It's pretty safe to say the April version of the Toronto Blue Jays has been better than the April Baltimore Orioles. Now we see what the rest of the season will hold. The Blue Jays knocked another O's starter out early and beat the Orioles 7-6 tonight for their fifth win in six games between the teams. The Orioles have lost four in a row by a combined score of 31-15 and come home after a 2-5 road trip with a 7-9 record. The Orioles were not swept three straight by any American League East...

This script has been written too many times throughout the first month of the season. Once again, poor situational hitting combined with shoddy defense led to the Nationals losing. With today's 4-1 loss to the Cardinals, the Nats drop the first series between the teams and St. Louis now holds a 13-3 record against the Nats over the past three years. "We get guys on first and third, we gotta get 'em in," said manager Matt Williams. "We can't kick the ball. We gotta play good defense...

The Orioles have summoned infielder Rey Navarro from Triple-A Norfolk, according to sources, and appear ready to place Ryan Flaherty on the disabled list. Navarro went 2-for-4 today with his first home run in the Tides' 4-3 victory over Gwinnett. He's 3-for-7 in two games after beginning the minor league season on the disabled list with a groin injury. Navarro was scratched from Wednesday's lineup, but returned this afternoon at Harbor Park. He's scheduled to fly into Baltimore tonight. The...

Nationals right-hander Max Scherzer went seven innings and allowed only six hits, but suffered his second loss in three decisions in a 4-1 setback to the Cardinals on Thursday. In the first and sixth innings, St. Louis plated single runs against Scherzer. Matt Carpenter led off the game with a double and Jason Heyward quickly followed with a single. Later, Scherzer uncorked a wild pitch with Matt Adams at the plate, and the Cardinals had the lead 1-0. "I thought he pitched well. The first...

Nationals catching prospect Jakson Reetz is making nice gains nearing his first full year in the organization. The 6-foot-1, 195 lb. backstop from Norris, Neb., was selected in the third round of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft Nationals catching coordinator Michael Barrett has seen the acceleration by the 19-year-old Reetz firsthand. Barrett said Reetz looked the part of a catcher, offensively and defensively. "I saw him in the summer last year and he did a phenomenal job," Barrett said....

In the bunched up American League East standings, the Orioles find themselves in fourth place for the second time this year. But at 7-8, they are just two games out of first place. They have fallen back with a three-game losing streak, during which they've been outscored 24-9. Last season, the Orioles were not swept in a three-game series by any AL East team. The last time it happened was against the team that can do it tonight. Toronto swept the O's three straight at Rogers Centre from June...

Barry Bonds' Hall of Fame chances have a new twist of confusion after his felony obstruction of justice conviction was overturned Wednesday by an appeals court in San Francisco. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco said there wasn't enough evidence to convict baseball's all-time home run leader. So Bonds is now an innocent man - at least legally. Bonds, 50, was convicted of obstruction in 2011. The legal win is one thing, but what about the court of public...

Major League Baseball's enhanced pace-of-play initiatives have been in place since spring training, first in the Grapefruit and Cactus leagues and now at ballparks around the American and National leagues. A timer can be seen counting down at the end of each half inning. It is located below the giant video board in right-center field at Nationals Park and is used under these MLB guidelines: "Immediately following the third out of each half-inning, the timer will count down from 2:25 for...

The starters are set for the three-game series against the Red Sox at Camden Yards that follows tonight's game in Toronto. Miguel Gonzalez opposes Rick Porcello on Friday, Wei-Yin Chen opposes Justin Masterson on Saturday and Bud Norris opposes Wade Miley on Sunday. Didn't these teams just play each other? Since the start of the 2014 season, Chris Tillman has gone 10-1 in 18 road starts and leads the majors with a .909 road winning percentage in that span. He's on the mound tonight at...

Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter jumped on the first pitch of the game from Nationals starter Max Scherzer and roped a double off the wall in right-center field. He advanced to third base on right fielder Jason Heyward's soft single to left and scored the game's first run when Scherzer uncorked a wild pitch. Scherzer was able to work out of the inning, getting two strikeouts. Update: Shortstop Danny Espinosa missed a homer by about two feet when he ripped a double off the right field...