After the third Chris Tillman start of two innings or less this season, last night, right-hander Miguel Castro came to the rescue of the Orioles pitching staff. Castro came in with the Orioles down 6-3 in the second inning and pitched long enough and well enough for the Orioles to score eight unanswered runs and win 11-6 to take the series over Kansas City. Castro pitched 4 2/3 innings, the second longest outing of his career, and gave up no runs on four hits on 65 pitches. "I just went out...

The Orioles overcame another short start by Chris Tillman tonight. He allowed four hits and six runs in 1 1/3 and allowed a Salvador Perez first-inning grand slam. Yet the Orioles rallied for an 11-6 win over Kansas City to take a series for just the third time in 2018. Tillman gave up sevens runs in an inning-plus in his start before this one against the Los Angeles Angels. Tonight, his ERA rose to 10.46. Over his past two games he's pitched 2 1/3 innings, allowing 11 hits and 13 runs (12...

Is it Kevin Gausman's turn to assume the role and the responsibility of staff ace for the Orioles? It belonged to Chris Tillman until his disastrous 2017 season. Dylan Bundy earned it, along with the opening day start on March 29, but he's struggled in his last three outings and failed to retire a batter Tuesday night. Alex Cobb is getting better and Andrew Cashner registered his fourth quality start Wednesday night, but Gausman deserves the belt. He should wear it around his waist tonight...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter isn't ready to decide Chris Tillman's fate or to make a proclamation hours after the veteran right-hander retired only four batters. An off-day on Monday allows him to play with the rotation. Options are under consideration, but that's been the case for a while. Tillman was taken off the hook, at least for tonight, when the Orioles rallied against Ian Kennedy and defeated the Royals 11-6 before an announced crowd of 17,842 at Camden Yards. The Orioles (10-27)...

PHOENIX - A Nationals club that already has dealt with long-term injuries to multiple key regulars this season just saw another one go down to a potentially serious injury. Matt Wieters appeared to injure his left knee after taking a wide turn around first base on his second-inning single tonight at Chase Field, leaving a Nats organization woefully thin on catching depth in a possible jam. With one out in the top of the second, Wieters singled through a hole on the left side of the infield made...

On a night when right-hander Chris Tillman struggled badly again, the Orioles offense overcame an early hole and continued to show signs of potentially better times ahead for the batters. Down 4-0 after the top of the first, the Orioles hit three homers tonight as they rallied to beat Kansas City 11-6, to win the series at Oriole Park. The Orioles improved to 10-27 overall, 7-11 at home and to 3-9 in 12 series. They won for just the sixth time in the last 27 games. The Orioles have their second...

PHOENIX - A month after losing him to what they hoped was a minor ankle injury, the Nationals finally figured out what exactly was wrong with Adam Eaton. That's the good news. The bad news: It required surgery to figure it out. Eaton had arthroscopic surgery today in Green Bay, Wis., to remove a flap of cartilage that didn't show up in any of the three imaging tests the Nationals gave the outfielder over the last month but was the source of his pain any time he tried to run. General manager...

As Chris Tillman walked off the mound tonight with one out in the second inning and six runs already against him, he had to wonder if he'd get another chance in the rotation. Whether he'd get another chance to wear the uniform. The leash figured to be long for a former All-Star who signed a contract in spring training that guaranteed him $3 million. However, Tillman has totaled 2 1/3 innings in his last two starts since blanking the Tigers on one hit through the seventh. He kept missing his...

The Orioles have just two series wins in 2018, going 2-9 in 11 series. They can win a third series tonight as they play the rubber match of a three-game series with Kansas City. The O's previous two series victories came when they took three of four April 5-8 at New York and they won two of three April 27-29 versus Detroit. Kansas City scored 10 runs in the first inning Tuesday on its way to a 15-7 win in the series opener. Chris Davis hit a three-run homer last night and Mark Trumbo singled...

PHOENIX - To say it's slightly warmer here than it was in San Diego when last we spoke is a mild understatement. It's 104 degrees at the moment - it was 67 degrees at first pitch last night at Petco Park - but the good news is they just closed the massive roof here at Chase Field (which it appears won't be the home of the Diamondbacks for much longer, by the way, but that's a different story). The Nationals come here having taken two of three from the Padres, but they'll face a much...