Max Scherzer tries not to think about it until he gets deep into a game. No sense worrying about going the distance until it's within realistic reach. Scherzer's goal when he took the mound tonight at Nationals Park was to get through at least seven innings on 105 pitches. That would be enough to help cover for a relief corps that tossed a combined seven frames during Sunday night's marathon loss to the Mets. Anything beyond that would be gravy. But as the zeros kept piling up and his pitch...

It took a special set of circumstances to get Hunter Harvey to the majors. The Orioles needed to play games covering 14 and 12 innings over the weekend. The bullpen had to account for 20 2/3 innings. The next opponent, the Toronto Blue Jays, had to carry a roster heavy in right-handed hitters. And the list of available right-handed pitchers on the Orioles' 40-man roster had to be limited. It also helped that Harvey is a top pitching prospect who already tempted the Orioles in spring training....

Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs center fielder Victor Robles dove for a fly ball in shallow left-center field Monday night in a game at Rochester and rolled over awkwardly on his left elbow. According to a video replay from WROC-TV, Robles left the game under his own power, but his left arm hung down and it was not moving as he headed to the clubhouse. See the video below. The Chiefs did not have an update immediately after the game. A Nationals spokesman said there would be no update on Robles until...

For the third time this season, Orioles starter Dylan Bundy gave his team a strong start. For the third time, he got little run support. The Orioles went 0-for-12 tonight with runners in scoring position in a 7-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. They began a three-game series with the loss to fall to 1-3 at home and to 4-7 for the season. A very chilly but small crowd of 7,915 looked on at Camden Yards. Toronto turned a 2-1 lead into a 7-1 win, scoring five runs in the ninth. Nestor Cortes Jr....

The Orioles put the first two runners on base tonight and didn't score, with Blue Jays left-hander J.A. Happ striking out the next three batters. They put the first two runners on base in the second and didn't score, with Happ striking out the next three batters. Redundant and ridiculous. Two on and no outs in the fifth inning later became bases loaded and one out, but Adam Jones bounced into a double play. A two-out walk to Tim Beckham in the sixth produced nothing. Back-to-back singles with...

With a five-game losing streak on their minds and an exhausted set of relievers in their bullpen, the Nationals tonight turned to the kind of guy who is hardwired to solve all of his team's woes in one brilliant pitching performance. Max Scherzer is the ace of this club, and the National League's back-to-back Cy Young Award winner for a reason. And that reason was on full display tonight before 19,528 brave souls who sat through another frigid evening at the park but were rewarded with a 2-0...

The 1-2-5 double play executed yesterday by the Orioles in the 12th inning was the first in club history and certainly the first involving Tim Beckham, who's making only his 16th career start tonight at third base. Beckham alertly covered the bag as reliever Brad Brach fielded Aaron Judge's comebacker with the bases loaded, no outs and the Orioles clinging to a one-run lead. Brach fired to catcher Caleb Joseph, a calm and accurate throw given the intense situation and his two walks and...

Nationals starter Max Scherzer set the tone early by striking out two in the first: Ozzie Albies swinging and Freddie Freeman looking. Then the Nationals offense did likewise in their half of the first. Anthony Rendon doubled and Bryce Harper walked. With two outs, Howie Kendrick lined a double down the left field line to score two. The Nationals have scored at least one run in the first inning in eight of their 10 games. Update: Scherzer allowed a single to Kurt Suzuki in the second, but no...

After a road trip where they went 0-3 at Houston and 3-1 at New York, the Orioles get a brief chance to play a few games at home starting tonight. They'll host Toronto for a three-game series at Camden Yards before they go back on the road. The Orioles produced a couple of wild extra-inning wins at Yankee Stadium to take that series after going 2-8 there last season. Right-hander Dylan Bundy (0-0, 0.69 ERA) makes his third start of the season tonight. Bundy began the year pitching on opening...

Assuming all goes well during a brief rehab assignment with Single-A Potomac, the Nationals expect to have Matt Wieters back on their active roster Thursday when he becomes eligible to return from the 10-day disabled list. At which point they are going to face a dilemma involving the emerging Pedro Severino. Wieters, out since April 2 with a mild left oblique strain, worked out on the field at Nationals Park early this afternoon, taking batting practice from both sides of the plate and throwing...