Zach Britton was probably not expecting to find out this way. But when he got to his locker in the clubhouse Tuesday afternoon at Reading, there was an official looking letter from Major League Baseball. "When I got to my locker (yesterday) there was a letter from Major League Baseball. I wondered if I was in trouble. But then I saw it was a nice letter saying 'Congratulations, you've been selected to participate on the USA team for the 2010 MLB All-Star Futures Game.' "This is real...

Whenever the Orioles play Tampa, MASN's Rick Dempsey usually says "don't pitch to Pena." It's his way of reminding fans, and O's pitchers, how well the guy hits Baltimore pitching. If the O's played the Marlins more, the Demper would probably change that to "don't pitch to Ramirez." After missing Sunday's game with a hamstring injury, Ramirez returned to the lineup last night for the Marlins. And picked up where he left off last June in again tormenting O's pitching. Ramirez...

Apparently, it's not a good idea to manage at Camden Yards. It doesn't do much to enhance your job security. The Marlins have fired Fredi Gonzalez and replaced him on an interim basis with Triple-A New Orleans manager Edwin Rodriguez. When is the last time that two interim managers squared off in a three-game series? The Marlins also fired bench coach Carlos Tosca and hitting coach Jim Presley. Imagine if they had the worst record in baseball? Florida is 34-36 after last night's 10-4...

Don't forget to pick up your free Express today to get a "K" poster for this afternoon's Strasburg start. Wouldn't it be awesome to see these pop up in unison all throughout the park after each strikeout? The Nationals now also have a coordinated "K" sign display below the Miller Lite sign on the giant HD scoreboard. On another note: If you're skipping work today or heading to the park early, the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) will offer free skin cancer screenings to...

The news that the Orioles designated Cla Meredith for assignment yesterday reminded me of spring training and the optimism that flooded the clubhouse. They were 0-0 in the regular season. It wasn't standing-room-only for the disabled list. Times were good. Meredith was really good, allowing one earned run in 10 2/3 innings, with no walks and five strikeouts. He looked like an extremely valuable part of the bullpen, a ground ball machine, but he was 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA in 21 games with the...

Nationals starter Stephen Strasburg has made a huge impact on the 2010 season in his first three starts for Washington. He has won two games and given his team a chance to win all three. He has set a major league record for most strikeouts to start a career, surpassing J.R. Richard of the Houston Astros. So, why wouldn't Strasburg be an All-Star or at least get heavy consideration? It's the manager's decision who will pitch in the mid-summer classic, and Charlie Manuel of the N.L. East...

Jeremy Guthrie lost his fifth consecutive start tonight despite dominating in the middle innings. I thought the location was better later in the game," he said. "I made terrible pitches with the slider, especially in the inning that hurt me. I didn't really make great ones with it later on, so I just pretty much tried to quit throwing it. "Pitch execution was definitely the biggest difference between the second and the other innings." The Marlins jumped Guthrie for four runs in the...

Interim manager Juan Samuel mentioned after tonight's 10-4 loss to the Marlins that starter Jeremy Guthrie "didn't look right" in the early innings. To be more precise, Guthrie was missing his spots, hung a few breaking balls and fell behind, 4-0, in the second. "But he settled down after that. We just couldn't hold them," Samuel said. "He just did not look good there the first couple of innings. Pitch count was getting up there. I started to worry a little bit, but then he kind of...

If it seems like the Orioles lose often when they play the Florida Marlins in interleague games, they do. Florida blasted the O's 10-4 tonight to win for the ninth time in the last ten games between these teams. Florida is 17-5 all-time vs. the Birds. Hanley Ramirez, who missed Sunday's game with a hamstring injury, returned to the Marlins lineup with three hits and three RBI. Florida scored six times over the final three innings to break open a 4-3 game. The O's fall to 19-51 as they...

Reliever Ross Wolf was excited to have his parents fly into Norfolk yesterday. He had no idea that their arrival would come on the same day that the Orioles traded him to the Oakland Athletics for utility man Jake Fox. "Bittersweet," he said. I had a brief chat with Wolf this afternoon while he waited for his flight to Las Vegas, where Triple-A Sacramento was playing later that night. Wolf, 27, said he found out about the trade after arriving at the ballpark yesterday, though both teams...