From the time they arrived from Montreal before the 2005 season, the Nationals have been a mainstay in the Washington, D.C., sports scene. But the Nats are also very active in the community, working diligently over the past decade to touch the lives of many in the region and proving that baseball has a further reach than wins and losses, balls and strikes, batters and pitchers. Each Thursday through mid-August, MASNsports.com's Byron Kerr will explore the Nationals' community outreach...

Orioles third baseman Manny Machado has been named the American League's Player of the Week for June 8-14. Machado batted .458 (11-for-24) with a double, two home runs and five RBIs to earn the honor. Machado is batting .455/.500/.758 during an eight-game hitting streak, tied for his longest streak this season. He has six multi-hit games in that stretch. Shortstop J.J. Hardy is batting .308/.345/.385 during his seven-game hitting streak. It's his longest streak since May 18-26, 2014 (eight...

The face of the Nationals, Ryan Zimmerman serves as a veteran presence in the clubhouse, a potent bat in the middle of the order and an anchor at first base. However, he also brings so much more to the club and Washington D.C., area beyond the basepaths. Zimmerman's biggest impact can be seen through his work to raise awareness for multiple sclerosis through his foundation, the ziMS Foundation. Since its inception in 2006, the ziMS Foundation has made a strong impact on those diagnosed with...

The Orioles and OriolesREACH will host a private, exclusive fundraising event for Shannon's Fund on Friday, June 26, from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Oriole Park prior to the 7:05 p.m. game against the Cleveland Indians. Tickets are available for $50 and include a Eutaw Street Reserved game ticket and an opportunity to enjoy batting practice from the Roof Deck beyond centerfield, a visit from an Orioles player, photos with the Oriole Bird, an Orioles gift, light refreshments, as well as...

Single-A Delmarva third baseman Jomar Reyes is going to miss some time with a sprained right thumb that will need to be immobilized for a couple of weeks. The 18-year-old from the Dominican Republic, who is ranked as the No. 10 Orioles prospect by Baseball America, will be placed on the disabled list. This injury will force him to miss the South Atlantic League All-Star Game set for June 23. But the news could have been worse, and there is no break or surgery needed for Reyes. For the...

Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg is set for a rehab assignment Wednesday with Double-A Harrisburg as they take on Richmond. The game will be at noon at Metro Bank Park in Harrisburg, Pa. The gates open at 11 a.m. Strasburg has been on the disabled list since May 30 with a left trapezius strain. On Friday in Milwaukee, Strasburg threw 60 pitches in a bullpen session. Earlier, he had practiced holding the end of a towel in his follow-through until it whipped to find his release point....

A banged-up, scuffling Nationals team has gotten up off the mat to win back-to-back games for the first time in almost three weeks and stay within spitting distance of the equally banged-up and scuffling New York Mets in the National League East. Now it's time for general manager Mike Rizzo to show us what he has and give his team the tools to put the division away. It's fair to say that the Nats have medium to long-term needs that can only be filled through a trade, as do their main division...

Max Scherzer wasn't perfect yesterday, but he did achieve a score of 100. That lofty number in statistician Bill James' Game Score metric is actually rarer than throwing a perfect game. Twenty-three men have thrown perfect games in baseball history, but only 11 had reached the century mark for Game Score before Scherzer's 16-strikeout, one-hit, one-walk complete game shutout yesterday. Digging deeper, just five pitchers - Sandy Koufax, Nolan Ryan, Matt Cain, Clayton Kershaw and Kerry Wood -...

Manager: Kevin Cash (first season) Record: 35-29 Last 10 games: 7-3 Who to watch: 3B Evan Longoria (.266/.344/.408 with 6 HR, 28 RBIs), 2B Logan Forsythe (.264/.346/.431 with 7 HR, 28 RBIs), RF Steven Souza Jr. (12 HR, 29 RBIs), RHP Chris Archer (7-4, 2.00 ERA), RHP Brad Boxberger (17 saves, 3.04 ERA) Season series vs. Nationals: First meeting (1-2 in 2012) Pitching probables: June 15: LHP Gio Gonzalez vs. RHP Erasmo Ramirez, 7:10 p.m., MASN2 June16: RHP Tanner Roark vs. RHP Alex Colome, 7:10...

What happens next with the Orioles rotation remains an intriguing riddle. Miguel Gonzalez can't come off the disabled list until June 25. Mike Wright's next turn is Friday night in Toronto, but does Tyler Wilson replace him after tossing 3 1/3 scoreless innings yesterday? Does Kevin Gausman get a start over the weekend? I've predicted that Gausman will face the Blue Jays, but he just as easily could slip into a temporary relief role despite earlier talk that he needed to be stretched out at...