The 2011 Washington Nationals have been hovering around .500 most of the season. They currently sit at 10-12 as a result of dropping five of their last six games, including Tuesday night's 6-4 loss to the New York Mets, an imminently winnable game as manager Jim Riggleman said in his press conference after the game. "A little something happen here or there and we could have won that ball game," Riggleman rationalized after the loss. That seems to be a popular sentiment. But the fact that...

Derrek Lee, one of the two old veterans that the Orioles signed this offseason to stabilize the lineup and inject the offense with some punch, is hitting an abysmal .222/.300/.284 thus far with only three extra-base hits. His .584 OPS is the worst among the regulars in the lineup. But fear not, I bring you good news about Lee and his apparent struggles: He's actually hitting much better than his stat line shows. Looking up his batted ball data on FanGraphs.com, Lee's Batting Average on...

Just a quick note to update you on Triple-A Norfolk third baseman Josh Bell, who left last night's game in Indianapolis in the fifth inning after a hard slide into second base. Bell is considered day-to-day after experiencing some swelling in his left knee. He's available tonight if needed, but is expected to miss one or two games. Bell is

While Manny Machado is the most well-known and most-interviewed Delmarva Shorebird and is playing very well right now in his first full minor league season, the infielder that plays next to him is probably playing as well as anyone on the O's farm right now. Xavier Avery went 4-for-8 as the Baysox split a doubleheader last night. Avery got thrown out once on the bases in each game, just the second and third times he has been caught stealing this year. Avery's 13 stolen bases leads the...

It's been a tough two weeks for the Baltimore Orioles and we all know it. After a promising start to the season, there's been a lot of losing thanks to inconsistent pitching and a lack of offense. After the sweep by the Yankees this weekend, a lot of fans either on sports talk radio and various places online started to question the decisions of Orioles manager Buck Showalter. It's hard to rationalize, but there's a difference in the perception of a manager when they are either losing or...

Don't look now, but since going

While wondering exactly when Carl Crawford stopped being good ... There were plenty of things to like about last night's 4-1 win over the Red Sox, and we pretty much covered all of them over the course of the evening. I'll go back to that 11-pitch at-bat from Adam Jones in the second inning. He struck out, but he also seemed to get Clay Buchholz out of rhythm after the Boston right-hander had retired the first five batters on only nine pitches. You can see Jones maturing offensively....

The Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos provided most of the offense for the Nationals Tuesday against the New York Mets and continues to make a case to be the regular backstop for this team going forward. This case doesn't have to go to an arbitrator. The numbers don't lie. Ramos is now batting .378 which is 128 points better than the next offensive starter (Danny Espinosa .250) and well over 150 points better than Jayson Werth (.220) and Adam LaRoche (.219). On Tuesday, Ramos had one of...

Adam Jones talked about his 11-pitch at-bat against Clay Buchholz in the second inning. "That set the tone," he said. "Everybody was able to see everything that he threw and he really didn't fool a lot of guys. He's still good. He still held this team to four runs, but it was a lengthy at-bat. I wish it had a better result. "It's good to see us swinging the bats. You have Vladi. As soon as he got that last hit, I said, 'Don't let that man get hot.' He's the one guy that you do not...

Zach Britton became the fifth American League rookie since 1980 to win four games by the end of April. He set the Orioles' record for wins by a rookie starting pitcher in the season's first month. Zach Britton recaps his performance and his fourth win of the season "Obviously, I didn't know that," he said. "It's pretty special, obviously. The fact I'm here is awesome. I was expecting to be down in Norfolk, but I'm just trying to make the best of the opportunity, and I think I've...