After watching Max Scherzer pitch the first few innings against the Pirates at Nationals Park on Saturday, you knew he was going to be dominant. The Nationals ace was locked in and perfect through 8 2/3 innings. After his two-out, two-strike pitch in the ninth just got a piece of Jose Tabata, the Pirates had their first baserunner, but the dominance continued. Scherzer got the next batter, Josh Harrison, to fly out to left field, locking up the Nationals' second no-hitter, the first of his...

No-hitters are always about a dominant pitcher completely shutting down an opposing squad. More often than not, these pitching gems have a few plays in the field on defense that make the difference between a no-hitter and a one- or two-hitter. On Saturday in D.C., Max Scherzer was awesome in his no-hitter of the Pirates, with a final score of 6-0. One play that got the crowd roaring was a defensive play by veteran second baseman Danny Espinosa late in the game that kept the Pirates off the...

Manager Matt Williams said Max Scherzer's first career no-hitter, a 6-0 shutout of the Pirates, was something special and the team was proud to be able to share it with the hometown Nats Park crowd. "What's the max capacity here?" Williams queried the media throng in the press conference room. "Forty-one thousand people on their feet from the time he went on for the ninth. That's a very good feeling for our club. Maxie was fantastic all day." Scherzer's gem came within one out of a...

FREDERICK, Md. - Orioles left-hander Wei-Yin Chen got his outing in tonight at Single-A Frederick and pitched three scoreless innings against the Wilmington Blue Rocks before a torrential storm forced the game to be suspended after four innings. Chen gave up just one hit - a first-inning, two-out double - and fanned two without a walk. He threw 35 pitches, 25 for strikes. He is expected to return to the Orioles and start next Friday. But it was the postgame interview here tonight that was as...

Max Scherzer's dominance from last Sunday's one-hit shutout has carried over into today's start. Scherzer has retired the first 12 Pirates he's faced. He whiffed the side in the fourth, with Andrew McCutchen the final victim to go down swinging. Scherzer has struck out 21 batters in his last 13 innings. Bryce Harper put the Nationals on the scoreboard with a leadoff bomb in the bottom of the fourth. The solo shot landed up in the grassy batter's eye area behind the wall in dead center...

Mychal Givens didn't make it into yesterday's game at Rogers Centre, putting a possible major league debut on hold. He warmed in the eighth inning as Darren O'Day loaded the bases with no outs. That's close, but it doesn't count. O'Day escaped the jam with three strikeouts. Givens has escaped the minors with eye-popping numbers and an open mind. Givens batted .263/.342/.343 in 1,220 minor league plate appearances before the Orioles moved him from shortstop to the bullpen in 2013. He...

Nationals manager Matt Williams' phone buzzed early today with a message from his star right fielder Bryce Harper. "I got a text from him this morning that said, 'I'm good to go,'" Williams said. "So, yeah, he's ready to go." Harper returns to the lineup after missing just one game with a strained left hamstring. He took an alarming spill after launching an errant throw in the sixth inning of Thursday's loss to the Rays. "I've played through pain the last two years sometimes,"...

This time not only did Darren O'Day's escape act keep a team off the board but it may have served to provide some momentum for the Orioles offense. After O'Day stranded the bases loaded in the eighth this afternoon, the O's scored three in the ninth to break a 2-2 tie and beat Toronto 5-3. Manny Machado added three hits and two RBIs. With the game tied 2-2 in the eighth, O'Day was able to get out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam by striking out Russell Martin, Dioner Navarro and Kevin Pillar....

Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond is out of the lineup for a second game in a row as manager Matt Williams wants him to take a "mental rest." Since June 9, Desmond has gone 4-for-36 (.111) with 16 strikeouts. "It's rest, it's clear," Williams said. "It's good work, it's all of those things. It's important for him to get back to where he wants to be, and if a couple of days does that, and at the end of the year he'll look back and go, 'Yeah, maybe that was good.' It's never easy to...

The Orioles today announced that they have reinstated right-hander Kevin Gausman from the 15-day disabled list, selected the contract of right-hander Mychal Givens from Double-A Bowie, optioned right-handers Tyler Wilson and Mike Wright to Triple-A Norfolk, and transferred right-hander Jason Garcia to the 60-day disabled list. Gausman, 24, was placed on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder tendinitis on May 8. He made three rehab appearances with Class-A (Advanced) Frederick and...