It is mostly ludicrous to conjure up images of no-hitters or record-breaking strikeout performances after exactly one half-inning of baseball, but when Max Scherzer takes the mound, the conventional line of thinking doesn't apply. "If he's done it once, he can do it again," manager Dusty Baker said. "You allow yourself to think it. You don't talk about it, but you think it." "I'd like to say he surprises me," catcher Wilson Ramos, via interpreter Octavio Martinez, said. "But he...

The battle for first place in the American League East shifts to Boston. The Orioles took two of three games from the Red Sox on April 11-13 at Fenway Park. The teams split a four-game series on May 30-June 2 at Camden Yards, with the Orioles winning the last two. They're at it again for the next three nights. The Orioles lost three straight in Toronto. The pitching let them down and now is confronted with a bigger challenge. The Red Sox began last night leading the majors with a .291 average,...

This time, the Nationals put together a bunch of quality at-bats against the Cubs. And Max Scherzer was able to carve up Chicago's lineup, aside from the one ball that left the yard against him on an otherwise spectacular night on South Capitol Street. Behind Scherzer's pitching brilliance, Wilson Ramos' homer and clutch hits from Danny Espinosa and Ben Revere, the Nationals won the opener of their highly anticipated rematch series with the Cubs 4-1 before a fired-up crowd of...

Yovani Gallardo's next stop should be in Baltimore. Gallardo made his third and final injury rehab start tonight, allowing only a leadoff home run over five innings with Triple-A Norfolk. He held Charlotte to one hit, walked two and struck out five. Carlos Sanchez homered on the seventh pitch from Gallardo after falling behind 0-2 on called strikes, according to the MiLB.com boxscore. Gallardo was removed after 90 pitches, including 52 strikes. Left-hander Zach Phillips replaced him with the...

The Orioles have made an adjustment in how they plan to use rookie right-hander Dylan Bundy out of their bullpen. The plan going forward is to have Bundy work with more rest between games and pitch longer outings. If you look at his last five appearances, he pitched May 24 with one day of rest, May 27 with two days' rest, May 31 with three days' rest, June 4 with three days' rest and June 9 with four days' rest in between appearances. Over his first 14 games this year, Bundy pitched two...

Think Max Scherzer might be a little fired up to face the Cubs for the first time since getting blasted out of Wrigley Field last month? Scherzer took the ball for tonight's series opener at Nationals Park and immediately started overwhelming Chicago's vaunted lineup with dominating stuff. Through three perfect innings, the right-hander already has eight strikeouts, conjuring up memories both of his 20-strikeout game against the Tigers earlier this season and his pair of no-hitters against...

If asked what the biggest area of concern facing the Nationals is at this stage of the season, the most common answer likely would involve the bullpen, more specifically the closer's role. It's not that Jonathan Papelbon's performance to date has been egregiously poor. He is 16-for-18 in save opportunities. He has a 3.28 ERA. But there have been more than a couple of shaky outings along the way, some of which still ended in a successful save conversion (loading the bases in Philadelphia with...

Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy is ready to take the most significant step in his recovery from a fractured left foot. A pain-free step toward an injury rehab assignment. Hardy will report to Double-A Bowie and play Tuesday night against Portland. He's scheduled to remain with the Baysox for three games before the team hits the road and Hardy moves to another affiliate. Triple-A Norfolk is home June 17-23. Single-A Frederick is home June 16-19. Hardy has been hitting and taking ground balls at...

We know there is hitting aplenty in the American League East, but can any of the contenders pitch? The Blue Jays won the AL home run title and the division last season. This season, the Orioles led the majors in home runs while Toronto is fourth and Boston sixth. The Red Sox lead the AL in runs with 369. The Orioles are third and the Blue Jays tied for sixth. The Red Sox have the highest average (.291) and on-base percentage (.357). So while there's plenty of hitting, there is a common thread...

Chris Davis' home run binge has gained notice throughout baseball and landed him another award. Davis has been named the American League's Player of the Week for the period ending June 12. Major League Baseball made the announcement this afternoon. The Orioles' first baseman batted .368 (7-for-19) with a double, five home runs, 10 RBIs and five runs scored over six games. He's homered in five consecutive games, the last four coming at Rogers Centre in Toronto. This is the fourth AL Player...