When the Orioles begin a three-game series and seven-game road trip in Milwaukee this afternoon, they will be a facing a team that is in first place. While the Orioles (40-41) are in fourth place and 6 1/2 games out in the American League East, the Brewers (44-40) lead the National League Central by two games over the defending World Series champion Chicago Cubs. Milwaukee, which saw a three-game win streak snapped Sunday, has spent 43 days in first place. The Brewers are 23-23 at home and 4-3...

We begin today with sad news: Longtime Washington, D.C.-based Major League Baseball official scorer David W. Vincent died Sunday evening after a long bout with stomach cancer. The Centreville, Va., resident was 67. Vincent was a member of the Society of American Baseball Research and a founding secretary of Retrosheet, which works to collect and archive box scores and play-by-play accounts of every major league game. He had scored Nationals games since the team's arrival from Montreal for the...

For the first time since 2011, the Orioles will have just one representative at the All-Star Game. Second baseman Jonathan Schoop can always refer to himself as an All-Star now, and rightfully so. While some may have wanted to see Trey Mancini or Welington Castillo get the nod as the O's representative, Schoop is the right man for the job. It's also hard not to feel great for Schoop. He's been stuck in a very deep pool of second basemen in the American League for the first few years of his...

ST. LOUIS - More thoughts on Sunday night's 7-2 Nationals victory at Busch Stadium before heading home ... * Does any major league hitter enjoy playing on the big stage more than Bryce Harper? We've seen Harper go bonkers on opening day. We've seen him come through on Independence Day. We've seen him launch towering home runs in the postseason. And we saw him show off in front of a national television audience Sunday night. Harper homered in each of his first two at-bats, twice connecting...

The Orioles may have a losing record at the season's halfway point, but for now, they are not considered sellers with the July 31 trade deadline approaching. It is all subject to change, but Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette has made that clear in a few interviews now. The latest was Sunday when he was my guest on "Orioles Baseball Tonight" 105.7 the Fan in Baltimore. I asked Duquette to size up the first half. "I think everybody has seen the same thing," he said. "We were in...

ST. LOUIS - Dusty Baker, in his five decades in baseball, has seen enough pitchers to be able to compile a short list of the very best of the best. He rattled off some of the names that came to mind tonight: Greg Maddux, Roger Clemens, Nolan Ryan, J.R. Richard, Clayton Kershaw. And Max Scherzer, who a bit earlier had wrapped up yet another of his utterly dominant starts, shutting out the Cardinals over seven innings to carry the Nationals to a 7-2 victory on Sunday Night Baseball. "Guys like...

ST. LOUIS - Bryce Harper and Max Scherzer are the Nationals' two brightest stars, and on the day each earned the fifth All-Star selection of his career, each shone bright on the national stage. Harper clobbered two early home runs and Scherzer tossed seven scoreless innings to carry the Nationals to a 7-2 victory over the Cardinals in tonight's nationally televised ballgame and avoid a weekend sweep at Busch Stadium. It was a classic performance on the big stage for both All-Stars, with...

MILWAUKEE - The Orioles haven't reached the All-Star break, but they're halfway through their schedule with a 40-41 record. Eighty-one games are left in the regular season. And no, they aren't going to be sellers. Executive vice president Dan Duquette has made it clear in multiple interviews. They're going to check on available pitchers while also keeping their collective fingers crossed that the in-house crew steps up. Kevin Gausman appears to be doing it, looking a lot more like the...

ST. LOUIS - Bryce Harper learned this afternoon he had received the most All-Star votes of any player in baseball, and now tonight is showing everybody why that was the case. Max Scherzer learned this afternoon he had received his fifth consecutive All-Star selection, and now tonight he is showing everybody why he deserves to start the Midsummer Classic. Harper has homered in each of his first two at-bats, providing the largest chunk of offense needed to supply the Nationals an early 5-0 lead...

Five Washington Nationals players were named 2017 Major League All-Stars on Sunday evening, with outfielder Bryce Harper, first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, second baseman Daniel Murphy, right-handed pitcher Max Scherzer, and right-handed pitcher Stephen Strasburg all awarded the annual mid-season honor. Harper, Murphy, and Zimmerman were all voted by fans as starters for the NL squad, the most starting players Washington has ever had in the game. Scherzer was selected by his fellow players while...