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...

And we're back for the nightcap of today's doubleheader (the Nationals' third Sunday doubleheader in five weeks, for those joining us late). The Nats need a win over the Mets tonight to avoid a Sunday sweep, to salvage a four-game split of the weekend series and to avoid seeing their lead in the division drop to 11 games before the red-hot Marlins arrive Monday for what has turned into a bigger series than expected. It'll be Tanner Roark on the mound for the Nationals, sporting a 3.14 ERA...

The Nationals opened their latest Sunday doubleheader with a concerning start from their top pitching prospect, an uplifting rally from their makeshift lineup, a game-deciding home run hit off a veteran reliever who has allowed too many of those this season and then a crazy play to end the game. The end result: a 6-5 loss to the Mets that didn't have very many satisfying moments and left the Nationals needing to bounce back in tonight's game to salvage a doubleheader split. Amed Rosario's...

BOSTON - The Orioles took another early lead this afternoon and, in order to burn the Red Sox again, had to wait while Wade Miley kept playing with fire. Two on and one out in the first inning. A two-out double in the second. Runners on the corners and two outs in the third. A one-out infield hit in the fourth. Bases loaded in the fifth. A leadoff double in the sixth. Miley bent and bent, but the Red Sox couldn't break him or snap the Orioles' mini-winning streak. Adam Jones and Trey Mancini...