The Orioles today announced that they have reinstated left-hander Brian Matusz from the 15-day disabled list. Matusz was placed on the disabled list retroactive to March 30 with a strained left intercostal muscle. Matusz is scheduled to make his season debut for the Orioles today in Seattle. In order to make room for Matusz on the 25-man roster, the Orioles designated catcher Jake Fox for assignment. Fox batted .188 (9-48) with two home runs and four RBI in 19 games for the Orioles.

Rather than send down a reliever to make room on the 25-man roster for left-hander Brian Matusz, the Orioles have designated utility infielder Jake Fox for assignment. The Orioles would like Fox to clear waivers so he can be outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk. "I don't know how likely that is, but that's our preference," said president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail. Otherwise, MacPhail will attempt to trade Fox and get something in return. First baseman Derrek Lee is close to going...

Single-A Potomac Nationals shortstop Rick Hague played in only four games this season before going down with a shoulder injury. The Nationals have high hopes for the young Rice University product, but want to be careful with his shoulder before they return him to Woodbridge, Va. Hague is currently in Viera, Fla., rehabbing during extended spring training. Nationals infield coordinator Jeff Garber updated Hague's status with some positive news. Garber said Tuesday was a "good throwing day"...

Although he has slowed down a bit at the plate recently (.222 in his last 10 games, but 4-for-6 in his last two games) after a scorching few weeks, No. 1 prospect Bryce Harper continues to progress very well for the low Single-A Hagerstown Suns. Harper is batting .331 through 50 games with 14 doubles, 11 homers and 36 RBIs. Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo is happy with what he sees from Harper and his situation in Hagerstown. "His development is obviously a focal point for us,"...

The Orioles were hoping that 2010 minor league Player of the Year Joe Mahoney could return to the Double-A Bowie Baysox by Sunday, but that is now very unlikely. Mahoney, who has been on the disabled list twice this year with a quad injury and has had just 34 at-bats with Bowie, has suffered a setback at extended spring training. The Orioles were hoping he could get into an extended spring training game Tuesday, but Mahoney is now out with a tight hamstring. Right now, that is a day-to-day...

Jeremy Guthrie pitched an amazing baseball game last night. Undone in the eighth inning, Orioles fans who stayed up past midnight hoping for a win will only remember the crushing home run by Justin Smoak, but Guthrie was fantastic. He's been fantastic for most of this year, and for much of his time in Baltimore. But with one year left on his contract, Guthrie could bring back to the Orioles pieces that will help the team in the future. The Orioles are improved this year, there is no denying...

National pastime in the nation's capital, meet your leader. Reliever Drew Storen launched a campaign during his recent visit to the MLB Fan Cave asking fans to adopt the Nationals as America's team. Here's his campaign video: The spoof mentions realistic reasons (close proximity to the White House) and funny reasons too (like the team's facial hair diversity). Can the Nationals be America's team?

The Orioles have now lost all five games on this road trip by a combined 10 runs. They have lost the last four by two, two, one and one run. It is big-time frustrating to lose close games and they are now 11-11 on the year in games decided by two runs or less. A batting average of .158 (6-for-38) on this trip with runners in scoring position has been a major factor contributing to the close losses as the Orioles have scored just 13 runs in Oakland and Seattle. The concern level for the...

With the calendar flipping to June, it's not too early to start thinking about who might represent the Washington Nationals at the mid-summer classic, the 2011 All-Star Game on July 12 in Phoenix. It's an honor for players to be voted in by the fans, but the first early results posted by Major League Baseball show no Nationals player in the top five in voting for position players or top 15 outfielders. Unfortunately, $126 million isn't enough to buy Jayson Werth a few All-Star votes. But...

For the Orioles, this was one of the most frustrating losses of the year. On a night when Jeremy Guthrie outpitched former Orioles lefty Erik Bedard for most of the game, one key error and one bad pitch cost him the game as the Mariners beat the Orioles 3-2 to take the first two games of the series in Seattle. The O's took a 2-0 lead to the last of the eighth and Guthrie got the first two outs. But Ichiro Suzuki reached when Guthrie was charged with an error in taking a throw from first...