ATLANTA - It's easy to look at Sunday's 4-2 loss to the Braves and place blame at the arms of Shawn Kelley and Tanner Roark, who surrendered the two late home runs that turned a one-run lead into a two-run defeat. Not that those two right-handers don't deserve some criticism for their failure to keep the ball in the park at the most critical points of the game, but all of this would be moot if the Nationals did something seemingly simple during the game: score another run. Let's be honest...

The first time I attended a baseball game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, I didn't comprehend what I was doing there. I was merely a youngster, who couldn't have understood the magnitude of the stadium. I knew I enjoyed it. I knew it was majestic and it was part of what caused me to fall in love with not only the Orioles, but with baseball as a whole. There are certain things about it that draw you in. It's the gardens outside home plate plaza, which always seem to be blooming with bright...

The three-day, 40 round First-Year Player Draft begins tonight. The first round, which will be televised live on MLB Network, is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET. Tonight, teams will draft through the second round and the completion of compensation picks after that round, so that takes the draft through 78 selections. The draft resumes at 1 p.m. ET on Tuesday with round three through 10, and concludes at Noon ET on Wednesday with selections in rounds 11 through 40. The Orioles will make two...

ATLANTA - Davey Martinez and his staff prepare for every conceivable scenario before they take their positions in the dugout for any given ballgame. And so they had concocted a plan this morning for what truly amounted to a worst-case scenario in today's series finale against the Braves: an early departure by Jeremy Hellickson. That plan was going to include Jefry Rodriguez, summoned from Double-A Harrisburg this morning, providing maybe two or three innings of relief only three days after an...

ATLANTA - After going 14 innings on Saturday, after watching Jeremy Hellickson depart with an apparent hamstring injury in the first inning today and then after watching the Braves rally to tie the game late, the Nationals reached a point late this afternoon where the need for their series finale to end was about to become more important than the need to win. That point didn't quite arrive, but it came close. The Nationals were forced to send Tanner Roark to the mound for the bottom of the...

ATLANTA - After watching their bullpen throw seven perfect innings during Saturday's 14-inning win, the last thing the Nationals needed was to have to turn to their relief corps early today. Which is exactly what happened after starter Jeremy Hellickson departed only two batters into the bottom of the first with what appeared to be a hamstring injury. Hellickson hurt himself trying to make a leaping catch of Mark Reynolds' high toss on Ozzie Albies' grounder to first. The ball caromed off...

ATLANTA - The Nationals don't know yet when Daniel Murphy will make his season debut, but they seem to have conceded it won't come at the start of this week's homestand. Murphy, who has spent the last week playing six rehab games for Double-A Harrisburg, is scheduled to be back in Washington on Tuesday to be evaluated by doctors and meet with club officials. Despite some initial hope he might be ready to be activated by then, manager Davey Martinez suggested today that won't happen. "I...

Manager: Mickey Callaway (1st season) Record: 27-30 Last 10 games: 2-8 Who to watch: SS Asdrúbal Cabrera (.292 with 10 HR, 34 RBIs), 1B Adrián González (6 HR, 26 RBIs), LF Brandon Nimmo (.276, 14 RBIs, 6 SB), CF Michael Conforto (7 HR), RHP Jeurys Familia (2.25 ERA, 14 saves) Season series vs. Orioles: First meeting (3-1 in 2015) Pitching probables: June 5: RHP Alex Cobb (1-7) vs. LHP Jason Vargas (2-3), 7:10 p.m., MASN June 6: RHP Dylan Bundy (3-7) vs. RHP Zach Wheeler (2-4), 7:10...

The Orioles didn't waste any time waiting through the rain this morning, announcing that their game against the Yankees has been postponed due to inclement weather. The game will be made up as part of a split separate-admission doubleheader on Aug. 25. First pitch for the opener is 1:05 p.m., with the nightcap starting at 7:05 p.m. Separate admission is required for each game. Tickets and prepaid parking passes for today's postponed game will be honored for the 1:05 p.m. game and don't need...

ATLANTA - It's another scorching hot and humid day here at SunTrust Park, where the Nationals and Braves wrap up their four-game series, the Nats trying to salvage a split after yesterday's dramatic 14-inning victory. To do so, they're probably going to need some effective work from their bullpen again today, though that group was taxed yesterday and has a new face in it today. Tim Collins, who did not appear in the game, has been placed on the paternity leave list and has left town to be...