During the next homestand, the Washington Nationals will raise funds for the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund to help victims of recent tornadoes across the country. From Alabama to Missouri, the Red Cross has launched 20 separate relief operations in the United States since March 31. More than 4,500 Red Cross workers from all 50 states have been deployed to help those in need. A portion of proceeds from tickets purchased at nationals.com/relief will be donated to the cause. Tickets...

The Washington Nationals will launch a special initiative to support relief efforts in areas devastated by recent tornadoes. During the team's series against the St. Louis Cardinals and the Baltimore Orioles from June 14 to June 19, a portion of proceeds from tickets purchased at nationals.com/relief will be donated to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief fund. Tickets eligible for the donation include: * LF/RF Baseline Reserved * LF/RF Corner * Outfield Reserved * Scoreboard Pavilion...

For only the second time in his major league career, shortstop J.J. Hardy will bat first in the order. He's never started in that slot and doesn't own an official at-bat. Felix Pie and Robert Andino are on the bench, so manager Buck Showalter needed to improvise. Luke Scott is playing left field two days after having a cortisone injection in his shoulder. For the Orioles: J.J. Hardy SS Nick Markakis RF Adam Jones CF Vladimir Guerrero DH Derrek Lee 1B Matt Wieters C Luke Scott LF...

Alex Meyer thought the Nationals would call. Meyer said in Tuesday's conference call that when they picked the All-Southeastern Conference pitcher at No. 23, he was pretty excited. He even had confidence that the Nationals considered selecting him at No. 6. "I had a pretty good idea the Nationals were interested," Meyer said. "It ended up that I was available at that spot. It is a great opportunity to play for the them. I am really looking forward to it." What a season it was for Meyer...

I'm not sure that I actually saw more than two pitches of Brian Matusz's start last night until the fourth inning. I relied on the live box score and quick glances at the scoreboard. The First-Year Player Draft forced my attention away from the field, but that won't happen tonight, since today's picks started a little after noon. In the fifth round with the 155th overall selection, the Orioles chose Middle Georgia College left-hander Matt Taylor. Taylor was 7-5 with a 3.31 ERA in 16...

In the third round of the First-Year Player Draft, the Orioles used the 94th overall selection on East Carolina right-hander Mike Wright. Baseball America rated Wright as a fifth- or sixth-round talent and the 74th-best right-hander in the draft. The Orioles disagree. Wright was 6-4 with a 2.79 ERA in 16 starts, with 30 walks and 75 strikeouts in 100 innings. He lost 2-0 to St. John's in Game 2 of the Charlottesville Regional on Friday, allowing two runs and seven hits, with four walks and...

The Orioles also had the fourth pick in the second round of today's First-Year Player Draft, and the 64th overall selection. They used it to take Vanderbilt junior third baseman Jason Esposito. Esposito batted .362 this year, with 22 doubles, eight homers, 55 RBIs and a .560 slug percentage in 60 games. Baseball America calls the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Esposito "a college version of Marlins prospect Matt Dominguez in that his glove is ahead of his bat." He played shortstop this spring, but is...

The Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds will host the South Atlantic League All-Star game June 21 in Salisbury and the team will be well represented in the game. Manny Machado and four of his teammates have been named All-Stars. Machado will be the starting shortstop for the Northern Division team and will be joined on the squad by Delmarva's Ty Kelly, Michael Ohlman, Jacob Pettit and David Walters. The game will feature the top three draft picks from 2010, as Bryce Harper of Hagerstown, the top...

If I were a Washington National, the ever-changing daily lineup would start to bother me after a while. It's not because I don't trust manager Jim Riggleman to do his job. I do. He's had his eyes and ears inside Major League Baseball for longer than a decent chunk of the roster. The issue to be taken here isn't with Riggleman but rather with a lack of consistency. Imagine being a kid again and playing in a summer league or school league for any sport. In those days, it wasn't about...

I recently read an interesting Wall Street Journal article by Matthew Futterman that, like many statistical analyses these days, challenged conventional baseball wisdom. In this instance, the cherished-but-challenged wisdom is as follows: "It's not a sprint, it's a marathon." Futterman writes that baseball is in fact very much a sprint and that the beloved boys of summer generally know how they'll finish the season even before the summer solstice. Here's a key passage from the...