Desmond to lead off Sunday's finale; Espinosa day off

Manager Jim Riggleman shuffled the top of the lineup for Sunday's final game of the season against the Florida Marlins, placing Ian Desmond in the lead off spot and Adam Kennedy batting second. Riggleman said, "I am not going to play (Danny) Espinosa today. I am going to get Adam Kennedy some at bats. He has been sitting for a few days. I would like to get him some at bats. Espinosa has been leading off. "I know eventually we are not going to have Nyjer (Morgan) so I would like to...
The Potomac Nationals have advanced to the Carolina League championship series which begins tomorrow in Winston-Salem. It is the second time in the past three seasons the team have reached the Mills Cup Championship. The franchise is going for their fourth league title. The P-Nats defeated Frederick 10-3 in Woodbridge to win the series 3-1. Bill Rhinehart went 2-for-4 with a double and 3 RBI, while Nick Moresi, Chris Curran and Tyler Moore each added a pair of RBI and Marcos Frias went five...
Brian Roberts 2B Ty Wigginton 3B Nick Markakis RF Luke Scott DH Adam Jones CF Felix Pie LF Jake Fox C Robert Andino SS Brandon Snyder 1B Chris Tillman RHP Snyder gets his first start against Justin Verlander. Best of luck. Josh Bell is out of the lineup after taking a shot off his bare hand at third base last night that turned into a 5-6-3 putout.
Still waiting for the Orioles lineup. In the meantime... For the Tigers: 2B Will Rhymes RF Ryan Raburn LF Don Kelly 1B Miguel Cabrera SS Jhonny Peralta DH Brennan Boesch 3B Brandon Inge CF Casper Wells C Alex Avila RHP Justin Verlander
The Orioles picked up their first series win at Comerica Park since August 5-7, 2008 and have won back-to-back games at the ballpark for the first time since June 4-5, 2005. So far, so good. The Orioles are looking for their first sweep in Detroit since May 28-30, 2004. They've won 11 of their last 17 road games after winning 14 of their first 54. Last night's victory assured them of a winning record on this road trip. The Orioles went 4-2 on their last trip, marking the first time...
Buck Showalter certainly has his ticket punched. He has used Koji in six of the last seven games and 10 of the past 16. Uehara has saved nine of the last 12 Orioles wins. He is two outs away from being 10 for 10 in save chances. Perhaps more surprising than his success, is how he does it. By pumping seemingly nothing other than 88 mile per hour fastballs that look pretty straight on a TV monitor. What is Koji's secret? His 88 MPH fastball seems to produce hitter's swings as if they are...
Jeremy Guthrie continued his second-half pitching success tonight. Max Scherzer kept his going, for a while. The O's finally broke through with a four-run 6th to give Guthrie the lead and eventual 5-3 win over the Tigers at Comerica Park on Saturday night. Down 4-0, the Tigers pulled within one, scoring three in the 8th vs. Matt Albers. Felix Pie came up with a big RBI single in the ninth for an insurance run as he went 3 for 5 with two RBI. Adam Jones went 4 for 4 with a double and run...
After winning the first game of their playoff series with Potomac on Wednesday, Frederick lost the last three games of this series and the Keys season ended with tonight's 10-3 loss at Potomac. The Nationals advance to face Winston-Salem for the Carolina League championship after taking the series, three wins to one. Frederick starter Luis Noel gave up four runs over 2 2/3 and Keys starters allowed 17 earned runs over 11 1/3 in the series. Ronnie Welty hit a solo homer and Tyler Townsend...
Cesar Izturis struck out to end the fourth inning and leave the bases loaded. He also left the game scoreless. Probably not a big surprise, but how about the way he made up for it in the sixth? Izturis contributed a two-run triple to a four-run inning that also included doubles by Adam Jones and Felix Pie, and a long sacrifice fly by Ty Wigginton. Whatever offense that Izturis provides is gravy. He's here for his glove. That hit was huge and quite unexpected. Does Buck Showalter get credit...
It's Jeremy Guthrie vs. Max Scherzer tonight at Detroit. It's 0-0 after four innings, but each team has had scoring chances and they have combined to leave 11 on base. The O's just loaded the bases on three singles with one out in the fourth, but Scherzer fanned Josh Bell and Cesar Izturis to end that threat. Scherzer is 4-3, 2.15 in 11 second-half starts. Guthrie has allowed five hits in four innings, but no runs to the Tigers so far. Detroit is 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position...
For the Orioles: Brian Roberts 2B Ty Wigginton 1B Nick Markakis RF Luke Scott DH Matt Wieters C Adam Jones CF Felix Pie LF Josh Bell 3B Cesar Izturis SS Jeremy Guthrie RHP For the Tigers: Austin Jackson CF Ryan Raburn RF Johnny Damon DH Miguel Cabrera 1B Don Kelly LF Jhonny Peralta SS Brandon Inge 3B Alex Avila C Ramon Santiago 2B Max Scherzer RHP