It has been a bit of the good with the bad for reliever Koda Glover as he looks to find consistency in his first few games back with the Nationals after a long road back from injury. The flame throwing right-hander got two outs on four pitches in Chicago on Aug. 10. He followed that up with one solid inning Aug. 12 against the Cubs, allowing a hit but no runs. Then on Aug. 13, the Cardinals walked him off with a solo shot by Paul DeJong. On Aug. 16, Glover recorded the save in the Nats' 5-4...

The Orioles are just 3-14-2 in 19 road series this year. They can pick up a fourth road series win if they beat the Indians today at Cleveland's Progressive Field. The Tribe won 2-1 Friday night, and the Orioles won 4-2 on Saturday afternoon. Right-hander Alex Cobb pitched a complete-game five-hitter in the win, throwing 100 pitches. Cobb threw 37 four-seam fastballs, 37 split-finger fastballs and 26 curveballs. Cobb has six quality starts his last seven games with a 2.14 ERA in that...

The Orioles have played two pretty solid games in Cleveland this weekend and they posted an impressive 4-2 win on Saturday afternoon to end the Indians' six-game win streak. Right-hander Alex Cobb had another strong start. In fact, he pitched a complete-game five-hitter to improve to 4-15 with a 5.09 ERA. Cobb posted his fourth career complete game and his first nine-inning complete-game since a shutout versus Oakland on Aug. 23, 2012. Cobb has posted five straight quality starts with a 2.06...

The Nationals know they can't win every game the rest of the way, that there are going to be nights they simply don't put themselves in position to win and have to shrug off a loss. But they also know there have been and will continue to be games that are right there for the taking, games they absolutely must win if they have any hope of a meaningful, late-season charge. Games like tonight's contest against the Marlins, in which opportunities were abundant and victory was so close they could...

CLEVELAND - If we're warned not to be fooled by spring training and September numbers, what about August performances in a rebuild? Jonathan Villar has looked pretty good in the field since coming over from the Brewers, and he can run and steal bases. I separate the two because other players - Felix Pie and David Lough come to mind - have been fast and also useless on the basepaths. Villar showed again yesterday that he also can take a pitch for a ride. He clobbered a fastball from Indians...

The Marlins tallied first with a solo homer by Derek Dietrich off of Nationals starter Jefry Rodriguez to lead off the second. It was Dietrich's 15th homer of the season, and came on a 1-0 pitch. Rodriguez helped his own cause in the bottom of the third with a one-out single off of Marlins starter Wei-Yin Chen. Trea Turner followed with a two-run shot, his 15th of the season, on a 1-1 offering, After three innings, the Nats lead the Marlins 2-1. Update: The Marlins tied the game in the fifth....

CLEVELAND - Alex Cobb had no idea about his pitch count today as he sat in the dugout after the seventh inning. He only knew that it felt light. Pitching coach Roger McDowell checked on him. Cobb said he was good and asked for the total more out of curiosity than any signs that his day was ending. Barreling toward his fourth career complete game, Cobb returned to the mound in the eighth at 77 pitches. Paul Fry stopped warming in the bullpen. Mychal Givens sat back down in the ninth. Cobb was...

CLEVELAND - Cedric Mullins has heard in the past that he's the prototypical leadoff hitter, probably because there aren't prototypical cleanup hitters who are measured at 5-foot-8. It's more than his size, however, as Mullins demonstrated this afternoon while pushing a bunt past the mound in the third inning. Austin Wynns drew a one-out walk against Indians rookie Adam Plutko and Mullins reached on his bunt single. Plutko scrambled to field it and no one was covering first base - perhaps...

The Nationals could have both Stephen Strasburg and Kelvin Herrera back on their active pitching staff for next week's series against the Phillies, though a final determination on each injured right-hander won't be made until Sunday at the earliest. Strasburg and Herrera each threw this afternoon at Nationals Park, and each appeared to emerge from the session in good shape. Strasburg threw more than 40 pitches in a bullpen session, a typical activity for him between starts. This came three...

Nationals manager Davey Martinez explained the reasoning behind tonight's adjustment in the starting rotation as the club called up right-hander Jefry Rodriguez and gave him the start against the Miami Marlins. Martinez said club officials have liked what they have seen the last two starts from Rodriguez, one with the Nats on Aug. 7 and an 11-strikeout performance for Triple-A Syracuse on Aug. 12. Left-hander Tommy Milone, tonight's original starter, now moves to the bullpen and helps the...