The Nationals offense showed no jet lag after flying cross-country to face the Dodgers in the opener of a lengthy 10-game road trip. Washington rapped 13 hits and poured in eight runs as the lineup continues to show signs of gelling. The scorching bat of Ryan Zimmerman started the Nationals' attack in the second with a leadoff double ripped into the right-center field gap. Two batters later, Ian Desmond jumped on a hanging curveball from Dodgers left-hander Brett Anderson and deposited it over...

How bad does a starting pitcher have to perform before he gets removed from the rotation? For the last couple of months, Miguel Gonzalez seems to be pushing those boundaries. He was up to his usual tricks the first couple months of the season, but he's been off his game since late June. In the middle of that month, Gonzalez was placed on the disabled list with a right groin injury. Since his return outing on June 25, things have not gone well. In nine starts (46 1/3 innings), he has posted an...

From the time they arrived from Montreal before the 2005 season, the Nationals have been a mainstay in the Washington, D.C., sports scene. But the Nats are also very active in the community, working diligently over the past decade to touch the lives of many in the region and proving that baseball has a further reach than wins and losses, balls and strikes, batters and pitchers. Each Thursday through mid-August, MASNsports.com's Byron Kerr will explore the Nationals' community outreach...

A lot of buzz has been generated by the start for 18-year-old Dominican outfielder Victor Robles, who moved quickly from the Dominican Summer League Nats to the Gulf Coast League and is now playing for the short-season Single-A Auburn Doubledays. Robles has hit .342 in his last 10 games and is batting .363 overall in 44 minor league games. I checked in with Auburn manager Gary Cathcart on a recent road trip to spotlight the progress of Robles. Cathcart said Robles is impressing on all...

I recently had the chance to talk with short-season Single-A Aberdeen pitching coach Justin Lord. He provided some insights and information on several pitchers that are throwing well for the IronBirds this year. The 35-year-old former minor league right-hander is in his third season in the Orioles organization and second with Aberdeen. Lord pitched six seasons in the minor leagues including three in the Kansas City and Pittsburgh organizations and three for the independent league St. Paul...

Gio Gonzalez has pitched at a high level for the past two months. The left-hander raised it another notch Monday night, throwing eight scoreless innings in an 8-3 Nationals win. "I just thought he was in command the whole night," Nationals manager Matt Williams told reporters. "The key for him is pitch count early and keeping it down. That allowed him to get through eight (innings). He pitched really well." Despite not losing since June 15, Gonzalez had labored through his last three...

Orioles left-hander Wei-Yin Chen delivered a much-needed solid performance, for him and his team, and Chris Davis continued to smash and mash baseballs. The duo carried the Orioles to a win tonight. Davis hit his 30th homer and drove in two runs, and Chen went 7 1/3 innings as the Orioles beat Seattle 3-2 in the opener of a three-game series at Safeco Field. With their 11th win in 16 games, the Orioles improved to 4-3 on this road trip and to 57-54 on the season. They moved to within 4 1/2...

The Orioles moved to within two games of the second wild card last night and 4 1/2 games of the first-place Yankees in the American League East. Zach Britton didn't stay in the bullpen last night. He worked the final 1 2/3 innings after Wei-Yin Chen's superb start and recorded his 28th save in 29 opportunities. He also threw a season-high 36 pitches while allowing an unearned run in the ninth with a two-out strikeout-passed ball. Britton's fastball topped out at 99 mph during Kyle Seager's...

Ryan Zimmerman continued swinging his red-hot bat, ripping a double to right-center in the second. It was Zimmerman's 10th extra-base hit in his last 13 games since returning from the disabled list. Two batters later, Ian Desmond launched left-hander Brett Anderson's hanging curveball over the wall in left for a two-run homer. Desmond leads the Nationals with six home runs and 15 RBIs since the All-Star break. Left-hander Gio Gonzalez has thrown two scoreless innings, yielding two...

The Orioles today announced that they have recalled right-hander Mychal Givens from Double-A Bowie and placed right-hander Chaz Roe on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder tendinitis. Givens, 25, has gone 1-0 and worked 4.0 scoreless innings in three appearances with the Orioles this season. In 35 games with Double-A Bowie this season, Givens went 4-2 with a 1.73 ERA (57 1/3 IP, 11 ER) and 15 saves. He struck out two over 2.0 scoreless innings and earned the save on August 8 vs. New...