The Nationals' Natonal League Division Series roster has been announced and features 12 pitchers (three left-handed, nine right-handed) and 13 position players (two catchers, seven infielders, four outfielders). There had been some question as to whether or not reliever Rafael Soriano would make the NLDS roster. The veteran right-hander has indeed made the Nats' group of 25. Instead, the Nationals left Ross Detwiler off the roster. He played an important role in keeping the Nationals in the...

Well, the kid got off to a good start in the first major league playoff game of his life. Orioles second baseman Jonathan Schoop went 2-for-4 last night. He singled in the second inning in his first postseason at-bat and then added a two-run double in the eight-run eighth. Schoop ended the regular season batting just .109 (6-for-55) over his last 20 games with one homer and two RBIs. He'll take the hits but he loved the win. "I felt really good to get a few hits and to help the team win....

Yes, Stephen Strasburg grew up watching Jake Peavy pitch for the San Diego Padres. Yes, the two are friendly. Yes, they live near one another in San Diego, apparently. But the Nationals' 26-year-old right-hander isn't so in awe of the veteran right-hander he grew up watching that he's going to have any problem going out to the mound today and beating one of his childhood idols. "Yeah, I've met him him a few times," Strasburg told reporters on Thursday who asked about facing the San...

Manager: Bruce Bochy, eighth year Regular season record: 88-74 Last 10 games: 5-5, including NL wild card win Who to watch: C Buster Posey (.311/.364/.490, 28 doubles, 22 HR, 89 RBIs); RF Hunter Pence (.277/.332/.445, 29 doubles, 10 triples, 20 HR, 74 RBIs, 106 R); RHP Jake Peavy (6-4, 2.17 ERA, 1.04 WHIP); RHP Tim Hudson (9-13, 3.57 ERA, 1.23 WHIP) Season series vs. Nats: 2-5, 30 runs scored, 41 runs allowed Pitching probables Game 1, Oct. 3: Jake Peavy vs. Stephen Strasburg, 3 p.m., FS1 Game...

Baseball is the World Series and a championship team! Celebration and parades, confetti in the streets. And maybe, just maybe, this year that team is your team. Because in baseball, anything is possible. I promised my son a parade. We've read the book "Baseball Is ..." several times ever since my father purchased it as a gift for his grandson. That grandson has always loved the section quoted above, which begins on a page illustrated with players in a pileup, the word "Champs!" on the...

Happy postseason, folks. Playoff baseball officially started three days ago. Nationals players and fans have had to wait patiently for their time to come, but we're now just a few hours away from the start of the National League Division Series and Stephen Strasburg's first pitch. It won't just be Strasburg's first pitch of this postseason, of course. It'll be the first playoff start of his career, the first time he's taken to a big league mound in October. And there's a lot of pressure...

Veteran pitcher who has seen it all vs. rising fireballer who watched him growing up. New buddy vs. new buddy. Workout partner vs. workout partner. Nationals vs. Giants. In Game 1 of the National League Division Series, right-hander Jake Peavy will face right-hander Stephen Strasburg. San Diegan vs. San Diegan. Or is it San Diego-an? Will Ferrell, help me out here. It is San Diegan, of course. Either way, the two righties who exchanged texts throughout the season now pitch against each other...

The 1966 Orioles didn't do it. Neither did the great teams from 1969, '70 and '71. Or the 1983 World Series champs. None of them scored 12 runs in a playoff game. The Orioles' previous best was 11 runs four times before last night's 12-3 win over Detroit in Game 1 of the American League Division Series. The last time the O's scored 11 runs was Oct. 7, 1983 in Game 3 at the White Sox in the AL Championship Series. That date is also notable for this reason: The Orioles won that game 11-1...

After committing seven errors at third base in their final 10 games of the regular season, the Orioles were flawless in the field yesterday in the opener of the American League Division Series. Try to figure out baseball. I dare you. Ryan Flaherty didn't burn his fingers on the hot corner. He made every play, including a clean grab of Torii Hunter's bouncer with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth. He also walked and collected an RBI single in an eight-run eighth inning. Flaherty...

Tigers skipper Brad Ausmus' first postseason game as a manager didn't quite go the way he hoped. A tight contest turned into a rout when few miscues in the eighth contributed to an eight-run inning for the Orioles, who handed Detroit a 12-3 loss in Game 1 of the American League Division Series. In the top of the eighth with the dangerous heart of the Tigers' order due up, Torii Hunter lined into a double play when Ian Kinsler ran on his own, making it easy work for J.J. Hardy after a...