CHICAGO - The Orioles will hold a reunion this weekend at Wrigley Field. Two of the Cubs' starters for the three-game series have ties to the Orioles. Jake Arrieta opposes Kevin Gausman on Friday, and Tsuyoshi Wada opposes Miguel Gonzalez on Sunday. Factor in reliever Pedro Strop, and there will be plenty of familiar faces on the north side. Wada underwent ligament-reconstructive surgery on his left elbow and never threw a pitch for the Orioles after signing a two-year, $8.15 million...

As I did a couple of days ago, I will issue a warning to the superstitious readers out there. If you feel that me discussing a winning streak will in any way impact the Nationals' performance on the field tonight, or if such conversation will upset you, it might be best to click off this page and return to MASNsports.com later this afternoon. Glad that we've gotten that out of the way. Back in the early stages of this season, Nats manager Matt Williams sat down with my colleague F.P....

The Nationals are riding an eight-game winning streak with last night's 8-1 victory over the Diamondbacks in D.C. And while I wasn't going to bring it up until closer to the end of the season, I find it interesting to take a look at what's happened due to Ryan Zimmerman being sidelined for most of 2014. After breaking his thumb early in the season, Zimmerman missed 44 games. This allowed Anthony Rendon to move from starting at second base to his native third base, creating opportunities for...

Barring a complete meltdown in the remaining six weeks of the season, the Orioles look certain to make a return to the playoffs for the first time since 2012 and will hope to do so by winning the American League East title for the first time since 1997. With just 38 games now remaining in the regular season, the O's hold an 8 1/2 game division lead and look forward to a favorable schedule over the next few weeks, which includes the completion of the current series against the White Sox, a...

The Orioles and their fans could get used to pitching like this. Here are some updated O's pitching stats: * The Orioles have a 1.33 ERA over their last three games, allowing just eight hits in 27 innings. The O's have allowed three or fewer hits for three consecutive games for the first time since July 17-19, 1992. The team record is four straight games set Sept. 2-6, 1974. * The team's ERA is 2.57 over the last 27 games and the Orioles have allowed two runs or fewer 14 times in that...

CHICAGO - Orioles manager Buck Showalter still throws the best curveball in the organization. Just when you thought he was going to start Miguel Gonzalez last night, he went with Chris Tillman. You thought Gonzalez might be the pitcher listed as TBA tonight, and it turned out to be Wei-Yin Chen. Chen will take his regular turn despite Showalter's preference to give him extra rest. Tillman is starting Monday on five days rest despite Showalter's preference to keep him on...

CHICAGO - The Orioles are a season-high 20 games over .500 and 8 1/2 games ahead of the Yankees in the American League East following tonight's 5-1 victory over the White Sox before a sparse crowd at U.S. Cellular Field. This is the Orioles' largest division lead since Sept. 7, 1997. They've got to sense that something special is nearing, that October baseball looms. "This time of year you have to, especially if you're playing good baseball," said Chris Tillman. "We're playing a good...

The Nationals steamrolled the Diamondbacks 8-1 Tuesday thanks to big offense from their double-play combination of shortstop Ian Desmond and second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera. Desmond went 3-for-4 with three singles and four RBIs while Cabrera had a game-changing three-run double in a six-run third inning that broke open the game. With the bases loaded and no one out in that explosive frame, Cabrera was just trying to get the run home from third, but instead got so much more with a good...

Chris Tillman is pretty much cranking out strong outing after strong outing these days. His latest stellar effort came tonight as he pitched the Orioles past the Chicago White Sox 5-1 at U.S. Cellular Field. Tillman went eight innings and Tommy Hunter pitched the ninth. The duo combined to hold Chicago to three hits. It's the third straight game where Orioles pitching has allowed three or fewer hits. The last time the O's had done that was July 17-19, 1992. The team record is four games in a...

Eight in a row. The winning streak has now reached eight games, the second-longest stretch in Nationals team history. The Nats are 18 games above .500 and are clicking on all cylinders. And tonight, they didn't even need a walk-off to claim the victory. Stephen Strasburg allowed just one run on three hits in eight innings of work, notching his 10th win of the season. Ian Desmond drove in four and Asdrubal Cabrera delivered a bases-clearing double that was part of a six-run third in an 8-1...