The Nationals finally solved left-hander Patrick Corbin and the answer came from Ryan Zimmerman. Moved up to the No. 2 spot in the order, Zimmerman crushed a Corbin four-seam fastball with a man on base in his second at-bat. David Peralta quickly answered as well in the top of the fourth with a solo shot down the left field line off of Nationals starter Jeremy Hellickson. Arizona got two more men on in that inning thanks to a single by Daniel Descalso and a walk to Christian Walker. But...

The Orioles optioned left-hander Tanner Scott to Triple-A Norfolk this afternoon and recalled outfielder Joey Rickard from the Tides, giving them a four-man bench and Richard Bleier as the sole left-handed reliever. Scott has allowed three runs and six hits with one walk and five strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings over his three appearances. He goes back in Norfolk's bullpen, where the Orioles want to get him more consistent work and have him pitch on back-to-back days. Manager Buck Showalter is...

April 28, 2012, 19-year-old Bryce Harper made his major league debut at Dodger Stadium as the Nats faced off against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Harper went 1-for-3, a double off of Chad Billingsley, with one RBI. Manager Davey Martinez is now his manager on that "birthday" six years later. "Hey, by the way, happy major league birthday to Bryce Harper, 25 years old, six years, pretty impressive," Martinez announced during his pregame media session Saturday before the Nationals faced off...

The Orioles haven't posted their lineup tonight, but outfielder Joey Rickard walked through the clubhouse. Are the Orioles going back to a four-man bench? Is there an injury? Stay tuned. Rickard is batting .345/.456/.473 with five doubles, one triple and 10 RBIs in 16 games with Triple-A Norfolk. The Orioles are facing left-handed starters in the last two games of their series against the Tigers before heading to the West Coast. Trey Mancini was removed from last night's game for a defensive...

Nationals manager Davey Martinez decided to tweak the lineup a bit for Saturday's second game of the series against the Diamondbacks and their 4-0 left-hander Patrick Corbin. Center fielder Michael A. Taylor is back after just pinch-hitting in game one. But the bigger eyebrow raiser was seeing Ryan Zimmerman moved up to the No. 2 spot and Howie Kendrick placed in the cleanup spot at No. 4. "I kind of like it," Martinez said. "I've done it before with Joe (Maddon), moving guys around. Just...

Manager: Mike Scioscia (19th season) Record: 16-12 Last 10 games: 3-7 Who to watch: CF Mike Trout (10 HR, 18 RBIs, 5 steals), 1B Albert Pujols (5 HR, 14 RBIs), SS Andrelton Simmons (15 RBIs), DH Shohei Ohtani (4 HR, .341 average), RHP Garrett Richards (3-1, 4.88 ERA), RHP Kenyan Middleton (six saves, 2.40 ERA) Season series vs. Orioles: First meeting (4-2 in 2017) Pitching probables: May 1: RHP Alex Cobb (0-3) vs. RHP Nick Tropeano (1-2), 10:07 p.m., MASN2May 2: RHP Dylan Bundy (1-3) vs. LHP...

While Orioles right-hander Chris Tillman had to be thrilled with his outing last night, he was firm in saying this doesn't yet mean he is back or that he has turned a corner or turned around his poor pitching of the last two seasons. "No. Absolutely not," Tillman said. "Every start is a challenge. The next team could care less what the heck I did tonight. You have to keep working. Just a piece of the puzzle and you have to keep on going." But seeing Tillman throw seven scoreless innings in...

Does a team's record in one-run games reveal anything about it? Is a good record in those tight games evidence of a team that just finds ways to win or a sign of good fortune? Is a bad record evidence of an unlucky team or one that has a fundamental flaw? We don't know yet which explanation applies to the 2018 Nationals. But we do know this: They've been terrible in one-run games so far. Friday night's 5-4 setback to the Diamondbacks left the Nats with a 1-7 record in one-run games, worst...

The Nationals left 10 men on base in Friday's series opening loss to the Diamondbacks, 5-4. They had 11 hits in the game and scored only four runs. Arizona had only six hits, left only two men on base, and were just 1-for-3 with runners in scoring position, but managed to push one more run across for the win. The Nats were just 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position. The team is 11-15 overall and 3-8 at home. Is it time for Nationals manager Davey Martinez to get frustrated? "I don't get...

Four runs, with Stephen Strasburg on the mound, probably should have been enough for the Nationals tonight. It would've been enough in any of his final 10 starts last season. This season, it's been a slightly different story. Three times in six starts, Strasburg has allowed four or more runs, including the five he surrendered to the Diamondbacks in 6 1/3 innings tonight. So you could pin the Nationals' 5-4 loss on the right-hander, who twice was handed a lead by his teammates and twice gave...