MIAMI - It's a thankless job, one that rarely places a guy in position to be the star of a ballgame. Yusmeiro Petit has made a good living out of long relief, though, and nobody takes more pride in doing that job well than the 31-year-old right-hander. So when he does get the rare opportunity to make a difference like he did tonight during the Nationals' 3-1 victory over the Marlins, tossing four innings of one-run ball after starter Joe Ross departed with a blister, Petit deserves all the...

Few moments in sports rival the walk-off passed ball for pure excitement. It never happened for the Orioles before tonight. They were in a celebratory mood after Caleb Joseph raced home with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning to give them a 4-3 win over the Blue Jays before 15,404 at Camden Yards. With Adam Jones at the plate, a pitch from Rule 5 pick Joe Biagini scooted past catcher Josh Thole, who earlier had handled knuckleballer R.A. Dickey without incident. According to STATS, it's...

MIAMI - Jayson Werth departed tonight's game at Marlins Park in the fifth inning with left hamstring tightness, an injury both the veteran left fielder and his manager downplayed as minor. "I'm fine," Werth said as he walked out of the Nationals clubhouse following a 3-1 victory over Miami. "I'll be fine." Neither Werth nor manager Dusty Baker specified how exactly the injury occurred, but Werth did cover a good amount of ground while tracking down two tough fly balls early in the game....

It was a walk-off win on a passed ball. Blue Jays catcher Josh Thole let a 1-1 pitch to Adam Jones with the bases loaded get away from him and the Orioles posted a 4-3 walk-off win in 10 innings. Caleb Joseph scored the winning run that gives the Orioles a 9-4 record. It was the Orioles' second walk-off win. The other was opening day. Toronto's Rule 5 pick, right-hander Joe Biagini, came on to pitch in the 10th. With two outs, Joseph doubled to right-center. Then the O's Rule 5 pick, Joey...

MIAMI - They lost their starting pitcher after two innings, then their starting left fielder after four innings. No matter, the Nationals still went about their business and beat the Marlins 3-1 tonight, thanks to some early clutch hits and some impressive relief work. Ryan Zimmerman and Bryce Harper each delivered two-out RBI doubles to stake Joe Ross to an early lead, but the right-hander had to depart after that due to a blister on his right middle finger. Three innings later, Jayson Werth...

MIAMI - Joe Ross departed his start tonight against the Marlins after two scoreless innings after a blister developed on his right middle finger, the Nationals announced. Ross showed no obvious ill effects of the blister during his abbreviated, 33-pitch outing. He allowed one hit, one walk and hit one batter, but never let a Miami runner reach second base. Ross was allowed to hit for himself in the top of the third inning and wound up drawing a walk, then scoring on Bryce Harper's two-out...

Before the clubhouse opened to the media today and before the Orioles took batting practice, Pedro Alvarez performed drills at first base to sharpen his footwork and skills at digging throws out of the dirt. The Orioles set up a JUGS machine at the shortstop position and launched the ball across the infield, some reaching his glove on the fly and some short-hopping him. Alvarez also is focused on his offense, a 4-for-28 start leaving his average at .143 heading into tonight's game. He's drawn...

The Orioles played their second one-run game of the season and lost 4-3 last night. They try to even this three-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays tonight at Camden Yards. Manny Machado hit a solo shot and Matt Wieters a two-run homer last night. For the seventh time this year and third game in a row, the Orioles hit two or more homers. They've hit 10 homers the last three games. Baltimore leads the American League with 25 home runs with Houston second (21) and Detroit third (18). Speaking...

The Orioles did a nice job of bumping up Brian Matusz's innings total after he was limited to two in spring training due to a strained muscle in his lower back. Matusz worked 10 innings in his five appearances on his injury rehab assignment, including four last night at Single-A Frederick. He went three innings in his previous appearance with the Keys. "It's good for him to get stretched out two or three outings," said manager Buck Showalter. Matusz, drafted as a starter with the fourth...

MIAMI - Ben Revere has begun running and taking light swings, his first baseball-related activities since straining his right oblique muscle on opening day 2 1/2 weeks ago. Revere, who suffered the injury on his very first swing with the Nationals, ran in the outfield at Marlins Park this afternoon, then also took some light, right-handed swings in the cage to test his side. He emerged feeling confident about his recovery, albeit sore from the layoff. "Everything felt good. I just need to get...