The Nationals are 3 1/2 games up over the New York Mets in the National League East after their 6-1 victory over the Braves in Atlanta on Tuesday night. They've won nine of their last 10 games, have battled through injuries to realign their starting rotation and have witnessed several hitting hot streaks for various players up and down the lineup. Despite a little bit of struggle to get back to first place within their division and stay atop the baseball standings as one of the teams with the...

The ball was carrying at Camden Yards last night. There were seven homers hit between the teams, and Mitch Moreland and Chris Davis hit two each. But Moreland's second two-run shot, which gave Texas two insurance runs, and an 8-5 lead in the eighth, surprised a few Orioles. Even on a night when the ball was carrying so well. "That last one, I don't think even the hitter thought it would go out," Orioles outfielder Travis Snider said. "But, that is the elements and we understand this park...

The Nationals' bats jumped on Shelby Miller quickly, giving Jordan Zimmermann more than enough offense to beat the Braves 6-1 tonight. Zimmermann dominated Atlanta for the second time in the last six days. He scattered six hits with six strikeouts and no walks over 7 2/3 scoreless innings. Zimmermann's control and command was superb as the right-hander only threw 24 balls out of his 109 pitches, meaning 78 percent of his pitches were strikes, the highest strike percentage of his career in 7...

Miguel Gonzalez gave up a season high six runs and a career-high-tying three homers tonight as Texas beat the Orioles 8-6 with another four-homer night at Camden Yards. "He just had a few mechanical flaws that kept him from throwing strikes like he normally does," catcher Matt Wieters said of Gonzalez. "When he doesn't have his fastball command, something is not quite right with him. But he'll get after it in his bullpen session and be ready to go his next start. "You have to make good...

The Orioles won't go with a six-man bullpen for much longer, and the extra arm may arrive later today. Manager Buck Showalter wants to get back to seven relievers and be able to match up rather than just choose who's most rested. Tyler Wilson is slated to start tonight for Triple-A Norfolk and he's been down for more than 10 days, making him eligible to return to the majors. The Orioles considered bringing up Jorge Rondon while they were in Toronto before choosing Mychal Givens. Rondon also...

The Orioles are discussing again whether they need to bring up another reliever following tonight's 8-6 loss to the Rangers before 27,370 at Camden Yards. Brad Brach tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings, leaving the Orioles without a long man in a shorthanded bullpen for Wednesday night's game. "Brad was the big key," said manager Buck Showalter after the Orioles lost their second straight game for the first time since June 18-19. "We have to kick it around whether we've got to make a move...

Barring a trade or injury, the Orioles are probably going to have to risk losing at least one player this week by designating them for assignment. If they opt not to option Jonathan Schoop to the minors to continue his rehab, they'll potentially have to DFA a second player at some point. This is never easy, both from a personal and a business standpoint. The last thing that any team wants is a guy that's literally on their payroll and playing for someone else. Having said that, the time is...

On Sunday, two Orioles starting pitchers led their team to back-to-back shutout victories in one day. But in the two games since, Texas Rangers hitters have teed off on O's starters for eight homers in two nights. Texas hit four total homers tonight in an 8-6 win over the Orioles to take the first two games of the series. The O's have dropped two in a row since winning 18 of 23 games. The loss overshadows a two-homer, four-RBI night for Chris Davis, who hit two-run homers in the first and...

The Nationals managed only one run off Braves starter Shelby Miller over seven innings last Wednesday night. Tonight, they exploded for four runs in the opening frame off the right-hander. Denard Span started it off with a single to left. Danny Espinosa then pounded a double to the gap in left-center field, scoring Span all the way from first. Some aggressive base running landed Espinosa on third on a ground out from Yunel Escobar. After Miller struck out Bryce Harper, Wilson Ramos delivered a...

The Orioles have won four games via shutout at Camden Yards over the last 21 days. According to Elias, June is the first month that the Orioles have registered three shutouts or more at home since August 2006. Chris Parmelee has become a regular in the Orioles' lineup, starting again tonight at first base. Parmelee was a career .249/.317/.392 hitter in parts of four seasons with the Twins before the Orioles signed him as a minor league free agent. He's 13-for-43 (.302) with four doubles, a...