Triple-A Norfolk third baseman Josh Bell left tonight's game in Indianapolis in the fifth inning with mild swelling in his left knee. He'll be reevaluated tomorrow. Nolan Reimold hit into a force play in the top of the fifth, and Bell injured his knee with a hard slide into second base. Blake Davis replaced him. Bell is batting .273 for the Tides. Vladimir Guerrero has three hits tonight to raise his average to .287. He just scored on Mark Reynolds' sacrifice fly after he singled and took...

The Red Sox put two more runners on base in the sixth, but Zach Britton retired Carl Crawford on a fly ball to center field on his 94th pitch of the night. Britton appears to be done. Jim Johnson is throwing with a purpose in the bullpen. Britton has four quality starts in five outings. He's held the Red Sox to one run and five hits, with two walks and two strikeouts. On the season, Britton has allowed 10 runs and 25 hits 31 2/3 innings. He's walked 12 and struck out 19. Johnson is...

Say this for Zach Britton: The kid doesn't pitch like he's scared. Britton loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth on a single, double and four-pitch walk. Adrian Gonzalez stepped to the plate. Britton had a crisis on his young hands. Rather than buckle, he got ahead, 1-2, and retired Gonzalez on a bouncer to second baseman Brian Roberts, who flipped to Robert Andino for the force. Britton has thrown 84 pitches, 51 for strikes. Derrek Lee is 2-for-3 tonight, with singles to left and...

Single-A Delmarva shortstop Manny Machado has hit his second home run in two nights. He's still not ready to replace the injured J.J. Hardy in Baltimore, but he's an exciting prospect. Mike Flacco, the brother of Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, hit his first home run of the season, a three-run shot in the first inning against Savannah. Buck Britton, the brother of Orioles pitcher Zach Britton, has an RBI tonight for Single-A Frederick. Tyler Townsend has a double and RBI. Robbie...

Left-hander Tom Gorzelanny looks to earn his first win as a Washington National Wednesday night when he takes to the hill against the New York Mets, who send knuckleball right-hander R.A. Dickey (1-3, 4.10) to the mound. Gorzelanny (0-2, 4.96) is coming off a tough loss last week in St. Louis in which he went five innings and allowed two runs. He surrendered only two hits, but struggled with control, giving up four walks and striking out three batters in a 5-0 setback. The Nats lefty allowed...

I suggested this morning that the Orioles might want to keep the bats on their shoulders and challenge Boston starter Clay Buchholz to throw strikes. He issued 14 walks in 20 innings this season. The plate tends to move on him. Three of the first four Orioles swung at the first pitch tonight. Buchholz needed only seven pitches to complete the opening inning, which included Nick Markakis' one-out single. Manager Buck Showalter hoped that his club would strike a balance between being patient...

You don't see this too often. The Red Sox have five left-handed batters in their starting lineup tonight versus Orioles' southpaw starter Zach Britton. Jacoby Ellsbury, Adrian Gonzalez, David Ortiz, J.D. Drew and Carl Crawford all will come to bat against Britton from that side as Boston looks for its ninth win over the last 10 games. The Sox' 8-1 record is the best in the majors since April 16. Those five Boston batters have a combined average coming into tonight of .228 versus...

We're just two weeks into the season, but online ballots for the 82nd All-Star Game are already available. Fans can only vote 25 times between now and June 30, but paper ballots will also be available at Nationals Park for 23 home games. Just how many ballots do you think you can fill out during those 23 home games? And, more importantly, who do you think deserves to head to Arizona this July to represent the Nationals?

Brian Matusz will throw a bullpen session Thursday, though manager Buck Showalter is hesitant to call it a conventional one because the left-hander might not use maximum effort. Matusz will throw 30-35 pitches from the rubber, and he won't be limited to fastballs. He'll be allowed to "spin" some balls, according to pitching coach Mark Connor. Matusz is still expected to report to the minor league complex in Sarasota this weekend. Chris Jakubauskas will throw another bullpen session...

With a batting average of at least .293 and OPS of at least .801 the last four years, it is a little strange to see Nick Markakis currently batting .208 with an OPS of .591. But he will take those numbers over 20 games and 77 at-bats into the Boston series that starts tonight here at Camden Yards. Manager Buck Showalter said you can't take it for granted when a slumping player says "my numbers will be there in the end," but even Showalter said when it comes to Markakis, that will be true....