With Wednesday's win at Boston, the Orioles came up with their 86th win of the season. That is one more than the 2013 Orioles squad that went 85-77. The 2012 Orioles that advanced to the playoffs as a wild card went 93-69 in the regular season. This year's team can top that wins total by going 8-9 or better the rest of the way. A 14-3 finish would produce a 100-win season. Soon the Orioles will officially be a playoff team as they were two years ago. But there are sure some differences...

Adam LaRoche has brought his hot bat to New York. With a man on first in the first inning, LaRoche launched a two-run home run to right field off of Mets starter Bartolo Colon. The blast was LaRoche's fourth in the last seven days. The Nationals first baseman has nine RBIs in that stretch. Tanner Roark will start the game with a 2-0 lead. Update: This is Adam LaRoche's world and we're all living in it. LaRoche picked up another hit in the third inning to drive in Jayson Werth and...

Major League Baseball announced its postseason schedule today, including the date for the opening game of the American League Division Series. That one may especially interest you. The AL Wild Card game is scheduled for Sept. 30 on TBS, followed by the NL Wild Card game that airs on ESPN on Oct. 1. This is the first time that ESPN will be part of baseball's postseason telecasts since 2006. Should the Orioles win the AL East, they would host Game 1 of the Division Series on Oct. 2. In fact,...

I received an e-mail today inviting me to vote for Most Valuable Oriole, and it got me to thinking about how much I'd appreciate the input of my blog readers. Also, there's no game today and I'd like to file a second entry. Members of the media who cover the team make three selections, with the first-place finisher receiving five votes, second place three and third place one. The winner will be announced at the conclusion of the homestand. Chris Davis was the easy choice last season. One...

The flu-like symptoms that caused third baseman Anthony Rendon to miss yesterday's game against the Braves are apparently no longer an issue, and he's back in the Nationals lineup for today's opener of a four-game series at Citi Field against the Mets. Ditto for shortstop Ian Desmond, who sat out yesterday's contest after leaving Tuesday's game early with tightness in his back. Tanner Roark (12-10, 2.91 ERA) faces Bartolo Colon (13-11, 3.96 ERA) in a battle of right-handers. For the...

Today's the day officials from the Nationals and Astros meet with the Palm Beach County Tourist Development Council to make their pitch for a new shared spring training site. According to news reports, the teams will ask for Palm Beach County to chip in almost $155 million from a hotel tax to help offset costs for the stadium project. About $50 million in funds from a state program designed to retain Grapefruit League teams would be combined with almost $57 million from the Astros and...

It is a question that Nationals players and their manager have deflected for what seems like an entire six-game homestand. Do the Nationals feel like they're close to clinching the National League East? Manager Matt Williams has repeated the mantra, whether his team wins or loses, of "one game at a time." His players have followed suit. Whether they are winning two in a row to take a series from the Braves or falling 6-2 in the finale, the company line has been don't get too high or too low...

We all know Nick Markakis has some kind of glove. What about yesterday's diving grab at Fenway Park that kept Wei-Yin Chen's perfect game intact, or the game-saving grab at the wall at U.S. Cellular Field last month? Yep, Markakis can flash the leather. But Markakis also has some pretty impressive closing speed. What's that? You say Markakis has only stolen four bases this season, six in the last three seasons and has only reached double digits in swipes twice in his nine-year career? Or...

It feels like it has been months that people have been debating who should be on the Nationals' postseason roster. The main focus of the debate has been which starter should go to the bullpen. All I'll say about that is tonight is a big start for Tanner Roark, who has regressed to the mean a bit since the beginning of August pitching 44 1/3 innings to a 3.65 ERA (while, in the same time period, Gio Gonzalez has pitched 40 2/3 innings with a 3.54 ERA). Not much difference in those numbers, but...

I don't have the greatest of memories, but I vividly remember exactly what I did on June 30, 2009. It was another difficult season for my beloved Orioles, who were already seven games under .500 and losing 9-1 to the Boston Red Sox when a rain delay paused the game in the top of the fifth inning. My girlfriend, now wife, convinced me to stop watching and go out to dinner with her as the summer storm rolled through the city. We opted to pick crabs in Towson on that Tuesday evening, and out of...