Among the plethora of compliments bestowed upon Juan Soto in his first month in the big leagues, perhaps this latest one from the mouth of his manager tonight is most meaningful. "He's got unbelievable poise," Nationals manager Davey Martinez said, "no matter what the situation is." Martinez already knew that before Soto stepped to the plate in the bottom of the eighth tonight, the Nats' game with the Orioles on the line, and watched the 19-year-old deliver the two-run double that...

It was unusual to see right-hander Max Scherzer allow a pair of home runs and uncork a wild pitch in Thursday's start versus the Orioles. But the fact that matters the most is that the Nationals' ace gave his club a chance to win the game. And that is exactly what the Nationals did, dropping the Orioles 4-2 and winning the series, thanks to a timely two-run double from rookie sensation Juan Soto in the eighth inning. "Hey, we won the ballgame," Scherzer said. "That's what matters. That's...

WASHINGTON - Right-hander Kevin Gausman recorded a quality start and the Orioles became the first team this year to hit more than one homer in a game off three-time Cy Young Winner Max Scherzer. But that didn't get them a win tonight at Nationals Park. The Nats' 19-year-old rookie sensation Juan Soto delivered his latest big hit. This was a two-run double to left center in the eighth as the Nats broke a 2-2 tie and beat the Orioles 4-2 in front of 36,868. The Orioles fall to 21-52 and went...

When the Nationals really needed to deliver a late rally to pull out a close ballgame, they turned to Bryce Harper to set the table and Juan Soto to drive him in. Hey, these are strange times in the nation's capital. What used to work can't be counted on to work anymore. Sometimes you've got to try something different. Davey Martinez did just that tonight, moving the slumping Harper to the leadoff spot in the hopes he would draw more walks and not worry about driving in runs, then moving...

A familiar face is leading the National League's All-Star voting for outfielders: our old pal, Nick Markakis, who at 34 looks like he will finally get a very well deserved first trip to the mid-summer classic. I can't think of anyone more overdue for the honor. Markakis has spent 13 years in the big leagues playing in more than 1,900 games. As Orioles fans are well aware, nine of those years were spent in Baltimore, where he was drafted in the first round in 2003, played through the minor...

Each passing day is going to bring more articles about teams checking in on Manny Machado. It feels like the Winter Meetings, but in the summer and without the media gathering in a suite while trolling for news. The Orioles are waiting for someone to do more than their due diligence. They want multiple pitching prospects despite Machado's pending free agency. They want a team in contention to take the giant leap in an effort to win the World Series. And they're going to stay patient, block...

When the Nationals were rolling offensively, it was their power that separated them from other teams. But recently the offense has stagnated, evidenced by a lack of home run production. As MASNsports.com's Mark Zuckerman tweeted tonight regarding the Nats' power numbers, the Nats have been outhomered by 18 in June. #Nats have been out-homered 27-9 this month. That's a bit of a problem. -- Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) June 21, 2018 That trend repeated itself again early in their series...

WASHINGTON - Orioles manager Buck Showalter said he expects first baseman Chris Davis to return to the starting lineup tomorrow night when the Orioles begin a three-game series in Atlanta. When the Orioles play in Washington tonight, Davis will not be in the lineup for the eighth consecutive game since his last start, June 11 versus Boston, when he went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts to drop his average to .150. Davis' OPS has decreased each month, from .559 in April to .453 in May to .254 in...

Following their 3-0 loss to the Orioles on Wednesday, the Nationals have now been shut out four times since June 10. With the offense searching for some consistency, Nationals manager Davey Martinez decided to put Bryce Harper back into the leadoff spot in Thursday's series finale against the Orioles, something he tinkered with earlier in the season when Adam Eaton and Anthony Rendon were out of the lineup. Martinez said the main reason was to try to jump-start Harper, who has hit only .125...

WASHINGTON - After winning 3-0 last night and splitting two games, the Orioles (21-51) will win the series against the Washington Nationals (39-33) with a victory tonight. The Orioles have won just two road series this year, with eight losses and one tie. They took three of four at the New York Yankees April 5-8 and swept two in New York versus the Mets June 5-6. The Orioles have scored 10 runs in the first two games at Nats Park on 15 hits but they have gone 0-for-13 with runners in scoring...