Whatever good vibes the Nationals hoped to get from their annual Independence Day morning game quickly dissipated in the top of the second inning when Erick Fedde walked off the mound with an apparent injury and left this reeling pitching staff in a major bind as it tries to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Red Sox. Fedde threw only 25 total pitches, four of them to Rafael Devers to lead off the top of the second. His fastball velocity, which topped out at 95 mph in the first inning, dropped...

When he learned he had fractured his left index finger June 15 in Toronto, Matt Adams assumed he'd be forced to miss a considerable amount of time, certainly more than a month. Only 19 days later, though, Adams is back on the Nationals' active roster, available off the bench for today's series finale against the Red Sox and set to rejoin the lineup this weekend against the Marlins. "From everything that was being told to me, I think it's a little sooner than we expected," the left-handed...

The last month or so of Nationals baseball has been a little bit rough. It's been tough for the team and tough for fans, and at times it's been hard to watch. They keep finding new ways to lose, and it seems like there are never enough runs scored, they can't get that big hit and there are always runners left on base. It's frustrating. But we can't wallow in misery. If we only talk about failures and what the team isn't doing right, we're going to drive ourselves crazy. Yeah, things...

The Washington Nationals returned from rehab and reinstated infielder/outfielder Matt Adams from the 10-day disabled list and designated left-handed pitcher Tim Collins for assignment on Wednesday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. Adams, 31, returns to the active roster after missing 16 games with a fractured left index finger. Prior to being placed on the disabled list, Adams hit .275 with seven doubles, 13 home runs, 36 RBI, 16...

The Nationals have lost 14 of their last 18 games. They're seven games out of first place, 4 1/2 games out of second place. They're a .500 club right now that can't seem to do anything right. But you know what? It's Independence Day in the District of Columbia, and there's a ballgame being played today in town. It could be worse, a lot worse. It would be better, of course, if the Nationals could pull off a win today against the Red Sox and avoid a series sweep (not to mention a sub-.500...

PHILADELPHIA - Before last night's game we found out that outfielder Colby Rasmus had left the Orioles, but no specific reason was given for that. After the game, two of his Orioles teammates expressed support for Rasmus. The Orioles placed him on the restricted list, which means he will forfeit his remaining salary and that he comes off both the 25-man and 40-man rosters. This is the second year in a row that Rasmus has walked away from a team in the month of July. He went on the Tampa Bay...

PHILADELPHIA - In need of a good outing, Orioles right-hander Alex Cobb got one tonight. In need of many victories, the Orioles did not get one tonight. Their offense was held to three runs or less for the 29th time in the last 40 games in a 3-2 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies to start a two-game series. A crowd of 28,204 waited out a rain delay of 1 hour, 25 minutes before first pitch. Philadelphia third baseman Maikel Franco made a diving backhand stop against Chris Davis with two outs and...

This time it wasn't close. The Red Sox used a six-run fifth inning to run away from the Nationals 11-4 before a sellout crowd of 42,531 at Nationals Park. Suddenly, a Nats team that was riding high at 33-22 is back to .500 at 42-42. They are 4-14 since June 14. Similar to Monday, Boston raced out to a 3-0 lead. This time it was a three-run homer by Eduardo Núñez. The turning point arrived halfway through when the Nats had scored two runs to cut the deficit to 3-2. Tanner Roark was unable...

A very happy Independence Day to everyone out there as we celebrate this great country that we live in! If you do not already have plans for this evening and want to see some fantastic fireworks and great baseball, there are two Orioles minor league affiliates that have you covered. While the Triple-A Norfolk Tides, high Single-A Frederick Keys and short-season Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds are on the road, the Double-A Bowie Baysox and low Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds are at home this...

The non-waiver trade deadline alone can fill up a mailbag. When the Orioles are connected to it, we're talking about a major overflow. You could paper the streets. The same five or six questions, but still ... There's a burning desire to separate fact from fiction, which is as complicated as splitting the atom - or knowing whether the Orioles will split from Adam. Let's get to it and check off another blog-entry sequel. Which team is the favorite to sign Manny Machado? I don't understand...