Back in 2012, the Nationals had a knack for the dramatic. They excelled in the late innings that season, posting 37 comeback wins. 10 times that year did they get to celebrate a walk-off win on the field at Nationals Park, games that seemed to build momentum and bring the clubhouse even closer together. It's still just mid-August, but it seems like the 2014 Nationals are following that same script, to an extent. So far this season, just a little over three-quarters of the way through the...

The Nationals have been involved in some crazy games the past few days. Like, nuts. Three walk-off wins in a row, back-to-back sweeps and a seven-game winning streak in total. It's enough for some to start believing in destiny. But don't let the gauzy, misty-eyed baseball romantics sucker you in though. This team is good. How good? Well for starters, let's look at the won-loss record. It doesn't get much simpler than that. The Nats currently have the highest winning percentage in the...

CHICAGO - The Orioles have won nine of their last 10 series openers since July 21. A victory tonight or Wednesday would give them nine series wins out of the last 10. They're 19 games above .500, tying their season high, and 7 1/2 ahead of the Yankees in the American League East. Having fun yet? Shortstop J.J. Hardy is often overlooked with his home run production down this season, but he's hitting .436 (17-for-39) with three home runs, nine RBIs and nine runs scored over his last 10...

This is an impressive stat for the Orioles and it bodes well for them should they still be playing in October: They are now 10-5 in games when they face a starting pitcher who is currently in the American League top 10 in ERA. The latest win came last night. They pinned a loss on Chris Sale. They are 2-0 this year when Sale has started against them. They have not pinned losses on every top starter they have faced, but they've gone on to win 10 of those 15 games. Here is the list: * 1-0 when...

CHICAGO - Before returning to the clubhouse tonight following the Orioles' 8-2 win over the White Sox, right fielder Nick Markakis headed to the weight room for a late-night workout at U.S. Cellular Field. Three hits and a game-saving catch weren't excuses to back off his normal routine. Here's a sampling of Markakis' quotes: On his catch "I thought I had a shot at it the whole way. Just positioned myself where I thought the ball was going to land. I was going after it, doing everything...

CHICAGO - Orioles manager Buck Showalter indicated that tonight's starter, Bud Norris, will work on normal rest and return to the mound Saturday against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. Kevin Gausman is starting Friday. We're just missing the Sunday starter. Stay tuned. Showalter couldn't decide whether he was more impressed with Nick Markakis' catch a few years ago on opening day at Tropicana Field or the one tonight that robbed Conor Gillaspie of a two-run homer. Both were...

Momentum and motivation are terms thrown around a lot in sports and many times in the game of baseball. That feeling a player gets when the tide turns, the momentum switch that happens can be from a big hit or a great defensive play. Or even getting out of a bases loaded jam with no outs in a tie ball game. Extra innings, especially. Nationals reliever Craig Stammen (3-4) got into just such a quandary in the 11th inning Monday night in a tie game against the Diamondbacks. With the bases...

Three games, three walk-offs. They're going to run out of Gatorade at Nationals Park. Too much of it is getting dumped on the walk-off heroes. Adam LaRoche played the role of the hero tonight, crushing a 3-1 curveball from Will Harris deep to right for his first career walk-off homer, sending the Nats players and coaches spilling onto the field for the third straight night to celebrate another wild victory, this one by a 5-4 score. The Nats scored two runs in the seventh on Wilson Ramos'...

Get one solid starting pitching performance. Mix in two homers against Chris Sale. Throw in one potential game-saving catch. And then add a late five-run rally to blown open a one-run game. Where to start with this impressive 8-2 Orioles win over the Chicago White Sox to start a three-game series? Bud Norris took a one-hitter and 3-0 lead to the last of the seventh, but he almost left that half-inning trailing. Avisail Garcia's two-out, two-run single made it a 3-2 game. The next batter,...

CHICAGO - Bud Norris was the first Oriole on the field tonight after the top of the seventh inning. He jogged to the mound ahead of everyone else following Adam Jones' ground ball. It's understandable why Norris wanted to keep pitching. Norris retired 17 of the first 18 White Sox batters while facing the minimum number through the sixth. Jordan Danks singled in the second and was caught stealing by Caleb Joseph. Norris had thrown only 64 pitches in six innings. That's ridiculously...