CLEVELAND - The Orioles gave Chris Tillman a three-run cushion today in the top of the first inning. They loaded the bases with one out against Indians starter Mike Clevinger and Mark Trumbo cleared them with a double off the left field fence, giving him a team-leading 37 RBIs this season. The rally began with walks to Adam Jones and Chris Davis and a Manny Machado single. Clevinger threw 32 pitches in the inning. Tillman retired the side in order in the bottom half on 12 pitches. Manager Buck...

Out to quickly erase the memory of Saturday's 11-4 loss where Ubaldo Jimenez allowed six runs and the Orioles fell behind 7-0 after three innings, the O's play the series and road trip finale today at Cleveland. The Orioles (27-20) gave up runs in six different innings on Saturday, went 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position and made four errors. So yeah, they expect today to be better. After going 2-1 in Anaheim, 0-3 at Houston and 1-1 in Cleveland so far, the Orioles will have a losing...

CLEVELAND - The Orioles scratched T.J. McFarland from today's start at Triple-A Norfolk in order to keep him available as a long relief option if needed. Manager Buck Showalter desperately needs an extended outing from Chris Tillman, who's strung together seven quality starts in a row. Vance Worley worked 4 1/3 innings yesterday and the bullpen could be taxed. The Orioles could choose to recall McFarland this week, no matter how long Tillman is on the mound today. They'd like to have another...

Matt Belisle believes he's ready to come off the disabled list and rejoin the Nationals bullpen. The club, however, wants the veteran right-hander to continue his rehab assignment. So after three appearances at high Single-A Potomac, Belisle is now expected to head to Double-A Harrisburg. Belisle, out since April 26 with a strained right calf, pitched two innings last night for Potomac, allowing two runs on four hits (one of them a homer). He also struck out three. That came after two...

CLEVELAND - Adam Jones remains in the leadoff spot today for the Orioles and Hyun Soo Kim continues to bat second as the left fielder. Nolan Reimold is in right field and Ryan Flaherty is at third base. Left-hander T.J. McFarland no longer is listed as Triple-A Norfolk's starter today. He's been replaced by lefty Andy Oliver, but not because he's joining the Orioles. The Orioles want to keep McFarland available in case he's needed as a long reliever. Vance Worley worked 4 1/3 innings...

Since the Nationals have lost only three series this season, this isn't a familiar position for them today, needing to beat the Cardinals to salvage a four-game split and avoid a 2-5 homestand. So there's a little bit of pressure on them this afternoon after back-to-back losses. The good news: Stephen Strasburg is pitching for the Nats, and he has been fantastic, with eight quality starts in 10 tries this season. In seven of those starts, he has allowed two or fewer earned runs. Five times he...

CLEVELAND - Ubaldo Jimenez is staying in the Orioles rotation when they return home following today's game against the Indians at Progressive Field. The Orioles are listing Tyler Wilson, Kevin Gausman, Mike Wright and Jimenez as their starters for the four-game series against the Red Sox that begins Monday afternoon. Jimenez raised more questions about his status yesterday after lasting only 1 2/3 innings and being charged with six runs (three earned) in an 11-4 loss. It was his shortest...

It wasn't the prettiest hit he's recorded all season, and it probably should have been caught by Cardinals right fielder Stephen Piscotty, but Daniel Murphy won't complain about the second-inning single last night that gave him a new Nationals club record. That single, which came on a blooper to shallow right field that went in and out of a diving Piscotty's glove, was Murphy's 41st hit of May. And that's more hits than any player in Nationals history has ever recorded in a single...

Pitchers can live with the hits they surrender, even the home runs. What they can't live with are the walks they issue that drive up their pitch count and prevent them from reaching the game's latter innings. So when Gio Gonzalez was upset with himself following the Nationals' 9-4 loss to the Cardinals tonight, it wasn't so much because of the six runs he surrendered via a flurry of two-out hits (including one by opposing pitcher Adam Wainwright). It was because he couldn't even complete...

It was in a loss, but Ryan Zimmerman demonstrated again that he is coming around at the plate. Zimmerman went 4-for-4 with two singles, two homers and three RBIs in the Nationals' 9-4 setback to the Cardinals. Zimmerman has hit .387 (12-for-31) with five homers, six runs and eight RBIs the past eight games. "It felt good. Any time you do that, it always feels good," Zimmerman said. "You wish can do it in a win. For me, I just got to keep going, keep working like I always do. By the end of...