The Double-A Harrisburg Senators' Twitter account last Thursday announced that Nationals players Matt Grace, Brian Goodwin and Daniel Murphy would begin rehabilitation assignments last weekend. Adam Eaton starts his rehab at Harrisburg today. The healthy return of each player is a positive for the Nationals, but could lead to some difficult roster decisions for manager Davey Martinez. According to Martinez, Goodwin is expected to return first, followed by Grace, Murphy and finally Eaton, who...

ATLANTA - The outcome of Thursday night's game wasn't going to make or break the Nationals' season. They were either going to increase their lead over the Braves to 1 1/2 games or cede first place in the division back to Atlanta and fall 1/2-game behind. Either way, it was only game No. 55 out of 162. And by the end of the weekend, they'll have played only 58 out of 162. There's a tremendous amount of baseball left to be played. So the Nationals weren't going to put too much emphasis on...

After Thursday's rainout, the Orioles and New York Yankees look to get their series going tonight at Camden Yards. It is now a rain-shortened three-game series and the rainout will be made up as part of a single-admission doubleheader on July 9 at 4:05 p.m. Both clubs just pushed their starters back a day. So Andrew Cashner (2-6, 5.07 ERA) faces Sonny Gray (3-4, 5.98 ERA) tonight. On Saturday afternoon, the scheduled starters are Kevin Gausman (3-4, 4.31 ERA) and Masahiro Tanaka (6-2, 4.62...

Last night's postponement pushes the Orioles' starters back a day in the series and bumps Dylan Bundy from facing the Yankees. Andrew Cashner gets the ball tonight - weather permitting, of course - followed by Kevin Gausman on Saturday and Alex Cobb on Sunday. The Orioles are off Monday, other than working the First-Year Player Draft, which keeps Bundy waiting until Tuesday night against the Mets at Citi Field. Bundy is 2-3 with a 5.34 ERA and 1.582 WHIP in seven career games against the...

ATLANTA - The mild-mannered crowd of 22,380 at this second-year ballpark in the suburbs didn't much convey it, but tonight's game between the Nationals and Braves was the biggest matchup of these division rivals in at least four years, with first place at stake. Then again, the visiting club that has ruled the National League East for the better part of six seasons now didn't exactly put on its best show in the opener of this four-game series. Despite two early runs that seemed to set the...

Tonight's scheduled game between the Orioles and New York Yankees has been postponed due to inclement weather. The game will be made up as part of a traditional (single-admission) doubleheader on Monday, July 9. The first game of the July 9 doubleheader will begin at 4:05 p.m. ET, followed by the regularly-scheduled game approximately 30 minutes after the first game concludes. Tickets and parking for Thursday's postponed game will not be automatically honored for the July 9 doubleheader. Fans...

ATLANTA - In the opener of their big weekend series with the Braves, the Nationals have played some small ball to get on the board. Atlanta, on the other hand, has piled up hits to take the lead. The Nats scored two runs in the first three innings with the benefit of only three hits, all singles. Rather, it was two walks, two stolen bases (one of them a double-steal) and two productive outs that helped make those two early runs possible. Back-to-back walks by Trea Turner and Bryce Harper put...

ATLANTA - The Nationals are getting the first of their key injured players back tonight, with Ryan Madson activated off the disabled list. And more appear to be coming, with Brian Goodwin likely joining the club this weekend and Daniel Murphy and Matt Grace not too far behind. Madson was added back to the active roster in time for tonight's opener against the Braves, the strained right pectoral muscle that sidelined him for two weeks having healed. The veteran setup man was able to make it...

Jonathan Schoop will try to bust out of his slump tonight against Yankees right-hander Sonny Gray. He's batting fifth for the first time this season after occupying the cleanup spot in 21 games. Manager Buck Showalter also used Schoop once as the leadoff hitter and batted him third in 14 games. Nothing is working for Schoop while he's gone 3-for-20 with seven strikeouts in his last five games. Three of the strikeouts came last night against Nationals starter Max Scherzer. He's getting good...

After losing three straight to the Washington Nationals by a combined 11-2 score, the Orioles host the New York Yankees tonight. It's the start of a four-game series to wrap up a seven-game homestand. No game tonight: Tonight's game has been rained out. The clubs will make it up as part of a single-admission doubleheader on Monday July 9 at 4:05 p.m. The Yankees (35-17) are two games behind the Red Sox (39-17) for the American League East lead. They also hold the second-best win percentage in...