Most of the early talk during manager Buck Showalter's pregame session with the media today involved college football, the Ravens and new ESPN baseball analyst Jessica Mendoza, a four-time All-American softball player at Stanford. Showalter keeps suggesting that reporters look up her career stats. OK, I did. She batted .416 with 70 doubles, nine triples, 50 home runs and 188 RBIs in 259 games. She also stole 86 bases and posted a .719 slugging percentage. "I talked to her today," Showalter...

On a night when the Orioles bullpen gave up 10 runs, Jason Garcia had a strong outing last night. He retired all five batters he faced Saturday in Kansas City's 14-6 win. Since he returned to the active roster Aug. 6 from the disabled list, Garcia has been throwing well. He has pitched scoreless outings in eight of 10 appearances with a 2.70 ERA, a .167 average against and with 12 strikeouts to three walks in 13 1/3 innings. What's been the key recently for the 22-year-old...

The last time right-hander Max Scherzer won was July 30. The Nationals left Miami that afternoon on their way to New York, holding a three-game division lead. The Mets erased the deficit in the ensuing three days and then proceeded to build a commanding 9 1/2-game lead over the next five weeks. Make no mistake about it, Scherzer's struggles throughout August and into September were near the top of the Nationals' problems. Trying to prevent a sweep and maybe with some pride on the line,...

The Nationals beat the Marlins 5-0 this afternoon essentially without the services of star outfielder Bryce Harper. Harper left in the first inning after a violent collision with Marlins second baseman Derek Dietrich. With two outs and Harper on first, Jayson Werth hit a sharp grounder to Marlins shortstop Miguel Rojas, who fired to first baseman Justin Bour to end the inning. Harper was running hard on the play in the event of a miscue. As he turned for third, Dietrich met him at second base....

Orioles manager Buck Showalter is keeping Nolan Reimold in the leadoff spot tonight as his club tries to win its second consecutive series for the first time since July 24-29. Chris Davis is batting third again, with Adam Jones in the cleanup spot. Steve Clevenger is serving as the designated hitter. For the Orioles Nolan Reimold LF Manny Machado 3B Chris Davis 1B Adam Jones CF Gerardo Parra RF Matt Wieters C Jonathan Schoop 2B Steve Clevenger DH J.J. Hardy SS Wei-Yin Chen LHP

The Nationals suffered yet another injury moments after the start of today's game. Anthony Rendon singled to lead off the game. After Marlins starter Brad Hand struck out Yunel Escobar, Bryce Harper grounded to shortstop Miguel Rojas, who forced Rendon at second. On Jayson Werth's ensuing grounder, Rojas fired to first baseman Justin Bour to end the inning. Harper was running hard to second on the play and collided with Derek Dietrich as he rounded the bag. The nasty collision left Harper on...

After dropping the first two in Miami, the Nationals stand at just 30-41 on the road this season. If they maintain their current .422 winning percentage away from Nationals Park, it would be Washington's lowest road mark since 2010 when they went 28-53 (.346). After excelling in the leadoff spot, Jayson Werth makes his second straight start batting cleanup. The 36-year-old picked up a walk in the first inning last night to extend his on-base streak to 21 games, the second longest in his...

The Washington Nationals recalled right-handed pitcher Erik Davis and infielder Wilmer Difo from Double-A Harrisburg on Sunday. President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcements. Davis, 28, returns to the Major Leagues for the first time since 2013, making his recovery this season from April, 2014, Tommy John surgery. The right-handed reliever, who made his MLB debut June 2, 2013 at Atlanta and appeared in 10 games for the Nationals that year, was 1-2 with a...

It's hard to believe that right-hander Max Scherzer will go for his first win since way back on July 30 when he takes the mound at Marlins Park this afternoon. That was also the last time Scherzer displayed real dominance, blanking Miami over seven innings while fanning six as the Nationals held on for a 1-0 victory. Scherzer has struggled mightily since, going 0-3 with an unfathomable 6.08 ERA in his last seven starts. Over the rough stretch, Scherzer has been tagged for 11 home runs. The...

Bryce Harper has experienced a rough two nights in Miami. He did everything possible to will the Nationals to victory on Wednesday night at home - smacking two homers and a double and scoring all three runs - but it wasn't enough to catch the Mets in the 5-3 loss. On Friday night in Miami, Harper went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts and a walk. The 22-year-old collected one of the two hits the Nats managed off Marlins ace Jose Fernandez last night, but then he was quickly doubled up at first...