The Nationals are the sixth team in big league history to hit five home runs in an inning. They did it in the third inning of a 15-2 win against the Brewers on Thursday at Nationals Park. Brian Goodwin started the string followed by Wilmer Difo, Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman and Anthony Rendon. The historic perspective: * The last team to hit five home runs in an inning was the Brewers in 2006 in Milwaukee. They did it against the Reds. Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy was one of the five. The other...

A big part of the Nats' home run barrage on Thursday was Ryan Zimmerman. And that makes a lot sense. Zimmerman took his rightful place in Nationals baseball lore with two homers, the second one getting him to 237 in his career ,which equals the all-time home run record in Washington baseball history set by former Senators slugger Frank Howard. Howard played for the Dodgers, Tigers and Senators ffrom 1958-73. He hit 382 career homers, 237 in Washington. He was the Rookie of the Year in 1960 and...

Any child who has ever picked up a bat has dreamed of recording his or her first big league hit. And anybody fortunate enough to become a professional ballplayer starts dreaming of that moment in more realistic terms, wondering when, how and against whom it will occur. Andrew Stevenson is no different than any other young ballplayer. He had envisioned what his first major league hit would look like. And this ... was not it. "No," he said. "It was off a position player. But it still goes down...

The Orioles will have a locker set up today for closer Zach Britton in the visiting clubhouse at Glove Life Park. He's still with the team. The Orioles still haven't jumped into the trade activity as the non-waiver deadline nears. Scouts are following the Orioles - you'll find them in every ballpark - and Britton has proven to be a difficult read. There are lingering concerns among some of them regarding Britton's health, though his velocity is up and there are no signs of the forearm...

Manager: Jeff Banister Record: 49-52 Last 10 games: 4-6 Who to watch: 3B Adrian Beltre (.307/.387/.545, 2996 career hits), 1B/3B Joey Gallo (25 HR, 47 RBIs), Elvis Andrus (20 SB), RHP Andrew Cashner (3.64 ERA), RHP Alex Claudio (4 saves, 2.42 ERA) Seasons series vs. Orioles: 0-4 Pitching probables: July 28: RHP Chris Tillman vs. RHP Andrew Cashner, 8:05 p.m., MASN2July 29: RHP Kevin Gausman vs. RHP Austin Bibens-Dirkx, 8:05 p.m., MASN2July 30: LHP Wade Miley vs. LHP Martin Perez, 3:05 p.m.,...

Jonathan Schoop took a swing and blasted another baseball. This one carried well over the fence for a homer to produce the only Orioles run in a 5-1 loss Wednesday at Tampa Bay. The season of Schoop continues. The 25-year-old from Curacao who often tells reporters how much he just "wants to get better" continues to do just that. Schoop is now three homers from his career high set last year of 25 and 10 RBIs from a career high of 82, also established last season. Through 99 games, he is...

Ryan Zimmerman isn't one to get caught up in a moment, so it's understandable he would say he felt no pressure when he stepped into the batter's box in the bottom of the third inning today, in spite of what Brian Goodwin, Wilmer Difo and Bryce Harper had just done before him. But for Zimmerman to claim he still didn't realize what happened after he rounded the bases and returned to the home dugout ... that can't be. He really didn't know? "I honestly didn't," Zimmerman insisted. "I...

It helps to have an offense that can score runs. But when you also have Max Scherzer, it's a day in the park. Scherzer went six innings and allowed only one run as the offense crushed eight homers as the Nationals ran away from the Brewers 15-2. Not too bad for a 33rd birthday. "Yeah, what a birthday gift," Scherzer said. "I said coming in here I wanted to get a win and a knock. So the guys showed up today put an ungodly amount of runs up there. Fifteen runs - oh, man, what a pitcher's...

Manager: Bud Black (1st season) Record: 58-45 Last 10 games: 6-4 Who to watch: 2B DJ LeMahieu (.312), 3B Nolan Arenado (.313 with 23 HR, 89 RBIs), 1B Mark Reynolds (22 HR, 70 RBIs), CF Charlie Blackmon (.326/.379/.609), LHP Kyle Freeland (10-7, 3.64 ERA), RHP Greg Holland (31 saves, 1.72 ERA) Season series vs. Nationals: 1-3 Pitching probables: July 28: RHP German Márquez vs. RHP Tanner Roark, 7:05 p.m., MASN July 29: LHP Kyle Freeland vs. RHP Erick Fedde, 7:05 p.m., MASN July 30: RHP Jon...

When it was over, when this two-inning explosion of offensive might was complete and the crowd of 32,118 had a moment to catch its breath and consider what exactly it had just witnessed, all that was left to do was tally up the numbers and marvel at how ludicrous it all was. In the third and fourth innings this afternoon, the Nationals sent 21 batters to the plate. They wound up with 13 runs, 13 hits, seven homers, three doubles, three singles, three walks, one stolen base. And a pigeon in the...