The Orioles today announced that they have claimed catcher Luis Exposito on waivers from Boston.
Exposito, 25, is a career .268/.324/.420 hitter in seven minor league seasons in Boston's farm system. He was the Red Sox's 31st round selection in the 2005 First Year Player Draft.
To make room for Exposito on the 40-man roster, infielder Josh Bell has been designated for assignment. Bell, 25, batted .200/.221/.264 in 79 games with the Orioles in 2010 and 2011. He was acquired by Baltimore on...
No doubt about it, Orioles fans love their giveaways. From brandishing T-shirt Tuesday handouts to lining up bobbleheads as part of their office decor to loveable but goofy looking floppy hats on the beaches in Ocean City, Md., and Rehoboth Beach, Del., those premiums distributed at the Camden Yards gates become prized possessions.
Over the years, the O's have scheduled some pretty interesting giveaways. Remember seat cushion night at Memorial Stadium, where a debatable umpire's call...
The Washington Nationals today returned from rehab and reinstated center fielder Rick Ankiel from the 15-Day Disabled List and designated outfielder Brett Carroll for assignment. Nationals Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement.
Ankiel, 32, was originally placed on the 15-Day Disabled List (left quad) on April 3, retroactive to March 28. In eight games during his rehab assignment with Double-A Harrisburg (four games), Single-A...
If you can withstand the Nationals' early-season offensive funk, you're guaranteed a bunch of hits and an error-free performance at Nationals Park on Friday, Sept. 14. And, yes, I know full well the Nationals are playing in Atlanta that evening.
According to this blog post at USAToday.com, Nationals Park is among a series of stadiums that will play host later this year to iconic rocker Bruce Springsteen. The Boss is scheduled to bring his Wrecking Ball Tour to Nationals Park on Sept. 14, a...
Ryan Zimmerman didn't see the outstretched right palm of Roger Bernadina at home plate, the hitter's signal that he should hold at third. Zimmerman was focused on the ball skittering away from Reds rookie catcher Devin Mesoraco and knew that it had bounced far enough from home plate to allow him to score the winning run in the Nationals' 10-inning 3-2 victory in their home opener Thursday afternoon.
Chalk it up to a well-honed baseball impulse, because if Zimmerman had taken to heart the...
Ryan Zimmerman is no stranger to home openers. Today is his seventh, yet none of them has dawned with the immense expectations for success that this afternoon's game against the Reds brings. Still, the Nationals third baseman doesn't seem to think this opener is any different than the others he's experienced.
"No," Zimmerman said in the Washington clubhouse Thursday morning.
No? Not even a little bit?
"I mean, every year, every team thinks it can win. ... Honestly, every team I've...
How's this for a budget-busting way to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Camden Yards: throwback 1992 pricing for Eutaw Street bleachers for select games during the 2012 campaign.
For six games this season, a limited number of bleacher seats will be available for $4, their price in 1992, the ballpark's first season. The selected dates are April 27 against Oakland, May 7 versus Texas, July 24 against Tampa Bay, Aug. 9 versus Kansas City, Aug. 27 against the Chicago White Sox and September 12...
The Orioles today revealed new additions to CamdenYards20.com, the online destination for everything related to Oriole Park at Camden Yards and its 20th anniversary season. New features include an Interactive Timeline, a fan photo gallery called My Yard, and special 1992 throwback pricing for select games in the Eutaw Street Bleachers.
The Interactive Timeline features a look back at Oriole Park's 20 years of milestones, complete with videos and photos to chronicle the construction of Camden...
The Washington Nationals and Union Square Events will unveil several delicious new menu items from Blue Smoke, Box Frites and El Verano TaquerÃÂa during the Nationals home opener on Thursday, April 12 at the Miller Lite Scoreboard Walk. These new offerings will join a winning array of dishes from Union Square Events, the event services business of Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group.
Nationals fans can choose from a wide variety of new offerings, including:
* Buffalo and BLT...
If first appearances count for anything, I'm predicting that Orioles fans are going to really enjoy some of the renovations and new food offerings at Camden Yards. They'll go on full display Friday, when the O's draw the curtain on the 2012 season against the Minnesota Twins, but I've just returned from a sneak peek.
Color me impressed - and eager to sneak down to the flag court or roof deck in the middle of a game this weekend to get the full effect.
As we've previously discussed, as...
In 2009 and 2010, the Nationals gave John Lannan the ball as their opening day starter. On Tuesday, flush with quality pitchers, unwilling to use Lannan out of the bullpen and confident that he had been outpitched in spring training, they optioned the left-hander and his $5 million contract to Triple-A Syracuse.
Lannan's surprise demotion was the biggest of a series of transactions announced after the Nats' 8-7 loss to the Red Sox that got them down to the 25-man roster limit. The Nationals...
The Nationals parlayed three singles, a pair of walks and a sacrifice fly to score three runs in the seventh inning and take a 7-6 lead over the Red Sox.
Mark DeRosa led off the seventh with an infield single off Justin Thomas and was replaced by pinch runner Adrian Sanchez, who advanced to second on Xavier Nady's single to right. Wilson Ramos then drove in his fourth run of the afternoon on a single to left. Thomas was replaced by Michael Bowden after Roger Bernadina's sacrifice moved the...
Earlier this afternoon, Nationals manager Davey Johnson said he would wait to get through the exhibition game against the Red Sox before announcing which of two right-handers - Chad Durbin or Ryan Mattheus - had claimed the final spot on the team's 25-man roster.
The belief was that Johnson wanted to make sure everyone got through today's game healthy before revealing who made the cut.
Turns out Johnson won't have to wait that long, and that's probably good news for Matthews.
According...
The Nationals are no longer searching for their first hit of the afternoon against Boston right-hander Clay Buchholz. Nor are they staring at a scoreboard full of goose eggs.
Adam LaRoche's leadoff single in the fifth, a sharp grounder down the right field line, ended a string of 12 straight hitters retired by Buchholz to start the game. After Jayson Werth struck out, LaRoche moved to second on an infield single by Mark DeRosa. A fielder's choice grounder by Xavier Nady erased DeRosa at...
After three spotless innings of three-up, three-down baseball, Nationals right-hander Edwin Jackson has run into some trouble in the fourth.
Leading off the fourth, Boston's Jacoby Ellsbury worked the count full, then laced a clean single to left, the first hit for either team in a crisply played game. Dustin Pedroia followed with a line drive to left that went for a run-scoring double and a 1-0 Red Sox lead. Adrian Gonzalez flew out to left, with Pedroia successfully testing left fielder...
The Nationals have just finished batting practice, fans are starting to stream into Nationals Park and the last exhibition game of the spring will start at 3:05 p.m. Remember, today's game is going to be televised live on MASN/MASN HD, so you can tune in and get a look at the Nats in their last game before Thursday's opener in Chicago against the Cubs.
Here are today's lineups.
For the Red Sox:
CF - Jacoby Ellsbury
2B - Dustin Pedroia
1B - Adrian Gonzalez
DH - David Ortiz
3B - Kevin...
It's hard to believe, but Stephen Strasburg's opening day start in Chicago on Thursday will be his first opener as a major leaguer.
Imagine the butterflies accompanying most players on their first opener - and then factor in the emotionally charged intensity that accompanies the right-hander on a typical start and you have to wonder whether Strasburg will be battling himself.
Remember, Strasburg's first minor league start in his rookie season was on April 11, 2010, when he pitched for the...
When the Orioles open the 2012 season Friday against the Twins - and begin a season-long celebration of the 20th anniversary of Camden Yards - they'll turn back the clock to 1992 for the ceremonial first pitch. Rick Sutcliffe and Chris Hoiles, who were the pitcher and catcher during the ballpark's debut two decades ago, will reprise their role as battery mates for Friday's festivities.
Sutcliffe, you'll remember, threw a five-hit shutout against the Indians on April 6, 1992 in the first...
One of the major benefits to the Orioles' move to Sarasota, Fla., from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., three years ago was the shortening of the distance between the club's major and minor league spring facilities. Even though the O's big league camp had been at Fort Lauderdale Stadium from 1996-2009, the minor leaguers remained at least a three-hour drive away at Twin Lakes Park in Sarasota, making it difficult to get pitchers extra innings against farmhands or for a major league manager to easily...
Former Orioles pitcher Mike Mussina has been elected to the Orioles Hall of Fame, the team announced today. Former O's second baseman Rich Dauer will also be enshrined as a selection of the Veteran's Committee, and longtime Orioles scout Walter Youse will be inducted posthumously as this year's Herb Armstrong Award winner.
Mussina spent the first 10 of his 18 major league seasons with the Orioles from 1991-2000, going 147-81 with a 3.53 ERA in 288 starts. He ranks among the club's all-time...