The Nationals and Diamondbacks play Game 2 of their four-game series tonight at Nationals Park. This is the game blog. You've come to the right place. The Nationals have lost four in a row, their longest losing streak since they dropped six dating back to April 27. They need Max Scherzer to be their stopper tonight. He is 11-8 with a 2.22 ERA. This is his third meeting against his former team. Scherzer is 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA in a pair of starts versus Arizona. Scherzer is 4-5 with a 2.70 ERA...

Nationals manager Matt Williams provided an update on the returns of Anthony Rendon (quad), Jayson Werth (wrist) and Ryan Zimmerman (foot). All three starters got back in the lineup during last week's 10-game road trip. Rendon returned July 25 and has eight hits in his last nine games with two doubles, a homer and three RBIs. "Anthony I think is fine," Williams said. "He was able to continue to hit during his DL stint. So that helps." Williams pointed to how Rendon and Zimmerman were able...

Chris Davis is on such a roll these days, he's resembling the 2013 version of himself. Davis belted a three-run homer in the first inning last night to point the Orioles toward a 9-2 victory in Oakland. He's collected six home runs and 19 RBIs in his last 10 games. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last Oriole to do so was also Davis in his first 10 games of the 2013 season. Over the last 30 seasons, the only other players to do so for the Orioles were Albert Belle in June 2000 and...

The Nationals haven't won since Max Scherzer took the mound last Thursday. The right-hander spun another gem, throwing seven scoreless innings with six strikeouts in a 1-0 shutout in Miami. Tonight, they'll lean on their ace as they attempt to end a four-game losing skid, which has left them outside of the playoff picture looking in. The Diamondbacks send left-hander Patrick Corbin to the hill for his sixth start since coming off Tommy John surgery. The 26-year-old has been tough, yielding...

The Washington Nationals are in a tough position right now, having just been swept by the New York Mets to give up sole possession of first place in the National League East and they got blasted to smithereens by the Diamondbacks. The Mets blasted the Marlins too, and now the Mets are up one game. Aside from making the next two months of baseball really competitive and fun to watch, there is some good news for Nats fans. The injuries that haunted the team have mostly healed, and now the Nats...

When the Orioles traded for Travis Snider before the season, I was optimistic about the move. Some options on the free agent market, like Nori Aoki and Colby Rasmus, made sense. The O's showed more interest in Rasmus than Aoki for some reason, but they opted to go in a different direction altogether. In Snider, the O's thought they were picking up a corner outfield bat with decent power, who was also under team control through 2016. Unfortunately, things have not worked out as planned this...

No one would argue that the Nationals haven't faced some of the game's most imposing arms since the All-Star break - Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, Gerrit Cole, Jacob deGrom - but Arizona's Zack Godley doesn't fall into that category. Yet the unheralded rookie baffled the Nats lineup Monday night, tossing six scoreless innings while yielding just three singles with six strikeouts in only his third major league start. "We're going through a spell right now where we're not scoring many...

At a position that is demanding physically and mentally and one where a player could easily wear down, the Orioles timeshare at the catcher spot right now is producing some benefits. They are playing Caleb Joseph and Matt Wieters behind the plate every other day only because Wieters is not yet able to handle catching back-to-back days after coming off Tommy John surgery. Because each guy is not behind the plate each day, both are fresher during a long season. It seems to be showing up on...

The West Coast trip is off to a good start, with the Orioles scoring the first six runs last night in a 9-2 victory over the Athletics. The Orioles have won eight of their last 10 games. They're tied with the Blue Jays and Twins for the second wild card and trail the Yankees by 5 1/2 games in the American League East. Still not selling. It was just a typical night for the Orioles with Tyler Wilson getting the win and Mychal Givens retiring all four batters he faced with three strikeouts. I'm...

Chris Davis got it started for the Orioles with a first-inning homer. Then, his teammates joined in on offense while rookie right-hander Tyler Wilson had things under control on the mound. The Orioles hammered Oakland 9-2 on Monday night to start their nine-game West Coast trip. They improved to 54-51 with their eighth win in the last 10 games. With the victory, the Orioles moved into a three-way tie with Minnesota and Toronto for the American League's second wild card playoff spot. Making a...