After a weekend sweep in Boston, the Orioles find themselves back in the thick of a playoff race that they really have no business being part of. Then again, none of the teams battling for the American League's second wild card spot have much of a claim to it. Outside of the division leaders, only the Yankees (who hold the top wild card position) and the Rangers even have a positive run differential this season. But after putting together a four-game winning streak to get back to .500, the...

One clear strength of the Nationals this season has been the play of catcher Matt Wieters. His guidance and work with starter Gio Gonzalez has been a major reason why the left-hander is off to his best start with the Nats since 2012. Gonzalez is 13-5 with a 2.40 ERA - the 13 wins the most he has earned since the 21-8 campaign in 2012. Gonzalez has been able to re-employ his curveball with success this season - a pitch that batters were sometimes spitting on last year. Now, with Wieters behind...

Dusty Baker spent the season's first half needing to piece together the final innings of games with a hodgepodge of relievers, seeking anyone available who reasonably could succeed in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings. That issue finally was resolved in late July with the acquisitions of Brandon Kintzler, Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle, presenting Baker at last with stability at the back end of his bullpen ... for a couple of weeks. Madson's placement on the disabled list with a sprained...

How many injuries can the Nationals withstand and still maintain the second-best record in the National League? Let's hope that question remains rhetorical. But when an infielder who wasn't supposed to get out of the minor leagues this season and the 13th different man to play the outfield in 2017 are making key plays, it's not a bad idea to keep that question in mind. At 27, Adrián Sanchez had been knocking around the Nats' minor league system for 10 seasons. He'd been hitting .254 at...

Heading into their series with the Orioles starting Friday night, the Red Sox had gone 16-5 over the previous 21 games. They were 40-22 at home with 10 wins in the previous 12 games at Fenway Park. They were 8-3 in their last 11 games versus American League East teams. They were averaging 6.05 runs per game their previous 21 games. But then they got beat three games in a row by the Orioles, and were outscored 25-4 and outhit 36-18 in a stunning Baltimore sweep over the weekend. O's pitching...

Tanner Roark is piling up strikeouts early in tonight's second half of a day-night doubleheader. Unfortunately, he's also piling up pitches at a rate that could end his night before the Nationals want it to end. Through three scoreless innings against the Mets, Roark already has five strikeouts. The right-hander has allowed only two of the 11 Mets batters he has faced to reach base. But with deep counts against many of those batters, his pitch count already sits at 60. Roark has had good...

A win tonight over the Mariners will allow the Orioles to move past them in the wild card chase and put the club above .500 for the first time since June 11 in New York. Big game in a big series. They all qualify as such with September approaching. The Orioles lost two of three in Seattle a few weeks ago and they don't get Yovani Gallardo in the rematch. They also don't get Felix Hernandez, who's been out for about a month with right shoulder bursitis and hasn't pitched in Baltimore since...

Edwin Jackson has been asked to pinch-run enough times before - 13 times in his career, four times since joining the Nationals last month - that by now he knows when to anticipate it. And he knows to be prepared to be thrown into a meaningful game situation. "I like doing it," the veteran pitcher said. "I like being a part of the game. And fortunately, the situations I'm in are normally like those type of situations, where the game is on the line. Either you're trying to tie the game or...

BOSTON - For the Orioles to get out of Boston with a sweep today, they'd have to win despite not scoring after the first inning. They'd have to use five pitchers, none of them their designated closer. Brad Brach would need a five-out save. The Red Sox would need to strand 13 runners. Whatever it takes to get back to .500 and push more teams out of their path for the second wild card. The Orioles earned their first road sweep with a 2-1 victory at Fenway Park. They outscored the Red Sox, who...

Right-hander Erick Fedde made his third big league start in Sunday's first game of a doubleheader with the Mets. The Nats came up a bit short in the 6-5 setback. Fedde lasted six innings for the no-decision, but gave up a three-run shot to Asdrúbal Cabrera in the first inning and a two-run homer to Wilmer Flores in the third. Down 5-0, the Nats climbed back into the game to tie it at 5-5 before an Amed Rosario homer lifted the Mets to the final margin. Fedde's velocity seemed well down...