BOSTON - The Orioles' magic number is down to nine. Single digits. Don Buford's uniform number. Brady Anderson's number, too, for younger fans. Chris Tillman lasted only five innings and threw 108 pitches, but he's held opponents to three earned runs or fewer in 18 consecutive starts to tie Steve Barber for the fourth-longest streak in club history. Alejandro De Aza hit his first two home runs as an Oriole. Adam Jones cleared one of the signs above the Green Monster with his home run, the...

The Nationals' quick start paid dividends late in a 6-4 series-clinching victory over the Braves on Tuesday night. First baseman Adam LaRoche, the co-Player of the Week in the National League, had two singles and two RBIs has the Nationals built a 5-0 lead against right-hander Ervin Santana after two innings. "That doesn't happen too often against that guy," LaRoche said. "He's a pretty good pitcher. He's got a few different pitches and a lot of times they all look the same coming out of...

The Nationals' division lead is now nine games, the largest it's been since baseball came back to D.C. in 2005 You can pretty much lock up the National League East, folks. Matt Williams' ballclub took another game from the Braves tonight, this one by a 6-4 score, their fifth win in their last seven games against Atlanta. This win locked up a third straight series win over an above-.500 team, trimmed the magic number to 10 and left the Nats up nine games over the Braves with 19 games...

Alejandro De Aza hit his first Orioles homer tonight. Then he hit his second. Then Adam Jones hit one so far it should have counted as two. The Orioles used the longball and Chris Tillman's 18th straight start allowing three earned runs or fewer to beat Boston 4-1 at Fenway Park. The Orioles improved to a season-high 26 games over .500 at 85-59, winning for the 10th time in 13 games and for the 30th time in 44 games. The Orioles reduced their magic number to clinch the American League East...

Never underestimate the importance of getting the leadoff man on base. Factor in that your team is facing a 14-game winner in Ervin Santana and the importance ramps up. The Nationals offense has scored three runs or less in eight of its last 11 nine-inning games. So if Santana could get going, it would add pressure to the offense as the innings progressed. Denard Span made everything easier for his teammates in his first at-bat, smacking a 1-2 Santana offering into right field for a double....

BOSTON - Alejandro De Aza hit his first home run as an Oriole tonight, depositing a 91 mph fastball from rookie Anthony Ranaudo into the Red Sox's bullpen after Nick Markakis drew a leadoff walk. Orioles 2, Red Sox 0. De Aza has six home runs on the season, the first five with the White Sox before the Aug. 30 trade. Nelson Cruz doubled with two outs and is now 13-for-28 (.464) in his last eight games. Ranaudo threw 30 pitches before getting out of the inning. He walked Steve Pearce with...

When the Orioles made pitcher Gregg Olson their first-round draft pick out of Auburn in 1988, he had mixed feelings. He was happy to be selected, but was hoping to land with the Los Angeles Dodgers, the team that picked one slot after the Orioles. These days, Baltimore means something different. "When I think of Baltimore, I think of family," Olson says. "You felt like you knew everybody's family and friends. I never found that again (in my baseball career). It worked perfectly. I love...

Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman took another step in his rehabilitation from a right hamstring strain by taking live batting practice on the field prior to Tuesday's game with the Atlanta Braves. Zimmerman was happy to get back on the field, but he said that running at full speed will be more critical to him getting back into games. And he is still a ways away from from that milestone. "Running is the biggest thing," Zimmerman said. "I don't want to downplay hitting and throwing...

BOSTON - Orioles manager Buck Showalter announced his rotation through Monday's game at Camden Yards. Kevin Gausman will start Game 1 of Friday's doubleheader against the Yankees, followed by Bud Norris in Game 2. Miguel Gonzalez will start Saturday afternoon and Chris Tillman will pitch Sunday night on ESPN. Wei-Yin Chen, who closes out the Red Sox series at Fenway Park, will start Monday night against the Blue Jays. Norris is 2-4 with a 5.75 ERA in seven day starts this season and 10-4...

Heading into tonight's game at Fenway Park, Orioles starting pitchers have worked to an ERA of 1.75 over their last seven games with six quality starts. Chris Tillman (11-5, 3.40 ERA) will try to keep that going tonight when he faces Boston right-hander Anthony Ranaudo (3-1, 4.63 ERA). Tillman's streak of starts allowing three earned runs or fewer has reached 17 games. He is 6-3 with a 2.26 ERA since June 10 during the streak. If he allows three or fewer tonight, he will tie Steve Barber...