Exactly four years ago today, the Orioles hired Buck Showalter as the 19th manager in franchise history. No regrets. Showalter's team is 12 games above .500 and 2 1/2 ahead of the second-place Blue Jays in the American League East. Delmon Young is serving as the Orioles' designated hitter for the third time in five games. He's 5-for-9 with a three-run homer in his last three appearances and is 4-for-15 (.267) with a homer and two RBIs in his career against Angels right-hander Jered...

MIAMI - Luckily for the Nationals, they haven't had too many nights like last night. There haven't been many grit-your-teeth, clench-your-fist type of losses to this point in the season, games that the Nats had in their grasp but let slip away late. Yes, last night was Rafael Soriano's fourth blown save of the season, but one of those four games ended up turning into a win anyway. And outside of a few blown saves, very few of the Nats' defeats this season have felt like punches to the...

Manager: Mike Scioscia, 15th year Record: 63-41 Last 10 games: 6-4 Who to watch: CF Mike Trout (.302/.390/.592, 30 doubles, 24 HR, 76 RBIs, 72 R); 1B Albert Pujols (.273/.325/.472, 22 doubles, 20 HR, 66 RBIs, 60 R); RF Kole Calhoun (.290/.346/.492, 11 HR, 30 RBIs); RHP Garrett Richards (11-3, 2.62 ERA, 1.05 WHIP) Season series vs. O's: 1-2, 7 runs scored, 10 runs allowed Pitching probables July 29: Jered Weaver vs. Chris Tillman, 7 p.m., MASN HD July 30: Garrett Richards vs. Kevin Gausman, 7...

It is natural to think of the most recent occurrences to be the product of a new realization. That is, if a player all of a sudden has a monster first half or a terrible first half, then that player is defined by that play. However, if the only bits of information you have are projections from the beginning of the year and how a player has performed so far, then you can ignore the latter and focus solely on the former. In other words, it is more likely that Nelson Cruz's preseason projection...

The major league trade deadline is Thursday. The Nationals have won eight of their last 12 games and 15 of the last 23. But with Ryan Zimmerman's hamstring injury reportedly keeping him out of the lineup for six to eight weeks, most folks around baseball think the Nats will be active in the trade market for an infielder - either second base or third - to help the team with its pursuit of a division title. In this space a week ago, I came to the conclusion that the Nats were as healthy as...

Losing is never easy. Blowing a 6-0 lead is up there as most upsetting. But falling 7-6 at Miami Monday is actually a good thing for a team that has seen a lot go well in the month of July. It seemed like Rafael Soriano was due. Recently, a few of his best pitches have been up in the zone. He actually lives on the edge in that regard, getting guys to chase at some of those tantalizing offers. Leading 6-3 heading into the bottom of the ninth, he had not allowed a run in 11 straight innings...

MIAMI - Jayson Werth wasn't out on the field or in the dugout for the end of the Nationals' 7-6 loss to the Marlins. A sprained right ankle suffered in the top of the seventh inning when Werth tried to stretch a single into a double knocked Werth from the game, but the Nats' right fielder doesn't expect the injury to be anything serious. He will, however, have to see how he feels Tuesday morning before knowing whether he'll be able to get back into the lineup for the second game of this...

MIAMI - Their 6-0 lead turned into a four-run advantage after the Marlins got two in the seventh. The four-run edge was cut to three when Miami plated one more on an RBI groundout in the eighth. Still, a three-run lead with Rafael Soriano on the mound seemed secure, given that Soriano had been 25 of 28 in save chances entering today and had notched his 200th career save yesterday. Then the Marlins exploded for four runs in the bottom of the ninth, with Jeff Baker's single to left off Jerry...

Well, no one said it would be easy. Toronto blew out Boston last night and moved to within 2 1/2 games of the first-place Orioles, even though they are four games out in the loss column. Tampa Bay beat Milwaukee 2-1 and is 28-12 since falling 18 games under the .500 mark on June 10. Texas beat the New York Yankees 4-2 and New York is 4 1/2 games out. So I thought the American League East was down this year? AL East teams are now 23-7 in non-division games since the second half started....

Don't be alarmed by the bright lights and the noise emanating tonight from Camden Yards. There's a baseball game scheduled between the Orioles and Angels. Continue to breathe normally. It's been a while - July 13, to be exact. The Orioles are 26-23 in Baltimore this season, compared to 32-23 on the road. Time to reclaim the home-field advantage, especially with the Blue Jays climbing within 2 1/2 games of first place in the American League East. The Angels provide the opposition again,...