Today may bring word of Manny Machado's suspension for his part in Tuesday night's brawl. Actually, the news release from Major League Baseball couldn't be summed up in one word. It would have to include the length of the suspension, mention of an "undisclosed fine" and a reminder of his actions, including how he charged the mound and threw a punch at Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura. The Orioles are the losers here despite sweeping the Royals. Any suspension is going to take away an...

CHICAGO - Well, well, well ... look what team suddenly has one of the most potent lineups in baseball? Did you know the Nationals now lead the National League in home runs? It's true. They've hit 81 of them, one more than the Cardinals. Ryan Zimmerman and Anthony Rendon finally look like Zimmerman and Rendon. Bryce Harper is starting to look like Harper again. Daniel Murphy and Wilson Ramos, meanwhile, have looked like George Brett and Mike Piazza all season. Tonight, the Nationals will seek...

CHICAGO - On nights like this, when he is handed a comfortable lead and can actually take a few moments to watch his own teammates hit, Max Scherzer can't help but be impressed by what he sees. Then again, what wasn't to like about the Nationals' 11-4 thumping of a shell-shocked James Shields and the rest of the White Sox? "Man, one through nine we did a great job against Shields tonight," Scherzer said. "All the guys were just fouling off pitches, and any time there was a mistake, they...

CHICAGO - They played the full nine innings at U.S. Cellular Field tonight, but that was merely to preserve the integrity of the official major league ballgame. There is no mercy rule at this level, even if the Nationals and White Sox happily would have agreed to one, probably after three innings. With an onslaught of offense against a woefully ineffective James Shields in his Chicago debut, the Nationals jumped out to a seven-run lead and never looked back, cruising to a 11-4 victory that felt...

One night after the mayhem came the calm. No knockouts, only a shutout, with Chris Tillman and Brad Brach doing the honors in a 4-0 win over the Royals that completed a three-game sweep and put the Orioles a season-high 12 games above .500. Ryan Flaherty followed up last night's Eutaw Street home run with a tie-breaking two-run double in the fifth. He's batting .308/406/.500 (8-for-26) with two doubles, a home run, seven RBIs and seven runs scored over his last 10 games since May 29. "It's...

The Orioles have the No. 27 overall pick tonight as Major League Baseball's First-Year Player Draft begins at 7. It will be televised live on MLB Network. The 40-round draft will continue tomorrow and Saturday. Tonight the clubs select players through Round 2 and the Competitive Balance Lottery Round B, so the Orioles will make three picks tonight. On Friday players will be selected in Rounds 3-10 and the draft concludes Saturday with picks in Rounds 11-40. The Orioles have four picks in the...

The dugouts didn't empty tonight at Camden Yards until the final out was recorded. Relievers spilled onto the field in order to get inside their respective clubhouses. A baseball game was played under peaceful conditions. A pitchers' duel unfolded between the Orioles' Chris Tillman and the Royals' Edinson Volquez. Not a single fastball "got away" from anyone. The list of players awaiting their suspensions didn't increase. Ryan Flaherty broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning with a...

CHICAGO - On the bright side for James Shields and the White Sox, there's nowhere to go but up from here. The Nationals are putting a hurting on Shields in his White Sox debut, pounding out six runs on seven hits (three of them homers) in two innings to open up a commanding 6-0 lead at U.S. Cellular Field. Ryan Zimmerman, Stephen Drew and Danny Espinosa all homered in their first at-bats, the latter two prompting the crowd to boo their recently acquired veteran right-hander. Shields, just...

There's no score in tonight's game at Camden Yards as we move to the bottom of the fourth inning, and both teams seem to be getting along splendidly. Chris Tillman has thrown 49 pitches, 37 for strikes. He's allowed four hits and struck out two. A breaking ball from Tillman floated near Cheslor Cuthbert's head in the third inning and the Royals third baseman hit the dirt. Everyone remained calm, Cuthbert doubled to left field and was doubled off second base after Ryan Flaherty raced in to...

CHICAGO - After the Nationals needed to ask for 11 total innings out of their bullpen over the last two games, it was fair to wonder if they would need to bring in a fresh arm before tonight's game against the White Sox. The short answer: No. "We didn't even talk about it," manager Dusty Baker said. The thinking behind such a move: Blake Treinen just threw 66 pitches over three innings, leaving him out of commission for several days, and Sammy Solis threw three innings Sunday in Cincinnati,...