Shortstop Danny Espinosa was told Thursday he would have the day off after smacking a career-high three homers for Harrisburg, his manager Randy Knorr told him alongside hitting coach Troy Gingrich. As he was leaving the office, Gingrich also told Espinosa in '"oh, by the way"-fashion, that he had been promoted to Triple-A Syracuse. "I was very excited. It was definitely one of my goals this year was to make it to Syracuse." He immediately called his girlfriend and his parents. ...

Outfielder Returns to Big Leagues for First Time Since 2008 The Washington Nationals today selected the contract of outfielder Kevin Mench from Syracuse of the Triple-A International League. Nationals Senior Vice President and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. Mench was hitting .249 with a .331 on-base percentage, 16 doubles, three home runs and 40 RBI in 87 games for the Chiefs at the time of the promotion. Mench legged out a pair of doubles in five at-bats during Syracuse's...

The Orioles have won four in a row. Do I expect them to run the table under Buck Showalter? Of course not. Could they hit the road and fall flat on their faces. Of course they could. That said, I'm perplexed by the number of fans who can't simply enjoy the moment. This season has been a slow-motion car wreck. The team's playing much better baseball and winning games in exciting fashion. Why not enjoy it while it lasts instead of bracing for the next downward turn and refusing to get too...

Considering the Orioles had a record of 3-14 post All-Star game before Buck Showalter took over, the fans seem pretty excited about the club's 4-0 mark with Showalter. Beating a struggling Angels team was nice, but knocking off the first-place White Sox was more impressive. Chicago was a Major-League best 38-13 over its last 51 games when they got to town. They were scoring 5.4 runs per game over the the last 33 games before getting shutdown by Brad Bergesen, Koji Uehara and Alfredo Simon...

Brad Bergesen did not get a win tonight, but his pitching helped the Orioles to have a chance to get one. Bergy matched John Danks of the first-place White Sox and the Orioles eventually won in ten innings, 2-1 on Adam Jones' RBI single for a second straight, walk-off victory. Bergesen admitted after the game that he wanted to not only show his new manager what he could do, but also to put forth a good effort to keep his spot in the rotation. Brad Bergesen discusses his solid outing after...

Buck Showalter moved past Don Zimmer into 64th place on the all-time wins list with 886. We didn't talk about it tonight. Showalter might have learned something about Adam Jones. You know, that whole adversity thing. Jones pops up with the bases loaded in the eighth and wins the game with a single in the 10th, leading to another mob scene in the infield. "Baseball is a great exposing of strengths and weaknesses," Showalter said. "That ball will find you and the situation will find you,...

Alfredo Simon gave the Orioles two scoreless innings, striking out two in the 10th and stranding the potential go-ahead run at second base. Jason Berken is warming up. Manager Buck Showalter must be testing him again. The Orioles' short bench only includes Jake Fox. Showalter understood the need for the extra bullpen arm when he got here, but maybe a fourth reserve would be more beneficial. Nick Markakis' four hits tonight are a season high. Update: They don't need Berken. Adam Jones...

The Orioles have the most extra-inning wins and best extra-innings winning percentage in the AL. Best AL records in extra-innings: .727 - Baltimore, 8-3 .700 - KC, 7-3 .667 - NYY at 4-2 and Minnesota at 6-3 The White Sox are 3-4 in extra-inning affairs, tied for 9th best in the AL.

Oriole baseball is getting fun with Buck Showalter at the helm. Tonight, the O's improved to 4-0 under their new manger and won in walk-off fashion for the second night in a row. Adam Jones RBI single to left with two outs in the 10th gave the O's the 2-1 win over Chicago. Nick Markakis singled with one out in the tenth and advanced to third on a Luke Scott single. Jones' first hit of the night gave the O's an extra-innings win. Buck Showalter talks with the media following the O's...

We're still tied, 1-1, heading to the top of the eighth. Brad Bergesen can thank his defense. Mark Kotsay tripled with one out in the top of the seventh, and Alexei Ramirez followed with a grounder to first. Ty Wigginton charged the ball, made a bare-handed pickup and quickly threw home, where Matt Wieters applied the tag after expertly blocking the plate. Ramirez stole second, but Nick Markakis ran down A.J. Pierzynski's long drive on the warning track. Again, it appeared that the White...