CHICAGO - Bryce Harper has slipped behind Dexter Fowler in All-Star balloting, but the Nationals star remains comfortably in position to earn a starting spot in the outfield for the National League in next month's Midsummer Classic. Harper, who led all NL outfielders in the first round of voting released by Major League Baseball last week, has since fallen slightly behind Fowler. The Cubs center fielder currently has received 1,170,718 votes to Harper's 1,119,168. The Mets' Yoenis Cespedes...

The Orioles will attempt tonight to stay focused on playing baseball and perhaps completing their first three-game sweep of the Royals in five years. They'll also enjoy having Manny Machado in their lineup for as long as the commissioner's office allows. Chris Tillman hasn't lost since April 14, but he's followed seven consecutive quality starts with two that fell short. He's allowed nine runs and 12 hits over 11 2/3 innings, with five walks and eight strikeouts. Most curious, he's...

CHICAGO - When the night began, the Nationals certainly weren't expecting Joe Ross to last only four innings. And they really weren't expecting Blake Treinen to then throw three innings of relief after that. Sometimes you've got to adjust on the fly, though, and that's exactly what last night's 10-5 victory over the White Sox required. Ross' uncharacteristic command issues early forced the young starter out of the game early and left the Nationals to ask Treinen to do something out of the...

In baseball, there are too many incidents that result in a pitcher intentionally throwing a 90-plus mph fastball into the back - and sometimes, even the head - of defenseless hitters. Another case of this happened in Tuesday night's Royals-Orioles game. In case you missed it, the Orioles beat up on Royals right-hander Yordano Ventura with the bats early in the game. Manny Machado stepped to the plate for the second time in the game in the second inning and immediately got brushed back with a...

It was pretty clear in the home clubhouse last night that the Orioles players had no doubts about two things: Kansas City pitcher Yordano Ventura threw at Manny Machado, probably two or more times, hitting him once, and that Ventura left Machado little choice but to charge the mound. Of course Machado could have done nothing, but that was certainly not an appealing option. Ventura threw two pitches in his direction in the second inning and drilled him with a 99 mph fastball that had clear...

CHICAGO - Though it perhaps hasn't happened as frequently as they would like, the Nationals have known all along their lineup is capable of scoring runs in bunches on a regular basis, more than enough to overcome even a moderate deficit on any given night. As Bryce Harper put it: "When we're down, we're never down." They've now proven that in consecutive games. Two days after storming back from a five-run deficit to beat the Reds, the Nationals stormed back from a three-run deficit to...

Manny Machado could have dropped his bat in the second inning last night, run out his fly ball to left field and veered toward the dugout without saying a word to Royals starter Yordano Ventura. Ventura could have stopped throwing at Machado in the second inning and resisted the urge to bury a 99 mph fastball in his back in the fifth. There's always blame on both sides under these circumstances. It doesn't rank with Babe Ruth calling his shot, but I predicted in the press box that Machado...

You'd be forgiven if, before this season started, you were concerned with the Nationals' catching situation and really wanted them to address it. At least I'd forgive you because I certainly felt that way. In 2014 and 2015, Wilson Ramos managed a sub-100 OPS+ and wRC+, hitting below the league average. 2015 was especially tough for him. But he wasn't always that bad. From 2011-2013, he hit a very respectable .269/.327/.449. He was a promising young hitter, then it seemed to all go away....

CHICAGO - Joe Ross' worst start of the season wound up an afterthought tonight, and all it took for that to happen was another double-digit offensive explosion from the Nationals' suddenly explosive lineup. Behind another big showing from Anthony Rendon and some long-awaited clutch hits from Bryce Harper and Michael A. Taylor, the Nationals dug themselves out of the early hole Ross dug and wound up running away with a 10-5 victory over the White Sox. The Nats trailed 5-2 after two laborious...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter pulled aside Manny Machado in the dugout tonight before his shortstop batted in the bottom of the fifth inning. He issued a warning long before the umpires got around to it. Showalter anticipated that Royals starter Yordano Ventura would throw at Machado after getting too close in the second inning. Words were exchanged between Machado and Ventura after a fly ball to left that the wind knocked down. It wouldn't be the last knockdown of the evening. Showalter's...