There is a long way to go, a whole lot of baseball left to play and no way to know how things will shake out in the end. But there is at least a reasonable chance of the Nationals and Cubs seeing each other again in 2016, even after today's series finale on South Capitol Street. The owners of the NL's two best records after 2 1/2 months of baseball are well positioned to keep up their strong play and reach October. And then, it's quite possible they would square off at some point, once the...

More than two months into the season, the Nationals have established their ability to hit the ball out of the park. They lead the National League with 87 homers in 65 games. They have not yet, however, established their ability to manufacture runs. There have been glimpses, as there were tonight against the Cubs. But they haven't quite been able to get over that hump on a consistent basis. This 4-3 loss before a boisterous crowd of 41,955 - largest of the season to date - underscored the issue...

The Nationals battled back to tie but were unable to take the lead late against the Cubs. Down 3-1, the Nats scored on a pair of sacrifice flies to tie the game heading to the ninth. After getting through the eighth, left-hander Sammy Solis ventured out to pitch the ninth. The Cubs opened with an Addison Russell walk. David Ross moved him up to second with a sac bunt. Rookie Albert Almora Jr. then broke the tie with a run-scoring double. The Cubs went on to win 4-3, handing Solis his second...

BOSTON - The question barely reached the air tonight before Orioles manager Buck Showalter took it down with gusto and a nice turn of a phrase. The Orioles won the first game of another series against the Red Sox, with Chris Tillman playing stopper and Zach Britton serving as dominant closer in a 3-2 win at Fenway Park. Can winning that first game set the tone? "Not at all," Showalter said. "We've got 99 games left. Ninty-nine. You don't send messages, you don't set tones. It's 99 games...

In a tie game in the ninth inning, Jonathan Papelbon would usually be summoned. But with the closer on the disabled list with a intercostal strain, left-hander Sammy Solis battled through the eighth and ninth innings. With the score tied at 3-3 in the ninth, the Cubs used an Albert Almora Jr. RBI double to take a 4-3 lead. The Nats were unable to score a run in their last at-bats against Hector Rondon. The Cubs evened the series with the 4-3 victory. The Nationals had trouble solving Cubs...

BOSTON - The Orioles got most their scoring out of the way early tonight. The scoring. The hits. Any semblance of an offensive pulse. Rule 5 pick Joey Rickard singled with one out in the first inning and Manny Machado followed with his 17th home run, a fly ball that stayed inside the Pesky Pole in right field to give the Orioles a quick lead. Red Sox left-hander David Price retired the next 19 batters, Chris Tillman did his best to keep up, and the Orioles held on for a 3-2 victory at sold-out...

BOWIE - J.J. Hardy's first minor league rehab game was a success for the Orioles shortstop. He played six innings tonight for Double-A Bowie, went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles and handled the one ball hit to him fine on a routine groudout in the top of the first. This was Hardy's first game since May 1 with the Orioles. Hardy has been out with a fractured bone in his left foot. He has been rehabbing the injury at the Orioles' spring training complex in Sarasota, Fla. He came north to play...

Last time, it was the first inning that got Gio Gonzalez. This time, the damage has come in the third and fourth innings. Despite a promising start to his night, Gonzalez has run into trouble the second time around the Cubs lineup, giving up two runs in the top of the third and another in the top of the fourth to leave the Nationals in a 3-1 hole. It's a frustrating performance thus far for Gonzalez, who gave up three first-inning runs to the White Sox last week but then bounced back with six...

The Washington Nationals hosted their 12th annual "Night Out" event during Tuesday's game against the Chicago Cubs. The event is one of the largest LGBT nights in professional sports. The Nationals honored the victims of Sunday's shooting in Orlando. The Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, D.C., sang "True Colors" and later the national anthem. There was also a flag unfurling on the pitcher's mound as well as recognition on the scoreboard. The ceremonial first pitch was thrown by Leslie...

BOSTON - Orioles manager Buck Showalter met with struggling starter Ubaldo Jimenez this afternoon and told the right-hander that he's headed to the bullpen. How did Jimenez take the news? "Good. As good as ... Ubaldo knows," Showalter said. "He's responded well. I think we had to it one other time in 2014 and he responded well. It's tough with a guy that might have been our best starting pitcher last year. We just reached a point where we kept waiting and waiting for him to find his...