All but one of the Orioles' minor league affiliates have completed the regular season after Monday's games. Short-season Single-A Aberdeen (40-33) still has three games to play and is three games behind in the New York-Penn League wild card race. Single-A Frederick (68-71) and Double-A Bowie (72-68) will begin the playoffs at home on Wednesday night. While Frederick finished three games under .500, its second-half record (37-33) got the Keys in and they will host Lynchburg Wednesday and...

MIAMI - They spent four days at hitter-friendly Miller Park swinging through high fastballs and low breaking balls, unable to generate offense when they needed it. Then the Nationals arrived at cavernous Marlins Park tonight and proceeded to rediscover their lost ability for offensive explosions. Behind big performances from Daniel Murphy and Anthony Rendon, the Nationals broke out of their funk and cruised to a 7-2 victory over the Marlins that moved them another step closer to another...

The Orioles' latest roster move should come today and involve shortstop J.J. Hardy, who's been throwing and hitting without any issues following a cortisone injection Friday in his right elbow. Hardy is expected to be activated from the disabled list. The popular response to this news from fans on Twitter goes something like this: "Why?" As in, why do the Orioles need Hardy while Tim Beckham is mashing at the plate, including a leadoff home run yesterday while fans were given his...

MIAMI - Max Scherzer isn't concerned about his left calf in the grand scheme of things, but at this point it's uncertain whether the Nationals ace will be able to make his next start on schedule or need to wait a few more days to return to the mound. Scherzer, who took a line drive off his lower left leg Saturday night in Milwaukee, was still walking with a slight limp this afternoon at Marlins Park. He took the field, with glove in hand, along with his teammates for batting practice but...

MIAMI - The injury Erick Fedde is now dealing with - a strained flexor mass in his forearm - wouldn't typically require a long layoff. But given the situation both the Nationals and Fedde are in right now, at this stage of the season, the club has decided to not to send its top pitching prospect back to the mound until next spring. "We shut him down in an abundance of caution," general manager Mike Rizzo said. "He's a guy that would've probably missed a start or two. But he's been...

The Washington Nationals recalled right-handed pitcher A.J. Cole and catcher Pedro Severino from Triple-A Syracuse on Monday and placed right-handed pitcher Erick Fedde on the 10-day disabled list with a right forearm flexor strain. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcements. Cole, 25, finished his Triple-A season 4-5 with 5.88 ERA in 18 starts. Making his sixth start of the season at the Major League-level on Monday night at Miami, Cole is...

The Orioles hit two early homers. They had right-hander Dylan Bundy on the mound and he blanked the New York Yankees through three innings. With a 3-0 lead, the Orioles were off to a good start today. But it didn't last. The Yankees would score seven runs over the next three innings to storm back and beat the Orioles 7-4 today in front of 37,622 at Camden Yards. New York takes the opener of a three-game series. Bundy, who had pitched a one-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts Tuesday against...

After playing 12 innings the previous day, regulation eluding them again, the Orioles really needed a typical Dylan Bundy start this afternoon against the Yankees. He didn't have to twirl a one-hit shutout. Just offer the usual quality and limit the number of relievers. It didn't work out that way. Bundy matched his shortest start of the season, leaving with no outs in the fifth following Starlin Castro's tie-breaking two-run homer, and the Orioles gave up seven unanswered runs in a 7-4 loss...

MIAMI - Hello from Marlins Park, which is hosting the Nationals for the third time in 11 weeks. (Actually, for the club's All-Stars, the fourth time in 11 weeks. And yes, that's a lot of trips here in a short period of time.) This much I can report: Jeffrey Loria is still the owner. Giancarlo Stanton is still hitting bombs. And the Home Run Thingamabob still stands behind the fence in left-center field. After a frustrating weekend series in Milwaukee that featured only eight runs scored in...

The Orioles begin today trailing the Twins by 1 ½ games for the second wild card and the Yankees by 3 ½. They're seven behind the first-place Red Sox, the team that they consider their ultimate target. They're not conceding the division and home field. And they're not obsessing over the standings. "We're chasing ourselves. That's what we're chasing," said manager Buck Showalter. "We know that if you don't get to X-number of wins, it doesn't matter, so regardless of who you're...