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...

The Nationals left 19 men on base Friday night in the series opening extra-inning loss to the American League Centeral last-place Royals. Saturday afternoon, the Nats got their offense going quickly so those men left on base didn't have a chance to pile up. Kurt Suzuki highlighted a three-run second inning for the Nationals, evening the series with a 6-0 shutout of Kansas City. Trea Turner, Adam Eaton and Juan Soto all had two hits in the 12-hit barrage. Soto and Suzuki had two RBIs apiece as...

It appears the Nationals and Anthony Rendon are attempting to ramp up contract negotiations again as the season's first half comes to a close. Scott Boras, Rendon's agent, was at Nationals Park today and was seen coming out of an elevator at the clubhouse level following the Nats' 6-0 win over the Royals with founding principal owner Ted Lerner and other members of the Lerner family. A source familiar with the meeting confirmed they are discussing a Rendon contract extension. It's not the...

TORONTO - During their recent West Coast road trip, the Orioles went 1-6 and were outscored 59-29. Then they lost two straight at home to the San Diego Padres and gave up nine homers and 18 runs. But since then the club has played much better, a stretch that began with those back-to-back 13-0 wins last weekend over Cleveland. Today the Orioles backed right-hander Andrew Cashner with two homers and one big inning as they beat Toronto 8-1, their fifth win in the last eight games. The Orioles...

He took the mound wearing a double-knit polyester, powder blue Expos uniform and tri-colored cap. His pant legs were short, his royal blue socks pulled up high. Nothing about the image suggested this was Max Scherzer. Until he began pitching, of course. From that point on, anyone in attendance at Nationals Park on Expos Day could easily look past the throwback uniform and recognize the ace right-hander putting together yet another quintessential performance. Picking up right where he left off...