One element of the minor league system that has been an advantage for the Nationals is the close proximity of each affiliate to each other and to Washington, D.C., and most importantly, Nationals Park. Countless times, the Nats have utilized their high Single-A location in Woodbridge, Va., the Potomac Nationals, to rehab their major league players. Even low single-A Hagerstown is just over an hour away from D.C., and if the Suns are home instead of the P-Nats, players can get access to live...

Some Sunday morning news and notes before the Nationals and Rockies wrap up their four-game series ... * It didn't lead to any actual runs scored for the Nationals, but there's no denying Max Scherzer's fifth-inning single Saturday served as something of a wakeup call for a slumbering offense and fired up the entire dugout. The Nationals trailed the Rockies 2-1 and hadn't found any way to escape the doldrums that had been present throughout the series. Then Scherzer lined a 1-2 pitch from...

BOSTON - The Orioles' streak of roster moves on game days is up to seven with Jonathan Schoop going on the disabled list yesterday and Alex Cobb getting his official recall from Double-A Bowie. Will it grow to eight? The bullpen is the usual suspect, so let's go there first. Donnie Hart threw 17 pitches Friday night after being recalled and 22 yesterday while working twice in less than 24 hours. He retired four of five batters in his debut and allowed an unearned run yesterday over 1 1/3...

The Orioles have been outhit, outplayed and outclassed the first two days in Boston. They've lost by scores of 7-3 and 10-3, and their starting pitchers allowed 17 hits and 14 runs over 5 2/3 innings. Their run total of three was matched by their errors total of three on Saturday. Not a formula for success at Fenway Park - or anywhere for that matter. Right-hander Alex Cobb figures to pitch pretty well for the club, but his first start for the Orioles was about as rocky as it gets. Cobb was...

BOSTON - The MRI on second baseman Jonathan Schoop's right oblique this morning revealed a Grade 1 strain, which is a sliver of good news on an otherwise lousy day for the Orioles. Though Schoop was forced to go on the 10-day disabled list, he suffered a milder strain among the classifications and could return sooner than anticipated. "There's grades 1 through 5, with 5 being the most severe, and that was a 1," manager Buck Showalter explained after a 10-3 loss to the Red Sox at Fenway...

Michael A. Taylor wasn't surprised when he got the sign from Bob Henley. "I'm ready for anything," the Nationals center fielder said. "We did work on it in spring training, so I feel comfortable with it." "It" was the safety squeeze manager Davey Martinez called in the bottom of the sixth this afternoon, the Nationals and Rockies tied at that point with runners on the corners and one out. At a time when his team was searching for any way possible to score a key run, Martinez decided to...

The rally was coming, of this Davey Martinez was sure. Give a lineup like this enough chances, the rookie manager figured, and it would happen. Even if that lineup featured only four regulars and a couple of names even the die-hards might not have known prior to a week ago. Sure enough, the rally did finally come. It came in the bottom of the sixth today at Nationals Park. And once it did, the Nationals finally could breathe the sigh of relief they'd been holding in for days. With a four-run...

BOSTON - Alex Cobb can't be judged on one start. Signing him as a free agent can't be deemed a colossal failure after one inning. The same patience required to prepare him for today's debut with the Orioles is needed to grade him. He didn't pass today. There will be plenty of other tests. The first four Red Sox batters reached against Cobb this afternoon and he allowed three runs and threw 28 pitches before retreating to the visiting dugout. The storms forecast for the next two days arrived...

If the Nationals, with a makeshift lineup, needed Max Scherzer to be perfect today, they found out very quickly that wouldn't be the case. Scherzer issued a four-pitch walk to Gerardo Parra and then served up a two-run homer to Charlie Blackmon in the top of the first this afternoon, leaving the offensively challenged Nats in an early 2-0 hole against the Rockies. Not that Scherzer is pitching poorly in his fourth start of the season. Through five innings, that early walk-homer combo...

The time has finally come for new Orioles right-hander Alex Cobb. After signing with the club on March 21 and making four starts in Florida, Cobb's first game for the Orioles is set for this afternoon at Fenway Park. The 30-year-old right-hander was 12-10 with a 3.66 ERA for the Tampa Bay Rays last season. His ERA was 4.52 after his first 12 starts. But in his last 17, Cobb went 8-5 with an ERA of 3.07, allowing three earned runs or less 14 times. He set career highs in wins, innings (179 1/3)...