Batting practice was canceled because of the rain, but it didn't stop Triple-A first baseman Brandon Snyder and left-hander Troy Patton from flying into Boston. Snyder and Patton have joined the Orioles - according to tweets from The Sun's Peter Schmuck and Jeff Zrebiec, and also confirmed by a team official - and will be activated if first baseman Derrek Lee and infielder Cesar Izturis go on the disabled list. They're in a holding pattern. Again, not because of the weather. I'm sure you...

The Washington Nationals have made a couple of moves worth noting that affect the Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Syracuse rosters. Outfielder Jesus Valdez and right-hander Ryan Mattheus have been promoted to Syracuse. Mattheus had a strong run of nine consecutive games without allowing an unearned run snapped May 12 at Richmond. His record is still impressive at 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA as a reliever with the Senators. Valdez has gone 6-for-14 in his last five games and is batting .278 in...

The Orioles won't know whether they'll need to make any roster moves today until first baseman Derrek Lee shows up at Fenway Park and infielder Cesar Izturis is examined back in Baltimore. Lee left last night's game in the third inning with a strained left oblique. The club listed him as day-to-day, and he'll be reevaluated once he arrives at the ballpark and heads to the trainer's room. Izturis flew back to Baltimore yesterday after complaining of some numbness in his right hand. He'll...

Nationals' left-hander John Lannan fought through Monday night's start against the Pittsburgh Pirates when everything wasn't clicking like he had hoped. He was giving up base hits. His fastball wasn't locating, ending up high in the zone. The Pirates had chances to blow the game open early. "I felt good but I was just up," Lannan said. "I told myself to take a deep breath and get down. That is where I am most effective and that is where I am going to get groundballs. That is what I...

After four seasons in the Orioles' organization, mostly as a starting pitcher, lefty Cole McCurry is posting some eye-popping stats right now in his first season at Double-A, pitching out of the Bowie bullpen. The 25-year-old McCurry, a 43rd-round draft pick in 2007, made 102 appearances in his first four seasons with 76 coming as a starter. In 2009, he went 6-9 with a 2.71 ERA starting for Single-A Delmarva. Last year he was 5-6 with a 4.23 ERA in 30 games, 12 starts for Single-A...

Orioles pitcher Brian Matusz will most likely make his second injury rehab start Saturday at Double-A Bowie. The club also considered Triple-A Norfolk, but it appears that Matusz will take the mound at Prince George's Stadium for a 6:35 p.m. game against Erie. Last night, Matusz allowed one run and two hits, with two walks and two strikeouts, in four innings at Single-A Frederick. He threw 60 pitches, 37 for strikes. The Orioles want to extend Matusz to 75-80 pitches Saturday. They'll...

On Tuesday, GroupOn DC has a special discount for Nationals fans. The deal works for three different games (Padres on Friday, May 27; Padres on Saturday, May 28; Cardinals on Wednesday, June 15). There is a 12-purchase limit. The costs and discounts are as follows: For $23, an LF/RF-Corner ticket (a $34 value), plus a $10 concession credit For $16, an Outfield Reserved ticket (a $22 value), plus a $6 concession credit For $8, an Upper-Infield Gallery ticket (a $17 value) Also, Nats News...

The Nationals won a 4-2 decision last night over the Pittsburgh Pirates to help them get within one game of .500. It was their second win in a row, after dropping their three previous games by a combined three runs. It has clearly been an up-and-down few weeks for the club, but for some it had been more down than up lately. One such player was Danny Espinosa. There was a time when he was the only hitter in the Nats lineup manager Jim Riggleman could rely on, but the rookie second baseman had...

It won't take all the sting out of blowing a 6-0 lead and losing the game in the last of the ninth, but two things continued to go well for the Orioles last night at Boston. They got another good starting pitching outing and the resurgence of the offense continued with seven runs and 10 hits. Of course, the Orioles could have scored more, especially early in the game. They went 2-for-9 with runners in scoring positon over the first three innings when they left six runners on base. Still,...

I should have stayed in Frederick last night. The Single-A Keys rallied for three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning and defeated Potomac, 3-2. Left-hander Brian Matusz was spared the loss in his first injury rehab start when Jacob Julius stroked a pinch-hit, game-tying single and Buck Britton followed with a two-run single. Brother Zach would be proud. Yes, I should have hung around Harry Grove Stadium on Bark in the Park night. And yes, I'm trying to come up with a dog-related joke...