BALTIMORE - It is difficult to look back at good pitching in a game that a team loses in walk-off fashion, but the Nationals' 3-2 loss to the Orioles wouldn't have been close early on if not for the pitching of left-handed starter Gio Gonzalez. Gonzalez allowed a solo homer to Adam Jones which gave the Orioles a 1-0 lead in the fourth. But he took a 2-1 lead into the seventh before walking Jimmy Paredes and being relieved by Aaron Barrett. Jones hit a changeup to put the Orioles on the...

The Orioles are 19-2 when Jonathan Schoop hits a home run in his career. Why not have him do it more often and run away with the division? It's a simple game. Why make it more complicated? Schoop belted his first walk-off home run tonight, a solo shot off Tanner Roark with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, to give the Orioles a 3-2 win before 46,289 at Camden Yards, their largest crowd of the season. The Orioles went 1-5 on the road trip. They lost eight of their last 10 games. They...

Orioles second baseman Jonathan Schoop may have been just following instructions. He came to bat in the last of the ninth of a 2-2 tie with two outs and none on. He got a 2-2 slider from right-hander Tanner Roark that he drove into the left-field seats to send a sellout crowd of 46,289 into a frenzy, giving the Orioles a walk-off 3-2 win over the Washington Nationals to start a big weekend series. "Manny (Machado) told me to hit a double and he could drive me in or hit a home run," Schoop...

As the All-Star Game approaches, here are candidates for baseball's major awards based on the the first half of play: * AL Manager of the Year: A.J. Hinch, Houston; Joe Girardi, New York, Paul Molitor, Minnesota. ... Any of these could win the award, but Hinch is leading Houston's turnaround with two starters, Dallas Keuchel and Collin McHugh, and a lineup that doesn't have a .300 hitter. Jose Altuve was hitting .298 going into Friday. ... Girardi has a dominating bullpen, but there are...

It ended with a walk-off homer. Jonathan Schoop homered to left on a 2-2 slider from Tanner Roark with two outs in the last of the ninth as the Orioles beat the Nationals 3-2 tonight in the series opener. The Orioles failed to get a single hit with a runner in scoring position, but they did post their third walk-off win of the year on Schoop's first career walk-off homer. Down 2-1, the Orioles tied the game in the last of the eighth. Chris Parmelee led off with a pinch-hit, check-swing infield...

BALTIMORE - Orioles center fielder Adam Jones broke a scoreless tie with a solo homer off Nationals starter Gio Gonzalez to begin the fourth. It was Jones' 12th home run of the season. Gonzalez has allowed one run on four hits with two walks and four strikeouts. A leadoff single from Yunel Escobar in the first is the only hit the Nats have managed against Orioles starter Chris Tillman. Tillman has struck out Bryce Harper in both at-bats so far. Update: Clint Robinson and Ian Desmond connected...

The Orioles return to interleague play tonight when they host the Washington Nationals for a three-game series that will end the first half. The Orioles are 4-5 this season against the National League, going 0-2 against the Mets, 1-2 versus the Marlins and 3-1 against Philadelphia. They went 12-8 last year and are 153-179 all-time in interleague games. The Orioles lead the all-time series with Washington, 29-21, since 2006. Since 2012, the Orioles are 10-4, going 4-0-2 in six series. Their last...

Orioles third baseman Manny Machado is batting leadoff tonight in his 64th game this season. It no longer seems unusual. Machado is hitting .311/.369/.554 with 14 doubles, a triple, 15 home runs, 36 RBIs and 43 runs scored while positioned atop the order. Should manager Buck Showalter consider moving him down while his club struggles to score runs? "Would you move him?" Showalter asked a reporter. "I'm going to ask you first. Who would lead off if we took him out of there? I actually...

BALTIMORE - Nationals manager Matt Williams said right-hander Jordan Zimmermann will return from paternity leave to start tomorrow night's game against the Orioles. Zimmermann's wife, Mandy, gave birth to their daughter, Ava Kristeen, this morning. "Now that we know that everybody's healthy and everybody's gonna be home, Jordan is gonna pitch tomorrow and determine Sunday at some point tomorrow," Williams said. Right-hander Max Scherzer threw his bullpen session this afternoon at Camden...

BALTIMORE - Nationals manager Matt Williams arrived in Baltimore with a positive update on center fielder Denard Span and the back spasms that landed him on the 15-day disabled list this week. The results of the MRI and what the back specialist saw revealed no major structural damage. "It's good news," Williams said. "The results of the MRI and the specialist he saw finds nothing alarming, which is good. We have to look at his history and the two surgeries he had this winter and say...