With the approaching return of Doug Fister and Stephen Strasburg from the 15-day disabled list, it appears Tanner Roark's stint in the starting rotation is coming to an end. Depending on how Nationals manager Matt Williams chooses to slot out his starters for the remainder of the week, tonight could be Roark's last or at least second to last start for a while before heading back to the bullpen. Since Fister landed on the DL, Roark has started four games, posting a 4.63 ERA while walking four...

Ricky Hague had a smashing debut for Triple-A Syracuse with a three-run homer in the Chiefs' 8-1 dispatch of Toledo. It was Hague's first homer since June 27, 2014 while with Double-A Harrisburg. He finished 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBIs in his Triple-A debut. Kevin Keyes also debuted with an RBI double in his first at-bat. He also went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. Taylor Jordan had a nice bounce back performance extending to seven innings, allowing five hits, no runs, no...

Kevin Gausman's next step, as he continues to work his way back possibly to the Orioles rotation, comes tonight when the right-hander is scheduled to make a rehab start at Single-A Frederick for the Keys. Gausman is slated to pitch just two innings leading to speculation that his next start after this one could come on short rest for the Orioles. That would possibly be on Friday night. He could also potentially return to the team in a bullpen role or be activated and optioned to the minors,...

Any thought that Max Scherzer's awesome performance would carry over into Gio Gonzalez's start was eliminated rather quickly tonight. A day after Scherzer pitched a complete-game one-hitter, Gonzalez managed to hang around for just 3 1/3 innings as the Rays went on to thump the Nationals 6-1. The Rays filled the bases in the first on a single and two walks before Gonzalez narrowly escaped the jam. In the second, though, Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier almost single-handedly put his team...

The Orioles currently have three relief pitchers who have thrown more than 10 innings and posted sub-2.00 earned run averages. The first two, Zach Britton and Darren O'Day, are names you'd expect. But the third isn't, because his name is Chaz Roe. As MASNsports.com's Steve Melewski wrote in May, Roe thought his career was coming to an end a few years ago. A career minor leaguer up to that point with the Rockies (2006-2010) and Mariners (2011), he failed a drug test before the 2012 season,...

Wei-Yin Chen was on top of his game tonight and maybe that had the Philadelphia Phillies batters hitting on top of the ball. On his way to pitching eight scoreless innings, Chen rolled through the first six innings on just 67 pitches. The Phillies hit just one ball out of the infield in the first six frames with 11 outs on ground balls and five on strikeouts mixed in. "I felt great and all my pitches were working today," Chen said through his interpreter Louis Chao. "(Matt) Wieters called a...

The Orioles are bringing more roster intrigue to the party today. Outfielder/first baseman Chris Parmelee will come off the taxi squad and the Orioles seem intent on giving him an audition with the major league club. Parmelee could have exercised the opt-out clause in his contract yesterday, but the Orioles didn't give him a chance. "We have first dibs," said manager Buck Showalter. The trick is making room for Parmelee on the 25-man roster. Do the Orioles eliminate a left-handed hitting...

The Orioles won for the ninth time in their last 11 games tonight and handed the Phillies their 17th loss in the last 20. I try to avoid the cliche about two teams heading in opposite directions, but man, this is a prime example of it. Wei-Yin Chen turned in a masterful performance, tying his career high with eight innings and his season high with nine strikeouts in a 4-0 victory over the Phillies at Camden Yards. "That was good, obviously," said manager Buck Showalter. "He threw 75 strikes...

When Adam Jones hustled up the first-base line tonight, beating out what could have been an inning-ending double play grounder, it led to three big runs for the Orioles. Jones' hustle kept the sixth inning going for the Orioles. A two-out walk to Chris Davis followed and then Matt Wieters launched a three-run homer to right to turn a 1-0 game into a 4-0 lead. The hustle, the homer and Wei-Yin Chen's strong pitching propelled the O's to a 4-0 win over the Phillies at Camden Yards. The teams...

After quickly recording the first two outs, Gio Gonzalez labored through the remainder of the first inning. Gonzalez gave up a couple of walks and a base hit to load the bases before Danny Espinosa bailed him out of the jam. Rays first baseman Jake Elmore tapped a curveball back to Gonzalez, who fielded it well, then errantly threw to first base. Espinosa, making only his third career start at the position, calmly picked the one-hopper out of the dirt to close out the inning. Gonzalez wasn't...