SAN FRANCISCO - The Nationals have life. Their clubhouse after yesterday's Game 3 win was brimming with energy. Now they turn the ball over to their most energetic starting pitcher. After yesterday's dramatic victory, Gio Gonzalez now gets the ball for the Nats today in their second straight must-win ballgame. The left-hander hasn't started a game in 12 days, but with their season on the line, the Nationals will look to Gonzalez to help them extend the National League Division Series and...

I'm sure I'm not the only one in Baltimore counting down the hours until Game 1 of the American League Championship Series. In case you're not counting, we have 82 hours as of the moment I'm typing this sentence. The series between the Orioles and Royals looks to be a great matchup. Both teams are coming off series sweeps in the Division Series. Both teams are representing cities that have missed October baseball for some time. And last but not least, both teams are flat-out playing...

The Orioles are no longer underdogs Even though the Orioles finished with six more wins during the regular season, many still viewed the Detroit Tigers as the favorites to win the American League Division Series. And yet the Orioles dispatched Detroit in just three games. Fans drinking nothing but orange Kool-Aid likely would not have even predicted a sweep against Detroit. But the Orioles demonstrated that they had the more complete team. Before the ALDS, Adam Jones hinted at the team's...

The Orioles are working out today at Camden Yards. The session is closed to the public. The media qualifies as public, so we won't be there. I've been asked about the rotation and 25-man roster for the American League Championship Series. Did we learn nothing from the Division Series? Manager Buck Showalter isn't going to show his hand this early. Chris Tillman seems a lock to pitch Game 1 on Friday. I've had fans float Miguel Gonzalez's name, since he didn't pitch in the ALDS and he...

SAN FRANCISCO - As the ball got past Pablo Sandoval's outstretched glove hand and trickled down the left field line, multiple Nationals knew that moment could be it. It could be the momentum-shifter, the play that they had been looking for. "I mentioned it yesterday, that we just need one break," reliever Drew Storen said. "It's been a tough couple games here to start. And we got our break." Prior to starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner's errant throw to third on Wilson Ramos'...

SAN FRANCISCO - Win or pack your bags, head home and prepare for a long offseason. That's the situation the Nationals found themselves in today, trailing the Giants two games to none in the best-of-five National League Division Series. Doug Fister chose to stay in San Francisco another day. The right-hander took the mound at AT&T Park in a do-or-die game and did what he did 16 other times this season: win. "Doug pitched great," manager Matt Williams said. "He was in command all day with...

Say this about Nationals manager Matt Williams: He's immensely even-keeled regardless of the situation. It's hard to tell if he's eight runs up or eight runs down just by looking at the expression on his face. In his postgame meeting with the media following the Nationals' 4-1 win over the Giants in Game 3 of the National League Division Series, Williams was his typical focused and unflappable self, refusing to bite on questions about his team's two games to one hole in the best-of-five...

Seven Orioles prospects take the field later today as play begins in the Arizona Fall League. The Orioles players are on the Glendale Desert Dogs, who open against Mesa. Each major league team sends four pitchers and three position players to the AFL. The O's pitchers are Zach Davies, Parker Bridwell, Mychal Givens and Ashur Tolliver. Also on the Glendale roster are catcher Michael Ohlman, infielder-outfielder Garabez Rosa and third baseman Jason Esposito. In addition to the seven players,...

SAN FRANCISCO - The Nationals said coming into San Francisco that if they just played their game and got a break or two along the way, that they could very easily come back to win this series. They might have just gotten that break. Madison Bumgarner's throwing error on a Wilson Ramos sacrifice bunt led to two runs, and the Nats tacked on an additional run in the seventh inning to take a 3-0 lead. Ramos came up with two on and nobody out after Ian Desmond's leadoff single and a Bryce Harper...

SAN FRANCISCO - Doug Fister's command hasn't been there early on. But he's thrown two scoreless innings, keeping this game knotted at zeros as we go to the third. Fister has needed 43 pitches to get through two, including 27 in the second inning, when the Giants loaded the bases on a Pablo Sandoval single to left-center and two walks. That brought up Giants starter Madison Bumgarner with the bases loaded, and by no means is the left-hander (who bats right-handed) an easy out. Bumgarner has...