After winning 96 games and a division title last year, a .500 finish for the 2015 Orioles would surely be seen as extremely disappointing by players and fans alike, not to mention team management. A .500 record will not be good enough. But while we have all been focusing on an offense that recently is underperforming, there may be a bigger issue holding this team back. But first ... since you have heard this theory 1,000 times, let's make it 1,001. The Orioles didn't do enough this offseason;...

BALTIMORE - When the Nationals return to play after the All-Star break on Friday, only two weeks will remain before the July 31 trade deadline for making non-waiver trades. General manager Mike Rizzo has shown his willingness to participate frequently in the wheeling and dealing in the past. Last year, Rizzo acquired infielder Asdrubal Cabrera from the Indians for infielder Zach Walters at the deadline. Cabrera contributed more than his .229 batting average suggests, and his ability to play...

My MASN broadcast partner, Mike Bordick, is a history fan and was good enough to join us for this edition of Hitting the Books with a classic. "The Longest Day" by Cornelius Ryan is recognized as the book on the D-Day invasion that began, at great human cost, the beginning of the end of World War II. "Without a doubt, this is the Gold Standard of books about June 6 1944, D-Day," wrote BlogKitch in 2013. Ryan was a World War II reporter, actively involved in battlefront coverage, including...

BALTIMORE - Max Scherzer bypassed an opportunity to start for the National League in Tuesday's All-Star Game, opting instead to take the mound for this afternoon's series finale against the Orioles. The much belabored decision turned out to be bad news for Baltimore as Scherzer yielded only two solo homers to fellow All-Star Adam Jones and the Nationals went on to take the series with a 3-2 win. Jones' second home run cut the Nats' lead to one with two outs in the bottom of the ninth,...

The Orioles reach the All-Star break at 44-44 after today's 3-2 loss to the Nationals, their 10th loss in the last 13 games. Several players took time to reflect on the first half and look ahead in the clubhouse after today's game: Adam Jones on moving past Frank Robinson for eighth on the O's all-time homer list: "Anytime you do anything and you mention his name, this is pretty cool. He did that in six years here and it took me eight. He's a little better. Being in any conversation with...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter was asked in a joking manner whether he had any roster moves to announce following today's game. He replied that the club already made one or two. Nice return of serve. There are no roster moves and there's no more baseball until Friday night in Detroit. The Orioles enter the All-Star break on the decline, losing again today 3-2 to the Nationals before 46,247 at Camden Yards. They've lost 10 of their last 13 games and will be four back in the division if the...

This was not the way the Orioles wanted to head into the All-Star break. They could not overcome Nationals ace right-hander Max Scherzer today and lost 3-2 to hit the break with a record of 44-44. Last year the Orioles were 10 games over .500 at the break and led the American League East by four games. Today they fall back to .500 and will be at least three games out by the end of the day. The Orioles have lost five of six and 10 of 13 games. This was their first series loss to the Nationals...

Manny Machado spent part of Sunday preparing for his All-Star trip to Cincinnati. He was folding his No. 13 gray Orioles uniform, trying on his orange glove and packing his Orioles duffle. The 2015 All-Star bag was going to Cincinnati empty, but the plan is to return with it full of memorabilia. At 23, Machado, the Orioles' youngest leadoff batter since Paul Blair in 1965, will be one of four Orioles representatives in Tuesday's All-Star Game. Machado was 21 when he played in his first...

Adam Jones did more today than give the Orioles an early lead. He also moved into a tie with a Hall of Famer. Jones hit his 179th home run as an Oriole, a solo shot off Nationals starter Max Scherzer in the first inning that allowed him to join Frank Robinson in eighth place on the club's all-time list. Jones has played in 1,109 games with the Orioles. Robinson played in 827 before - and this is still too soon for me - being traded to the Dodgers on Dec. 2, 1971. Scherzer struck out Manny...

BALTIMORE - The Nationals narrowly missed a prime opportunity to light up the scoreboard in the first. After Yunel Escobar legged out an infield single, Bryce Harper drilled an 0-1 slider from Wei-Yin Chen over Chris Davis' head and off the wall in right. Davis regrouped and managed to throw the ball in, forcing Escobar to hold at third. Wilson Ramos followed with a drive to right-center which appeared to be headed for the gap before Davis sprinted over, reached up and made the grap to end the...