This season has been about dominant pitching. Right-hander Stephen Strasburg continued that trend with seven innings on Monday in a 4-2 win over the Braves that brought the Nationals' magic number down to two to win the National League East. The San Diego State product allowed five hits, no runs, no walks and struck out seven for his 12th win. He has never pitched this far into a season (202 innings), not to mention this far into September, when the Nationals had a great opportunity to...

On June 6, the Orioles were 6 1/2 games out of first place. With last night's win they lead second-place Toronto by 12 1/2 games and are within one win of the American League East title for the first time since 1997. It is clear that the Orioles are the class of the division and a very talented team. But they are not winning on talent alone. If you ask just about any player in the O's clubhouse what makes this team so good it probably won't take long before they talk about team chemistry....

As the Orioles gradually expanded their September roster and assigned pitchers and position players to their taxi squad in Sarasota, right-hander Steve Johnson was one of the more prominent names missing from either list. He wasn't coming to Camden Yards and he wasn't working out at the Ed Smith Stadium complex. Johnson, 27, was bothered this summer by tendinitis in his shoulder that forced him onto the disabled list and limited him to 13 appearances at Triple-A Norfolk. His innings and...

The Orioles' magic number for clinching the American League East is Al Bumbry. The Orioles held their composure tonight and defeated the Blue Jays 5-2 before 25,061 at Camden Yards. A win on Tuesday night gives Baltimore its first division title since 1997. The Yankees lost tonight and were eliminated from the race. Wei-Yin Chen won his 16th game, Zach Britton earned his 35th save, manager Buck Showalter tied Billy Martin for 36th place on the all-time wins list with 1,253 and the Orioles...

Orioles catcher Caleb Joseph had a crowd of reporters around his locker tonight. They asked him about Wei-Yin Chen and the O's 5-2 win over Toronto, but also about plays he was involved in during the middle of the game. Joseph was asked about the play at the plate that angered Jose Reyes and the Blue Jays in the fifth inning and then the pitch that Marcus Stroman threw that buzzed his head in the last of the sixth. "We had a play at the plate," Joseph said. "Close game, late in the year....

ATLANTA - The magic number is now two. A win here at Turner Field tomorrow or Wednesday and the Nationals are division champs. The Nats cut that magic number in half tonight, beating Atlanta 4-2 in a game that turned really tight late. Washington took a 4-0 lead to the ninth, but Rafael Soriano allowed two runs and Drew Storen needed to come in with the tying run at the plate. A Christian Bethancourt RBI single put the tying run on base, and Bethancourt then moved into scoring position on a...

Last week, an emotionally charged issue came back full-speed as the Orioles were calmly tying up the American League East. Chris Davis was suspended for 25 games for using an amphetamine without a doctor's note. The amphetamine in question, Adderall, is a fairly common one used to treat individuals with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. A little over 10 percent of major league players use the drug fairly because they have applied to use it. That number may seem high, but it resides...

Wei-Yin Chen certainly has had sharper outings. But tonight, he minimized the damage and won his 16th game as the Orioles beat Toronto 5-2 at Camden Yards. The Orioles have reduced their magic number to clinch the American League East to one. They can win the division title here on Tuesday night. The Orioles are a season-high 30 games over .500 at 90-60 and have won eight of their last nine and 17 of the last 22 games. Both benches were warned in the last of the sixth when Toronto starter...

The Orioles are trying to win a game tonight while not losing their composure. This is going to be a challenge. Blue Jays shortstop Jose Reyes became angry at catcher Caleb Joseph in the top of the fifth inning after diving across the plate to score on Danny Valencia's two-out single. Reyes' left hand slammed into Joseph's foot, leaving him in obvious pain. Reyes apparently felt that Joseph was illegally blocking the plate, and he did some yapping on his way back to the dugout. At one...

The Nationals have drawn first blood in tonight's game against the Braves. In the third, Wilson Ramos drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on a sac bunt by Stephen Strasburg and scored on Denard Span's two-out double to right. It's 1-0 Nationals heading to the bottom of the third. Update: Left fielder Bryce Harper is out of the game in the top of the fourth. Nate Schierholtz came on as a pinch-hitter and fanned for the inning's final out. Schierholtz has also taken over in left. No word yet...