The Orioles were swept three straight at home just one time during the 2014 season. The Detroit Tigers were the team that did it and that Tigers team will be at Camden Yards again on Thursday for Game 1 of the American League Division Series. Before they came to Baltimore, Detroit hosted the Orioles in the season's second series and won the first two games 10-4 and 7-6 before Chris Tillman pitched the Orioles to a 3-1 win to avoid the sweep. When Detroit came to Baltimore on May 12 for a...

Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, appeared with The Junkies on Sports Radio 106.7 The Fan Monday morning, said he will not be 100 percent until spring training, and is still 80-to-85 percent healthy as he recovers from a hamstring strain suffered July 22 and his team heads into the postseason. Zimmerman had said during his rehabilitation process that he never thought of being just a pinch-hitter, but there is a very good chance that is how he will be used in Game 1 of the National League...

Single-A Frederick third baseman Jason Esposito, the Orioles' second-round pick in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft out of Vanderbilt University, has been named a Rawlings Gold Glove Award recipient. Esposito, 24, is the first Keys player to win the award, which was reintroduced to the minors in 2011 after a nearly 50-year hiatus. I don't know what time Esposito will receive it, and I still don't have confirmation on starting times for the Division Series. In 118 games, Esposito paced all...

A no-hitter is thrown by the pitcher, so he gets most of the attention for his well-deserved accomplishment. Jordan Zimmermann's name is plastered everywhere across the sports landscape today - newspapers, Web sites, national highlight shows. The right-hander pitched a gem yesterday, recorded the first no-hitter in Nationals history, and did it in grand fashion, on the final day of the regular season. But everyone on the Nationals' roster got to experience the joy of Zimmermann's no-hitter...

It's obvious that Buck Showalter has done an admirable job in leading the Orioles since 2010 when he took over for Juan Samuel and Dave Trembely before him. Showalter has led the Birds to two postseason berths now and the team heads into this year's playoffs as a division champion for the first time since 1997. There's one thing that could tell you just how good Showalter is in the coming weeks, though, and that's his ability to prepare his team for the postseason. I'm not entirely sure...

The time we've been waiting for all year is at hand. After closing out the regular season on the highest possible note - Jordan Zimmermann throwing the Nationals' first no-hitter since the team moved to Washington D.C., in 2005 - the team and its fans can now get ready for the postseason. The bitter taste of the 2012 Game 5 meltdown is behind us now, as is the disappointment of missing the postseason in 2013. Instead, the Nationals can focus on winning Washington's first pennant since 1933,...

Finally, the regular season is over. Clinching early seemed great at the time for the Orioles, but it sure meant a lot of less than exciting baseball was played for nearly two weeks. The Orioles went 5-6 in the 11 games since they clinched the American League East on Sept. 16. They had some less than stellar play since then, especially on defense. This has led some fans to be concerned that the Orioles intensity level, which took a hit after they clinched, will be an issue in the playoffs....

I'm wondering whether fans are in a reflective mood today or focused entirely on the Division Series. My guess is the latter, with maybe a few exceptions. The regular season is over, but the Orioles aren't done playing. Game 1 is set for Thursday against the Tigers at Camden Yards, with an anticipated start time of 6 p.m. That is not official. Major League Baseball should send out a release later today. These two teams have never met in the postseason. I've got to cancel my hotel room...

The regular season finale belonged to Jordan Zimmermann. A day that was supposed to be about getting the Nationals' regulars a couple of at-bats and then making sure they finished the season healthy suddenly turned into a, 'There's no way he could actually do this, right?' afternoon for a starting pitcher who hadn't appeared in a game in eight days and had been drilled on the right shoulder by a line drive in his last start. Zimmermann cut through the Marlins' lineup in a swift 121...

With the postseason five days away, Nationals manager Matt Williams used 17 position players in the final game of the season, as he wanted to rest his starters after a couple of at-bats. His starting pitcher got a couple of base hits. His shortstop hit a home run for the only run the Nationals needed in a 1-0 shutout of the Marlins and the club's 96th win of the season. Oh, wait. Right-hander Jordan Zimmermann tossed the first no-hitter in Nationals history, going nine innings, allowing...