OAKLAND, Calif. - The Orioles have had some tough losses this year. The one last night ranks pretty high on the brutal scale. Playing a bad team and six outs from victory, the Orioles instead suffered a 5-4 loss to the Athletics. Six outs from getting back to .500 and moving over .500 on this road trip, the Orioles instead find themselves this morning at 57-59 for the season and 2-3 on this 10-game West Coast trip. It unraveled quickly for reliever Brad Brach in the last of the eighth. Working...

OAKLAND, Calif. - Right-hander Ubaldo Jiménez tonight showed some swing and miss stuff. The Orioles offense meanwhile, showed just enough stuff to get a one-run lead. But the Orioles bullpen could not close it out. Oakland scored twice in the last of eighth off right-hander Brad Brach to come from behind and beat the Orioles tonight 5-4 in front of 14,330 at the Oakland Coliseum. On to protect the 4-3 lead, Brach allowed a Matt Joyce double and Marcus Semien single to get into instant first...

We still have 46 games remaining in the regular season and I'm jumping the gun with the debate over Most Valuable Oriole, but why not? And it's not really a debate over the winner, though rookie Trey Mancini is doing his best to heat it up. It can't be anyone else at this point except Jonathan Schoop. He'd have to really fall apart to avoid taking all of the first place votes. Schoop began last night batting .298/.347/.541 with 29 doubles, 25 home runs and 82 RBIs in 113 games, and his...

OAKLAND, Calif. - The Orioles' Trey Mancini went through a six-game stretch heading into last night's game where he went 3-for-23. His average dipped from .302 to .291. But that average got a jolt last night when Mancini had a huge game in the Orioles 7-2 win in the series opener. Mancini doubled to left in the second inning in his first at-bat. Then he was involved in back-to-back homers each of his next two times to bat. So he started the night 3-for-3 with three extra-base hits before he...

The Nationals' weekend opener against the Giants was postponed this evening due to rain, but not before another round of confusion and poor communication with a fan base that has grown increasingly frustrated by the club's handling of these situations. With more rain in the forecast early Saturday, the two teams will play a day-night doubleheader on Sunday, with the originally scheduled 1:35 p.m. game bumped up to 1:05 p.m. and a makeup game now scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Tickets for tonight's...

OAKLAND, Calf. - The Orioles lineup that took on a different look last night, with Tim Beckham leading off and Adam Jones batting fourth, has an even different look tonight. Chris Davis, who sat out last night, is back in the lineup, but batting seventh for the first time this season. Yesterday manager Buck Showalter said he wanted to give Davis a break and he sat out. He said then Davis could get a second day off, but he's back in there tonight trying to snap a 2-for-25 slump. "He's ready...

OAKLAND, Calif. - Orioles first baseman Chris Davis returns to the starting lineup tonight in Oakland, after sitting out Thursday's series opener. But with just two hits his last 25 at-bats and one homer the past 17 games, Davis has been dropped to seventh in tonight's batting order. Davis has not hit seventh this year. He has hit fourth for 41 games, fifth for 42 games and second for one game. "I understand he (manager Buck Showalter) is going to make adjustments to try and get guys...

If you're expecting any fireworks this weekend between the Nationals and Giants, Dusty Baker is cautioning you not to get yourself worked up too much. Yes, the last meeting between these clubs included a brawl. But it's been 2 1/2 months since then, and it really didn't stem from any beef between the Nats and Giants as a whole, but rather from San Francisco reliever Hunter Strickland, who three years after serving up two playoff homers to Bryce Harper decided to intentionally drill him with...

OAKLAND, Calif. - The Orioles offense came back to life last night with nine extra-base hits, including four homers, in a 7-2 win over Oakland. Tonight we'll see if the offense can continue in the second game of this four-game series. The Orioles (57-58) can get back to the .500 mark. They are in a wild race for the second AL wild-card spot. Six teams are within 1 1/2 games of the spot which is held by Seattle and Tampa Bay jointly with 59-57 records. Minnesota is 1/2-game behind those teams...

The last meeting between the Nationals and Giants was rather eventful. If you've forgotten, it involved Hunter Strickland, Bryce Harper and a three-year-old beef. That series took place way back on Memorial Day in San Francisco, and a lot has changed since then. So will there be any reason for any carryover this weekend? I've got to think probably not. What good does it do the Nationals, 15 games up in the division and trying to get everybody healthy for October, to instigate...