PHOENIX - Asked this afternoon what, if anything, has made Max Scherzer an even better pitcher in 2017 than he was when he won the Cy Young Award in 2016, Nationals manager Dusty Baker noted the right-hander's ability to reduce the number of home runs he has surrendered. You can probably guess what happened next. Or maybe not, given how improbable it still was. Scherzer served up three home runs to the first three batters he faced at Chase Field, three towering shots by David Peralta, A.J....

Orioles right-hander Ubaldo Jiménez was a pitch away from a scoreless first inning tonight. If he gets that pitch, maybe his night would have been different. Ultimately he was unable to make that pitch and Houston scored three off him in the first and two more in the second on its way to an 8-7 win at Oriole Park tonight. But the Astros needed to hold off a furious rally in the ninth by the Orioles to wrap this one up. Down 8-2 heading to the last of the ninth, the Orioles pulled within a...

The Astros hit for the cycle nine batters into tonight's game and led by five runs after the second inning. A season didn't die, but the buzz from a four-game sweep was killed. Ubaldo Jiménez turned in another unsatisfactory performance, raising questions about his status in the rotation and the organization for the umpteenth time, and the Orioles opened their weekend series with an 8-7 loss before an announced crowd of 25,784 at Camden Yards. The Orioles are 46-50 overall and 0-4 against...

PHOENIX - They may have added two key arms to their bullpen this week, but the Nationals also know they're going to need quality work from some members of their current relief corps before this season is over. And so the steps Shawn Kelley has been able to take over recent days in his recovery from an upper back strain can only be viewed as positive ones for this team. Kelley, out since June 17 with a strained right trapezius muscle, threw off a bullpen mound today for the second time since he...

After winning four in a row against Texas, the Orioles face another team from that state tonight. They open a three-game series with the Houston Astros, who at 63-32, hold the best record in the American League. Houston is leading the AL West by 16 games and easily has the best AL record. Boston at 54-43 has the second-best record in the league and they are 10 games behind Houston. The Orioles (46-49) are still three games under the .500 mark after sweeping Texas. They are in fourth place,...

PHOENIX - Hello from Chase Field, where the roof is closed and the air conditioning is cranked up (thank God). It's a scorcher here in the Valley of the Sun, with temperatures actually below normal (101 degrees, as we speak) but the humidity unusually high. Welcome to monsoon season. No, seriously, you can look it up. Anyway, the Nationals wrap up their long and winding road trip with a weekend series against a very good Diamondbacks club that currently holds the top wild card spot in the...

Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy will accompany the team to Tampa and Arlington during the upcoming road trip. He'll be reexamined by a hand specialist upon the club's return home and most likely cleared for strengthening exercises. Infielder Ryan Flaherty and Rule 5 outfielder Anthony Santander remain scheduled to start their injury rehab assignments in six days. Seth Smith is 9-for-20 with three home runs in his last five games, but he's out of the lineup again tonight. Smith sat the two...

So will the real second-half Orioles please stand up? We've seen them get swept by the Cubs and outscored 27-11. Then we saw them sweep four from Texas by a total score of 34-11. That brings us to tonight, when the Orioles play Houston, a team with a 63-32 record and .663 winning percentage. They are running away with the American League West, leading by 16 games. At 54-43, Boston has the second-best record in the AL and they are 10 games behind Houston. The Astros are the class of the...

Joey Rickard gets the start in right field tonight as the Orioles begin a three-game series against the Astros at Camden Yards. Caleb Joseph is behind the plate. The Orioles have hit at least four home runs in 10 games this season, which is tops in the majors. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Orioles have three other seasons with four home runs or more in 10 games - 1995 (10), 1996 (14) and 2016 (16). The 2016 Orioles also had exactly 10 four-homer games through July 20. For the...

Learn what you can do to help prevent heat-related illness during hot-weather or high-humidity training and play. Is your teen hoping to make the cut at this year's varsity tryouts? Make sure she or he can take the heat -- literally. "As the summer gets hotter and kids enter high school, they will start participating in sports tryouts and practices," says primary care sports medicine expert Dr. Rajwinder Deu, "and unfortunately, some of them do experience heat-related...