After a highly publicized, highly significant series against the division rival Mets that resulted in a sweep, the Nationals now find themselves hosting one of baseball's worst teams this season for the next four nights: the Cincinnati Reds. That, of course, doesn't guarantee anything. The Nats lost two of three at Great American Ball Park last month, and nearly lost the third game before eking out a 10-9 victory. But they'll need to find the same intensity they brought to the Mets series...

The Orioles made a couple of anticipated roster moves today, activating pitcher Vance Worley and catcher Caleb Joseph from the disabled list, and optioning pitcher Oliver Drake and catcher Francisco Pena to Triple-A Norfolk. They also made an unanticipated move in their bullpen, placing T.J. McFarland on the 15-day DL with a left knee injury and selecting the contract of Chaz Roe from Triple-A. Manager Buck Showalter confirmed the moves in his pregame press briefing in Seattle. Worley is 2-0...

SEATTLE - The Orioles' Double-A Bowie Baysox affiliate will be sending four players to the Eastern League All-Star Game in Akron on Wednesday, July 13. Catcher Chance Sisco, infielder Garabez Rosa, and left-handed pitchers Jayson Aquino and Donnie Hart will represent the Baysox and play for the West Division team in the game. In 50 games, the 21-year-old Sisco is batting .310 with one homer, 26 RBIs, a .401 on-base percentage and a .803 OPS. Sisco ranks fourth in the Eastern League in batting...

SAN DIEGO - The Orioles are in Seattle to remind the Mariners that they traded away Chris Tillman and Adam Jones. There's also a four-game series to play. Tillman gets the start tonight, with a chance to earn his 11th win in 12 decisions and perhaps influence the pitching staff for the upcoming All-Star Game. His last outing didn't go as well as most. He allowed six runs and 10 hits in five innings against the Rays, but it was a minor glitch in an otherwise impressive campaign. Tillman is 7-0...

All this time, we, Nats fans, have been focused on the Mets, and after a horrific road trip by the Nationals and a sweep of New York, there is a new contender. It would have been nice if the sweep of the Mets reset the terrible occurrence of the road trip, but it instead gave rise to a new threat: the Miami Marlins. There is only a half-game difference between the Marlins and Mets in the standings, but the Fish are in second when they weren't expected to even be contending for the division....

Of all the changes to the Nationals this season, such as the bullpen or the resurgence of Wilson Ramos, the biggest positive change is the addition of second baseman Daniel Murphy. And in no other series is that difference more profound than when Murphy does his damage against the team he guided to the World Series in 2015. Murphy launched seven homers and 11 RBIs in winning the National League Championship Series MVP honors for the Mets last year. Against his former team, Murphy has been off...

SEATTLE - The Orioles' pitching staff gave up 24 runs the last four games. But the Orioles offense scored 43. At some point, the O's offense will slow down, but it sure didn't happen in San Diego. Over the last four games, the Orioles have scored 8, 12, 11 and 12 runs. That is 35 runs in three games and 43 in four. In that four-game stretch, the Orioles are 60-for-155 (.387) with 15 doubles and 11 home runs. They have gone 20-for-42 (.476) with runners in scoring position in the four...

Daniel Murphy won't ever say it, at least not publicly, so Max Scherzer was left to explain how his attention-deflecting teammate feels about his performance against the Mets this season. "It's just obvious that he wants to beat 'em up," Scherzer said. "It's obvious. Everybody wants to. When you face your former team, you obviously want to get the best of them. For him to come out here and really slug against them, it puts a smile on all of our faces because we know what he's going...

It's the last week of June and the season isn't quite halfway complete yet, so there's only so much significance that can be applied to a three-game series at this point. The Nationals didn't make a profound statement this week. There's too much time left for that script to be flipped, as everyone in Washington painfully found out one year ago. Then again, it's not like anyone inside the home clubhouse tonight was complaining about a 4-2 victory that completed a series sweep of the...

I've got some good news and some bad news, Orioles fans. The good news is the Orioles have won 19 games in June, their highest total of any month this season. With an 19-8 record, they've recorded a .703 winning percentage this month, their highest winning percentage in any month since the 2012 season. The bad news is today is the last day of this amazing month. Tomorrow begins July. I don't know about you, but I've had an absolute blast watching this team take the field over their last 27...