When the Nationals learned Friday that leadoff man Denard San would have hip surgery and miss the rest of the season, it was certainly discouraging news. Without Span's .365 OPB and base-stealing potential atop the lineup, the team's offense takes a severe hit, and with it, their chances to catch the New York Mets in the National League East. So manager Matt Williams turned to the solution he used when the Nats offense was struggling this season, and the one his predecessor Davey Johnson...

As the Orioles continue to slide further and further away from the playoff picture, the start of the season's final full month will bring an opportunity to see what the future holds. The O's aren't out of it, but it's looking more and more like they'll be sitting home for the postseason. The question then becomes who are the players that will help the O's get back to October in 2016? As rosters expand, some of those players will join the team and look to make their mark. Some of those...

Heading into 2015, he had 13 total at-bats at the big league level. Heading into 2015, he didn't know if he would even be playing in the majors. Then on August 30 in his 98th game with the Nationals, Clint Robinson crushed a pinch-hit two-run shot, his first pinch-hit homer of his major league career. He is the team leader in pinch-hits with six on the season. It was his second two-run homer in as many days. Robinson said he has been able to get better at his pinch-hit role as the season moves...

ARLINGTON, Texas - If being swept by the Twins in a four-game home series was hitting rock bottom, how do you label a 1-6 road trip that followed it? The Orioles can't generate any offense unless it's confined to one inning. The rotation hasn't come close to duplicating last year's production, and Bud Norris isn't the only culprit, though going from 15 wins and a 3.65 ERA to only two wins and a 7.06 ERA was killer. Starters posted a 3.61 ERA last season that ranked 12th in the majors....

While the Orioles were losing another game on Sunday, their Triple-A Norfolk affiliate picked up what was likely one of its biggest wins of the year. Playing the team that is trying to keep them from winning a division championship, Norfolk won 4-3 at Gwinnett. That gives the Tides a three-game lead over the Braves atop the division with nine games to play. Their lead would have been cut to one game with a loss Sunday. Norfolk had lost nine of 11 heading into this game. Norfolk is 75-60 with a...

Trailing the Mets by 5 1/2 games, the Nationals are set to open a crucial three-game series in St. Louis while New York prepares to host the last place Phillies. Yesterday's 7-4 win over the Marlins secured the Nats' fourth consecutive series win since Aug. 18, yet they've actually lost a game in the standings to the red-hot Mets over the stretch. "We got a long way to go," Jayson Werth said after driving in three runs in Sunday's win over the Marlins. "We got a tough three-game road...

ARLINGTON, Texas - Let's start by reviewing the numbers that I tagged onto the end of my last blog entry. Be advised that they're not pretty. The Orioles lost to the Rangers today 6-0 at Globe Life Park to complete the three-game sweep. They went 1-6 on the road trip. They've lost four games in a row, 10 of 11 and 11 of 13 to fall four games below .500 for the first time since June 7. The Orioles (63-67) are 11 games out of first place in the division and 5 1/2 behind the Rangers for the...

The frustrations of Stephen Strasburg's season continued again today as the right-hander was forced to leave a 7-4 win over the Marlins with recurring back discomfort after throwing just 60 pitches over four innings. "It's just a little bit of back tightness," Strasburg said. "It's something that I kind of dealt with in the middle of the year. It's got some sort of little ball that's in the back there that I can't really figure out what it is. Sometimes it gets upset." Strasburg ran...

The Nationals flexed their muscles again in a 7-4 come-from-behind victory over the Marlins, which gave them a fourth consecutive series victory. Jayson Werth clubbed a two-run homer and later added a run-scoring double, highlighting the Nationals' comeback from 3-0 and 4-2 deficits. They have now won eight of their last 12 games. Bryce Harper and Ian Desmond provided RBI singles in a three-run fifth. Clint Robinson added his first major league pinch-hit homer, a two-run shot in the sixth,...

The Orioles' road trip ended with a thud today as they were shut out 6-0 by left-hander Derek Holland at Texas. The O's completed a 1-6 trip that leaves them with a 63-37 record and four games under .500 for the first time since they were 26-30 on June 7. The Orioles have lost 10 of 11 games, scoring three or fewer runs in each of those losses. The Orioles scored eight runs in their one win on the trip and 12 in the six losses. They have scored just 25 runs over their past 12 losses. He got...