Zach Wilt: Enjoying the DMV baseball renaissance

Zach Wilt: Enjoying the DMV baseball renaissance
I've spent most of the last 24 hours wondering if Tuesday night actually happened and have been quietly humming "We Won't Stop" to myself over and over. It's a catchy tune. After watching highlights on MLB.com and listening to the interviews here on MASNsports.com, I can confirm that it really wasn't a dream, Baltimore. The Orioles are American League East champions. Yes, that crazy night actually occurred. While my attention was focused solely on the festivities at Camden Yards on...

Rachel Levitin: Nats have come a long way to earn second NL East crown in three years

Rachel Levitin: Nats have come a long way to earn second NL East crown in three years
Well, that answers that. The Nationals are officially the National League East champions for the second time in three years after clinching that spot at Turner Field in Atlanta on Tuesday night. What a ride it's been thus far. To think that just two years ago, a perennial cellar-dweller clinched its first division title and has continued to make its visible imprint upon the major league landscape since then. Sure, the success of the 2014 squad can be attributed to many within the current...

Daniel Clark: AL East champion Orioles overcome doubters and adversity

Daniel Clark: AL East champion Orioles overcome doubters and adversity
The Orioles are the 2014 American League East champions - it has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? As I sit here writing - some 10,201 miles away from the wild scenes of celebration last night at Camden Yards - I can't help but think how appropriate the following quote is with respect to the Orioles' 2014 season, a season that has seen the team win just its ninth division title in 60 years and its first since 1997. "Everyone is handed adversity in life. No one's journey is easy. It's how...

Dave Nichols: Division crown in sight, but still work to be done

Dave Nichols: Division crown in sight, but still work to be done
Entering play Tuesday, the Nationals' magic number to clinch the National League East was two. All they have to do is win one of the next two games against the Braves and the Nats will take the division title with almost two weeks left in the season. After they sew up the division, it'll give manager Matt Williams time to rest some guys, sort out his bullpen and set his starting rotation for the playoffs. The Nats won't be taking it easy, though, as they are a half-game ahead of the...

Jon Shepherd: Responsibly addressing baseball's drug problem

Jon Shepherd: Responsibly addressing baseball's drug problem
Last week, an emotionally charged issue came back full-speed as the Orioles were calmly tying up the American League East. Chris Davis was suspended for 25 games for using an amphetamine without a doctor's note. The amphetamine in question, Adderall, is a fairly common one used to treat individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. A little over 10 percent of major league players use the drug fairly because they have applied to use it. That number may seem high, but it resides...

Andrew Stetka: Orioles on the verge of something magic

Andrew Stetka: Orioles on the verge of something magic
As long as you haven't been living under a rock over the past week or so, you'd know that it was a pretty awful week in sports. Stories of off-the-field issues and injuries polluted the news landscape and made us all feel pretty down. Most of this horrible news was confined to the NFL, but some leaked its way into baseball, including Marlins star Giancarlo Stanton getting hit in the face with a pitch and being hospitalized and Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon making a rude gesture at his own...

Marty Niland: No slow lane on the road to the 2014 postseason

Marty Niland: No slow lane on the road to the 2014 postseason
It comes down to this: With 14 games left in the regular season, the Nationals visit their division archrivals in Atlanta with a chance to clinch the National League East, drop the Braves below .500 and send them to the outer fringes of the postseason picture. In a season where they've overcome numerous injuries and setbacks, and a year removed from a disappointing out-of-the-money finish, it would be nice if the Nats could clinch in front of their home fans. But it's a great consolation to...

Matthew Taylor: Showalter has changed his own script in Baltimore

Matthew Taylor: Showalter has changed his own script in Baltimore
The Orioles haven't been doing much according to script since Buck Showalter arrived in town. Now, amid the euphoria of three consecutive winning seasons and what's turning into a runaway division title, the team's first since 1997, it's worth noting that Showalter himself is off script. He was supposed to have worn out his welcome by now; instead, his team is having its best year under his discerning watch. Showalter built three winners prior to his arrival in Baltimore, two of them...

David Huzzard: How will Nats construct their postseason roster?

David Huzzard: How will Nats construct their postseason roster?
It feels like it has been months that people have been debating who should be on the Nationals' postseason roster. The main focus of the debate has been which starter should go to the bullpen. All I'll say about that is tonight is a big start for Tanner Roark, who has regressed to the mean a bit since the beginning of August pitching 44 1/3 innings to a 3.65 ERA (while, in the same time period, Gio Gonzalez has pitched 40 2/3 innings with a 3.54 ERA). Not much difference in those numbers, but...

Zach Wilt: Dominance of Red Sox erases memories of flops in Fenway

Zach Wilt: Dominance of Red Sox erases memories of flops in Fenway
I don't have the greatest of memories, but I vividly remember exactly what I did on June 30, 2009. It was another difficult season for my beloved Orioles, who were already seven games under .500 and losing 9-1 to the Boston Red Sox when a rain delay paused the game in the top of the fifth inning. My girlfriend, now wife, convinced me to stop watching and go out to dinner with her as the summer storm rolled through the city. We opted to pick crabs in Towson on that Tuesday evening, and out of...

Rachel Levitin: Storen showing 2012 collapse behind him during latest turn as closer

Rachel Levitin: Storen showing 2012 collapse behind him during latest turn as closer
For three consecutive days, the Nationals have not only beaten their National League East opponents and whittled their magic number to 10, but relief pitcher Drew Storen has found himself closing out games and tallying saves. It's nice to see him back in that role after the rough end of season he found himself a part of in 2012 with the Game 5 collapse during the National League Division Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Since 2012, the Nats have invested in multiple bullpen arms and...

Daniel Clark: Untimely errors may cost Orioles AL's top seed

Daniel Clark: Untimely errors may cost Orioles AL's top seed
Holding onto a 10-game division lead with a postseason berth looking more likely each day, the focus for many Orioles fans is now shifting toward whether or not their team can claim the American League's No. 1 seed heading into the playoffs. Currently, the Angels hold possession of this, four games ahead of the 85-59 Orioles. While there are many variables within each game that ultimately decide the result, the number of errors committed in the field and the impact they have is a variable,...

Jon Shepherd: Does Chris Tillman qualify as an ace?

Jon Shepherd: Does Chris Tillman qualify as an ace?
Should we now be referring to Chris Tillman as an ace? Well, it depends on what you mean. In the past, I have found that the most contentious part of the discussion is trying to define what it means to be an ace. Some like to think an ace is the best pitcher on a team, but that definition has some trouble. For example, think about the Diamondbacks with Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson. They certainly were both aces. Others like to think of an ace as being one of the best 30 pitchers in...

Dave Nichols: Defining moment is Nationals' to seize

Dave Nichols: Defining moment is Nationals' to seize
On Monday night, the Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves 2-1. It might not seem like that big of a deal, but as each game passes we inch closer to the end of the regular season, with every game taking on additional meaning and importance. The past few seasons, the Braves have stood in the way of the Nats' playoff hopes, as the Phillies once did before they all got old at the same time. The divisional rivalry with the Braves has been studded with losses - particularly late, close losses that...

Andrew Stetka: Will homers help O's sink or swim?

Andrew Stetka: Will homers help O's sink or swim?
We've all heard the saying "chicks dig the longball," and if that's the case, the Orioles must have a ton of female fans. Frankly, I think guys dig the longball just as much. It's exciting, and we men enjoy excitement, too. The Orioles have finished in baseball's top five in home runs every year since 2011. They led MLB last season with 212 bombs and are out in front this year with 188. There's another saying that says you live and die by the home run. When things are going well and...

Marty Niland: Storen is right choice as Nats' new closer

Marty Niland: Storen is right choice as Nats' new closer
It didn't take long for Nationals manager Matt Williams to reveal his next closer. Two days after Rafael Soriano blew his seventh save of the season and fifth since the All-Star break, Drew Storen emerged from the Nats bullpen in the ninth inning of Sunday's 3-2 win over Philadelphia and set the Phillies down in order. For fans weary of watching Soriano's ineffectiveness in recent weeks, a scoreless inning, let alone a clean one, was a welcome sight. Now it will be up to the Nats'...

Matthew Taylor: Savoring the main course, and maybe O's just desserts

Matthew Taylor: Savoring the main course, and maybe O's just desserts
What is the proper recompense that Orioles fans deserve for enduring 14 consecutive seasons of losing baseball? The honest answer is nothing. If you're a longtime sports fan, you know the hard truth is that the game doesn't owe us as fans anything. The joys are few, the frustrations many. Nevertheless, I cling to my sometimes naive belief that loyalty will be rewarded in time. It wasn't so long ago, during a period when the sufferings were plentiful and often substantial (think 30-3), that...

David Huzzard: Rendon as good a choice as any for NL MVP

David Huzzard: Rendon as good a choice as any for NL MVP
The fun part about the Most Valuable Player award is that it isn't about trying to figure out who the best player . It's about trying to figure out what crazy voters are going to do. Most of the inane arguments about the MVP award center around the word "valuable" and what the true essence of a valuable player is. One of the central beliefs of the voters is that a valuable player can't possibly play on a losing team and if they were truly valuable they would play for a winning team. This...

Zach Wilt: Happily eating crow on preseason prediction about Schoop

Zach Wilt: Happily eating crow on preseason prediction about Schoop
Every once in a while, I make awesomely accurate predictions. Back in June, I boldly (and annoyingly) proclaimed to everyone I know that "Guardians of the Galaxy" would be the best movie of the summer. It's grossed nearly $300 million at the box office, partially due to the fact that I've seen it three times and would gladly go again if I could just convince someone to join me. It's arguably Marvel's best movie to date. Told you guys. Other times, I make horribly inaccurate (and equally...

Rachel Levitin: This year's Nats creating their own storylines

Rachel Levitin: This year's Nats creating their own storylines
When you've got a team like the Nationals, who started in 2005 and didn't really start getting good until 2012, team storylines tend to take on a life of their own. If a team isn't losing, that's one topic of conversation. If a team is so bad that there players are laughable, that's another. But throughout the Nats' time, they dug their way out of the gutter and become a feel-good story of sorts. In 2005, when Ryan Zimmerman was called up, he became a story. His prowess down the line,...