Nationals 22-year-old right-hander Joe Ross has impressed from his major league debut as a pitcher who doesn't get rattled. That is sometimes a surprising trait in a rookie hurler. In his last start against the Brewers on Saturday, Khrys Davis slammed a solo homer to start the seventh inning. Ross did not let the run alter his goal and was able to get the next three outs and complete a tremendous quality start. He went seven innings and allowed only six hits, one run and no walks while...

With the Nationals' 6-5 loss to the Padres on Wednesday night, the Nats are now 6.5 games back of the Mets, and it might be time to start thinking about next year. The first action that most people are going to want is for Matt Williams to be fired, which could and probably should happen but isn't a big difference-making move. Matt Williams' managing philosophy is to interfere as little as possible with the game on the field. In other words, if the players were playing well then the Nats...

The Nationals seemed to be in prime position to not only tie last night's game in the seventh inning but potentially surge ahead of the Padres. After San Diego right-hander Shawn Kelley issued a bases-loaded walk to Anthony Rendon to cut the Nats' deficit to three, left-hander Marc Rzepczynski entered the game to face Bryce Harper. Down 0-1 in the count, Harper delivered as he has all season, muscling a slider to center for a two-RBI single, making it a one-run game with still just one out...

KANSAS CITY - Are the Orioles prepared to make another roster move today? There are some rumblings, so stay tuned. They still have an eight-man bullpen, but someone will need to come off the roster Friday when catcher Steve Clevenger returns from paternity leave. Perhaps they go back to a four-man bench today or place someone on the taxi squad. Anything goes around here. With last night's 8-5 win over the Royals, the Orioles moved to within two games of the second wild card. They can gain a...

Talk about turning around your season. Single-A Frederick right-hander David Hess is on a major roll right now. It all seemed to turn for him around June 20 when he had an ERA of 5.83 for the Keys. But in 12 starts since then, Hess is 7-0 with a 1.34 ERA, allowing two earned runs or less in all 12 starts. In his latest outing on Tuesday, he pitched a seven-inning, one-hit shutout in Game 1 of a doubleheader at Potomac. It was the first career complete-game shutout for the pitcher who Orioles...

KANSAS CITY - Music played in the visiting clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium tonight. The televisions were tuned to baseball games. Players sat at tables and dined together, plastic containers shared by one group that preferred homemade rice dishes. The Orioles no longer sat in silence. They no longer were tucked away in areas off limits to the media. They seemed happy again. Losers of their six previous games, the Orioles busted out tonight by hitting five home runs in an 8-5 victory over the...

The Nationals can't afford to battle themselves and the Mets at this point in the season. Left-hander Gio Gonzalez came out sluggish, forcing the Nats to fight uphill all night. An error by Yunel Escobar coupled with an ill-timed double play grounder interfered with a comeback effort as the Nationals fell 6-5. Gonzalez trudged through a 26-pitch first inning, but escaped with consecutive strikeouts of Justin Upton and Jedd Gyorko. The next time Gonzalez faced the meat of the Padres order, the...

The Nationals got down early against the Padres with left-hander Gio Gonzalez on the mound. San Diego led 4-0 after three innings and 5-1 after four. The Padres would eventually hold on for the 6-5 win. It marked Gonzalez's third straight loss. Unfortunately, this trend of early deficits has been repeated in his three most recent starts. Gonzalez has now allowed four or more earned runs in those three starts since August 15. He has been unable to record more than five innings of work in six of...

As the longball returned to the Orioles' offense tonight, so did some runs and so did a win. The Orioles hit three homers against Kansas City ace Johnny Cueto and five on the night as they beat the Royals 8-5 at Kauffman Stadium to improve to 63-63. During their season-high six-game losing steak that ended tonight, the Orioles hit a total of two homers and scored three runs or less each time. Tonight, they hit three homers over a three-inning stretch. This is the Orioles' second biggest game...

The Nationals, picked to win the World Series by virtually every prognosticator across the country, are in a bind: They are going to need a strong September and a collapse by the Mets to play in October. The situation is this: If the Mets, leaders in the National League East, go 20-17 in their final 37 games, they'll have 89 wins. That means the Nationals would have to win 26 of 38 to tie. Players prefer to talk about short-term rather than long-term. This is the time of year a team needs...