moved to Single-A Frederick in early June. Between those clubs, he hit .290 with 24 doubles, five triples, 13 homers and 71 RBIs in 128 games. Schoop had a .349 on-base percentage, a .432 slugging percentage...

Nationals manager Davey Johnson has been pleased with progress his hitters have made this season. The best story has to be Michael Morse, who has hit 29 homers and has 91 RBIs, both career highs and team-leading totals. "He is one of the great surprises," Johnson said. "He has been the most consistent guy all year long. He has had to play left field, then first base, then back to left field. He has been given the opportunity, and he has made the most of it. The same could be said for Ian...

Washington Nationals manager Davey Johnson has been in this business for 50 years. He was a world champion as a player and again as a manager, and has specialized in taking teams on the precipice and pushing them over the edge to greatness. So he's seen this movie before from the inside. This season has had plenty of storylines, but the biggest story of all to emerge might just require hindsight to see it after a couple of years - years that Nats fans hope are filled with deep playoff runs. ...

With their 6-5 victory in Detroit on Saturday, the Orioles denied Justin Verlander the opportunity to become baseball's first 25-game winner since Bob Welch went 27-6 for Oakland in 1990. Thanks to Bill Pemstein, I spent time this season reading about the Orioles' only 25-game winner, Steve Stone. Pemstein, a former Orioles employee turned Midwest sportswriter, chronicles Stone's magical 1980 season in his self-published effort, "A Stone's Throw." The book provides abundant game details...

The Orioles are expected to announce their minor league Player and Pitcher of the Year later today. As I've written already, it would come as a big surprise if Jonathan Schoop and Bobby Bundy are denied the honors. I've been wrong before, so don't place any wagers based on that statement. However, those are my picks, and I know the Orioles were leaning heavily in that direction a few weeks ago. The Red Sox are in town for the final homestand of the season. These games are hugely important...

Here is a good question: Which players are going to be named the Orioles' minor league Player and Pitcher of the Year for 2011? Unlike last year, when Joe Mahoney and Zach Britton were honored, the races for those awards are much more wide-open this season. The Orioles are expected to announce the winners later today. In alphabetical order, here are five candidates for player of the year and their stats for the season. All five players except for Miclat played for more than one team. Buck...

The Detroit Tigers produced nine runs on four swings today in beating the Orioles 10-6 at Comerica Park as the clubs split a four-game series. It was the Orioles final road game of the year. They went 5-3 on this road trip and finish with a 30-51 road record. Brian Matusz gave up six runs and seven hits over five innings to take the loss, falling to 1-9 with a 10.69 ERA. He gave up a two-run homer to Miguel Cabrera and a three-run shot to Victor Martinez in the fifth that broke a 3-3...

Brad Bergesen replaced starter Brian Matusz in the sixth inning and gave up two singles, struck out two batters and served up a three-run homer to Don Kelly. That's good and bad in the same inning. Chris Jakubauskas replaced Jeremy Accardo in the eighth and gave up a home run to the first batter he faced, Jhonny Peralta, after the Orioles had scored three runs in the top half of the inning. That's just bad. Matusz was charged with six runs and seven hits in five innings, with three walks,...

When Mark Reynolds hit his 37th homer on Saturday against Justin Verlander, he moved into a tie with Albert Belle and Boog Powell for ninth most homers by an Oriole in one season. Powell hit 37 in 1969 and Belle did it in 1999. Reynolds may not add to his total today as he is not in the lineup this afternoon in Detroit. He has now hit five homers over his last seven games and if he can add one or more in the remaining games, he can continue to move up the single-season homer charts. If he...

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said Sunday the team continues to speak with pitcher Chien-Ming Wang's representatives as they look to nail down a contract extension. Wang finished up his return to baseball after two seasons away with a serious shoulder injury, by throwing six innings of one run ball and contributing an RBI single in the Nationals 4-1 win over the Atlanta Braves Saturday. Wang's record is an impressive 4-3 with a 4.04 ERA. He recorded 16 strikeouts in his final four...