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Zach Wilt: Make or break stretch ahead for O's

August 27, 2013, 5:09am

Orioles

Zach Wilt: Make or break stretch ahead for O's

On Friday, I opened up my mailbox to see an envelope from the Orioles with my season ticket holder postseason order form. This was both exciting and nerve-racking as a guy who has experienced the many highs and lows of the 2013 season to date. I want my money to go toward more games this season, not a down payment for 2014. It's funny how quickly spoiled the Orioles have made me after having such low expectations for the majority of my life. This time last year, I was counting down the games...

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Dave Nichols: A defeat emblematic of the season's struggles

August 26, 2013, 7:10am

Nationals

Dave Nichols: A defeat emblematic of the season's struggles

The Nationals took two out of three over the weekend from the Kansas City Royals to keep their dwindling playoff hopes just barely alive. Starting play Monday, the Nats sit 8 1/2 games behind Cincinnati, with just 32 games remaining, for the last invitation to the playoff party in the National League. The loss on Sunday halted a five-game winning streak, matching the longest the Nats have had all season long. If they're to get back in this thing, they are going to have to take advantage now...

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Domenic Vadala: Making adjustments at the right time

August 25, 2013, 2:06pm

Orioles

Domenic Vadala: Making adjustments at the right time

If the Orioles end up going to the postseason, Wednesday's victory over Tampa Bay might be looked back upon as one of the bigger wins of the year. First off, it goes without saying that the entire series was tough on the Orioles and on the fans. Dropping two of three to a team that you're chasing in the standings is never a favorable result. The mere fact that the Orioles salvaged one game was a moral victory. However, that game should be looked upon as one where the Orioles finally stepped...

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Matthew Taylor: Rewritten history shouldn't be forgotten

August 22, 2013, 8:34pm

Orioles

Matthew Taylor: Rewritten history shouldn't be forgotten

Chris Davis has tied Jim Gentile for third on the Orioles' all-time single-season home run list. Barring injury or an unimaginable power outage, Davis will hit his 47th homer and push Gentile further down the list he once topped. This is familiar territory for Gentile, who established at least a half-dozen team records in 1961. The past half-century has been an extended exercise in removing pieces of that magical 1961 season from the record books, one by one. Rather than diminishing the...

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Rachel Levitin: Acquiring DeJesus an example of Nats trying to maintain first-place roster

August 22, 2013, 5:48am

Nationals

Rachel Levitin: Acquiring DeJesus an example of Nats trying to maintain first-place roster

When I got a text message from a Cubs fan friend of mine on Monday night, I can't say I was surprised by the what he had to say: "Look for me at the game. And David DeJesus is a good pickup." While I didn't see that friend on my television set, I did shoot him a message back in agreement. It's this move - a veteran pickup for the Washington bench - that continues to demonstrate that the Nationals organization is willing to make changes when changes need to be made. They showed that when...

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Andrew Stetka: These O's are better than last year's version despite what you may see

August 22, 2013, 5:40am

Orioles

Andrew Stetka: These O's are better than last year's version despite what you may see

If there is one part of the 2013 Orioles that has been steady from the start, it's without question been defense. The O's are on pace to break records for both fielding percentage and fewest errors in a season. Of the three major elements in baseball - pitching, hitting and defense - the latter is the one part where there are simply no worries. It's those other two that have had ups and downs throughout the season. Whether it's the starting pitching, the bullpen arms, or the inconsistent...

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David Huzzard: David DeJesus and the Nats' 2014 bench

August 21, 2013, 5:26am

Nationals

David Huzzard: David DeJesus and the Nats' 2014 bench

Sometimes the best moves a general manager can make are the ones that look confusing at first. Keep in mind general managers are allegedly smarter than the media and bloggers, and should be a couple of steps ahead of us. One the surface, the David DeJesus trade looks weird. The Nats don't need him for this season and his $6.5 million option is a lot to pay for a bench player for 2014, but let's look at the Nationals bench, or let's not because H.P. Lovecraft couldn't describe a monster as...

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Neal Shaffer: Sky isn't falling, but O's need to step it up a notch

August 20, 2013, 7:35pm

Orioles

Neal Shaffer: Sky isn't falling, but O's need to step it up a notch

Anyone who has read even a handful of my work here or over at The Loss Column (where I'm not posting as much as I want to), knows that I'm bullish on the Orioles. Not optimistic per se, but certainly inclined to point out when the sky is not falling. I also do my best to be honest. Just because the sky's not falling doesn't mean all is well. Right now, all is not well. There comes a point toward the end of every season - usually around now - when you get a feeling about things. The...

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Ted Leavengood: Can Nats compete without more international signings?

August 20, 2013, 5:50am

Nationals

As an organization, the Washington Nationals have largely eschewed big international signings. Last week, they paid $900,000 for Anderson Franco and the front office has said it will be more aggressive in international markets moving forward. Prior forays have been disappointing at best. They got nothing except legal fees for the $1.4 million they paid to Dominican phenom Smiley Gonzalez in 2006. They tried again in 2009 when they landed Cuban emigre, Yunesky Maya, who commanded a four-year, $8...

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Zach Wilt: Baseball is a funny game

August 20, 2013, 5:04am

Orioles

I'm sure you've heard people say "baseball is a funny game." It's typically the cliche saying that fans throw out when they can't explain the outcome of the three-hour sporting event they dedicate their life to over the course of 162 days between April and September. For me, that inexplicable nature is part of the reason I love this game so much. Though, I can certainly understand it driving some people absolutely bonkers. On Tuesday night, the Texas Rangers clobbered the Houston Astros...

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Dave Nichols: Strasburg shows backbone standing up for Harper

August 19, 2013, 5:56am

Nationals

Dave Nichols: Strasburg shows backbone standing up for Harper

It was a wild weekend in Atlanta. Not so much for the actual baseball content, as the Nationals dropped another series to the Braves, setting their season record against the division leaders at 4-12. Rather, after Bryce Harper was hit by pitches twice Friday night, the Nationals - at least their top starting pitcher - decided enough was enough. Harper, a player who will forevermore wear a target on his back with the Braves, was hit twice Friday night by two different pitchers, the second time...

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Domenic Vadala: Hoping for a repeat performance

August 19, 2013, 5:40am

Orioles

Domenic Vadala: Hoping for a repeat performance

I think it'll be a long time before people forget last August and September at the yard. I would submit that those games were about as much fun for Orioles fans as we've ever seen. Granted, that was only the third playoff season for the Birds since they moved into Camden Yards in 1992, but in both 1996 and 1997, there wasn't the potential for the Orioles' fate to be decided in the last days of the season, as happened last year - and also potentially this year. They were far ahead of the...

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Matthew Taylor: Jim Johnson, meet Don Aase

August 16, 2013, 5:58am

Orioles

Matthew Taylor: Jim Johnson, meet Don Aase

The Orioles are coming off a demoralizing three-game sweep at the hands (actually, the bats) of the Arizona Diamondbacks, who won each game in walk-off fashion. I don't need to tell you that Jim Johnson recorded blown saves in the final two games of the series. Johnson currently ranks as the major league leader in both saves (39) and blown saves (nine). In the same season that he tallied his club-record 35th consecutive save, Johnson appears to be on the verge of setting an ignominious team...

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Rachel Levitin: That pesky thing called perspective

August 15, 2013, 5:33am

Nationals

Rachel Levitin: That pesky thing called perspective

When it comes time to reflect on the Nationals' 2013 season, my thought is that this one will be all about managing expectations. After last night's victory against the San Francisco Giants - the Nats' fifth win in a row - I found myself on the Metro amid the postgame foot traffic. While sitting there, I gathered nuggets from people's conversations and took notice of those who were wearing curly W attire. The general consensus, as far as I was able to infer, is that the big issue people...

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Andrew Stetka: The good, bad and ugly from O's West Coast swing

August 15, 2013, 5:21am

Orioles

Andrew Stetka: The good, bad and ugly from O's West Coast swing

A whole lot will be written and even more will be said following the Orioles' recent 4-4 road trip to the West Coast. There was a whole lot that went down on the field that led to a 4-1 start to the swing but saw it finish with three devastating walk-off losses to the Diamondbacks in Arizona. Let this be a bit of a break from all of the on-the-field talk and chatter. I was able to attend four out of the eight games on the trip and had an outstanding experience everywhere I went. As an...

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David Huzzard: A few thoughts on hope

August 14, 2013, 5:32am

Nationals

The Nationals' four-game winning streak is a small glimmer of hope, faint light from a far off place. In "The Dark Knight Rises," Bane shows Batman the means to escape his prison. It is a one-in-a-million shot. One person out of all the prisoners had done it and it was a mystery as to if that were fact or fiction. It is the nature of hope. Hope cannot exist without despair. The 2013 Nationals have been full of despair and this small glimmer of hope shouldn't excite anyone. The Nationals...

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Neal Shaffer: There but for the grace of the baseball gods ...

August 13, 2013, 8:22pm

Orioles

Neal Shaffer: There but for the grace of the baseball gods ...

Today, let's talk about a team. A team with more than a couple of young, All-Star-capable players and an overall talent level that grades out better than average. One with a decorated, veteran manager. They were very bad for a long time but they made a playoff run last year and, in doing so, laid the foundation for a strong future. We're talking, of course, about the Washington Nationals. Maybe you're one of those Baltimore fans who harbors a weird hatred of D.C. I'm not. I loved watching...

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Ted Leavengood: Playing for pride

August 13, 2013, 4:53am

Nationals

Stephen Strasburg's complete-game shutout on Sunday was an exclamation point at the end of a weekend statement that the Nationals have found their sense of pride. It was the best game of Strasburg's young career. He has said many times that he wants to go deeper into seasons, deeper into games and it doesn't get much deeper than a complete-game shutout. Coming at the end of the weekend sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies, it emphasized Davey Johnson's assertion that the team needed to play...

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Zach Wilt: Who would start a wild card game for O's?

August 13, 2013, 4:42am

Orioles

Zach Wilt: Who would start a wild card game for O's?

It's becoming increasingly more difficult to not compare the 2013 Orioles to their 2012 squad. I can't promise that I won't do this every week for the rest of this season. As of Aug. 13, the Orioles find themselves five games back of the first-place Red Sox in the AL East with their 65-53 record. On this date a season ago, the Orioles were also in third place in the division with a 62-53 record, six games behind the leading Yankees. While drawing these comparisons, I began to ponder Buck...

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David Nichols: Werth's resurgence provides some fun down the stretch

August 12, 2013, 5:51am

Nationals

David Nichols: Werth's resurgence provides some fun down the stretch

The Nationals swept the Phillies over the weekend. That always feels good. But the Nats are still eight games out of a wild card spot with just 45 games to play. It's not an impossibility, but the odds of making the postseason sure aren't great. What is great, though, is the way Jayson Werth has been playing this summer. The veteran outfielder is in the midst of what could possibly be his finest season at the plate as a big leaguer. Due to the hamstring injury that caused him to miss a...