Max Scherzer will depart for Cleveland after today's first-half finale and participate in All-Star festivities, but he won't pitch in Tuesday's Midsummer Classic because of a stiff back he says has bothered him during each of his last two starts. Scherzer doesn't consider the injury serious, and he will make his second-half debut next Sunday in Philadelphia, but after he met with manager Davey Martinez and general manager Mike Rizzo on Saturday evening, the group decided the Nationals ace...

Right-hander Justin Miller was back in the Nats clubhouse fresh off multiple pitching sessions in West Palm Beach. Miller has been recovering from a right rotator cuff strain that has had him sidelined since May 18. He has missed 42 games. "I threw live BP (with) the hitters just tracking underneath the tunnels. The next day I had a day off, and the next day I threw a sim game, so live BP, basically. Then after that I had two days off and I threw the first (Gulf Coast League) game. Then I had...

TORONTO - Manager Brandon Hyde has set a portion of his starting rotation for the first few games after the All-Star break. After ending the pre-break portion of their schedule today in Toronto, the Orioles host the Tampa Bay Rays starting Friday for four games in three days. They'll play Friday night with a split day-night doubleheader Saturday and a Sunday afternoon series finale with the Rays. Hyde confirmed again today that Dylan Bundy will start the first game back. Lefty John Means will...

The Orioles will close out the first half of the season by attempting to complete a three-game sweep in Toronto. Anthony Santander is in left field and Stevie Wilkerson is in center. Chance Sisco is batting cleanup again. Chris Davis moves up to sixth in the order. Asher Wojciechowski makes his second start with the Orioles. For the Orioles Jonathan Villar SS Anthony Santander LF Trey Mancini RF Chance Sisco C Renato Núñez DH Chris Davis 1B Hanser Alberto 2B Rio Ruiz 3B Stevie Wilkerson...

It's the final day of the first half of the season, and what a wild first half it's been for the Nationals. They went 19-31 over their first 50 games. Only the Marlins were worse in the National League. They've now gone 27-11 over their last 38 games. Nobody in baseball has been better. A win today would not only seal up another series victory, this time over the Royals, but it would send the Nationals into the All-Star break on a high note, no worse than six games back in the NL East and...

In the summer of 1981, Orioles outfielder Ken Singleton was putting up All-Star numbers in the season's first half. Then he spent a month wondering if the season would be completed. Singleton was hitting .408 on May 9 after getting three hits for the Orioles in a game at Texas. He was on a streak of getting hits in 13 of 16 games when the players decided to go on strike June 12. Singleton was averaging .340 with a .433 on-base percentage, a .978 OPS and nine home runs when the strike...

The Nationals bounced back from Friday's loss to the Royals with a convincing 6-0 victory Saturday afternoon. Max Scherzer pitched seven shutout innings, Kurt Suzuki hit a two-run shot and Juan Soto went 2-for4 with two RBIs to lift the Nats to 46-42. The Nats are in a battle for second place in the National League. East, six games back of the Braves. The Phillies lost to the Mets 6-5, so they trail Atlanta by 6 1/2 games. The Marlins beat the Braves 5-4 on Saturday. The Nationals are now...

Turns out the Nationals won't have anyone appearing in this year's All-Star Game. One night after Anthony Rendon was replaced on the National League's roster, Max Scherzer has been replaced. Major League Baseball announced late tonight that Reds right-hander Sonny Gray is replacing Scherzer on the NL roster. Scherzer, who pitched seven scoreless innings in today's 6-0 win over the Royals, won't be appearing in Tuesday's Midsummer Classic, but he is still expected to travel to Cleveland...

TORONTO - Considering that the Orioles went 0-10 at Rogers Centre last year, this weekend has been pretty solid for the team. They've posted wins by 4-1 and 8-1 over the Blue Jays and today can sweep this three-game series. It's the last game before the All-Star break for the Orioles (27-61), who are 5-3 the last eight games. A win today would give Baltimore a four-game win streak to match a season high. The team won four in a row after an opening day loss in New York to go 4-1 to start the...

TORONTO - So why have the Orioles played much better lately? They looked bad during a 1-6 road trip and not much better in getting swept two in a row at home recently by San Diego. But they beat Cleveland 13-0 on back-to-back nights and are 5-3 over their last eight games. It's been a bit of a team effort. The O's offense has scored 21 runs the last three games and 53 over the past eight games. They've hit 13 homers in that span. The starting pitchers are 4-2 with a 2.05 ERA in the...