For the Orioles, this has been a homestand where they fall behind in the early and middle innings, and try to pull out the game late. They have pulled out a few games, but yesterday was one where they could not do that. They fell behind 5-0 after four innings against Tampa Bay and pulled within 5-4 after eight innings, but they lost by that one-run margin. The Orioles have trailed after the sixth inning in five of the six games on this homestand. They have scored 23 runs in the six games, with...

Will Manny Machado remain in the Orioles lineup today? Has Major League Baseball forgotten about his suspension? What in the world is the holdup? Jemile Weeks is waiting for the Orioles to recall him as Machado's replacement. Rather than sit in a hotel room and drum his fingers on a table, he actually led off for short-season Single-A Aberdeen last night and went 1-for-4 as the designated hitter. He's come a long way from Triple-A Norfolk. The Orioles appeared to be better equipped to deal...

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper slammed three homers in his fifth rehab game as Double-A Harrisburg defeated Akron 10-4. Harper has been recovering from a torn ligament in his left thumb. Harper hit two of the homers off of Akron right-handed starter Duke von Schamann in the third and fifth innings. The other was a three-run shot in the eighth. Four of his RBIs on Saturday night came with two outs. He finished 4-for-5 with three runs scored and five RBIs. He also was caught stealing once...

The Tampa Bay Rays hit three early homers today to take a 5-0 lead against Wei-Yin Chen, who began today with a 2-0 record and 2.61 ERA this month. But Chen got bit by the longball today in the Orioles' 5-4 loss. He gave up five runs and seven hits over 3 1/3 innings in the shortest start of his career. "Those pitches were not well-located," Chen said of the homers through his interpreter. "I didn't do a good job commanding my pitches out there. From the beginning, I was not able to...

The Orioles rallied to within one run of the Tampa Bay Rays this afternoon before suffering a 5-4 loss at Camden Yards. Wei-Yin Chen lost for the first time since May 3 in Minnesota, allowing three home runs over 3 1/3 innings. Manager Buck Showalter offered his opinion of Chen's start, the shortest of the left-hander's major league career. "Velocity-wise, obviously he was fine, but he got beat on two off-speed pitches," Showalter said. "One was a slider and one was a changeup. Not a lot...

Coming into tonight's game, the Nationals needed to win in order to return to D.C. with a series split as well as a winning road trip. Apparently nobody told Adam LaRoche that Cubs ace Jeff Samardzija was on the mound. LaRoche hit his 11th homer of the season to give the Nats a 1-0 lead in the second inning. The homer was just the sixth Samardzija has allowed all season. Nats righty Blake Treinen has tossed two scoreless innings. Update: Another inning and another run off Samardzija....

After struggling for seven innings against former Oriole Erik Bedard, the Birds offense came to life in the eighth inning today. But the late rally fell short as Tampa Bay held off the Orioles for a 5-4 win in front of 36,387 at Camden Yards. Bedard, who entered with a 6.30 career ERA against Baltimore, gave up just a Nick Markakis homer in the sixth and took a 5-1 lead to the eighth. But after a J.J. Hardy single and Manny Machado two-run homer, Grant Balfour came on. The Orioles rallied...

Orioles left-hander Wei-Yin Chen tied his career high today by serving up three home runs to the Tampa Bay Rays. What made it worse was the damage came in only 3 1/3 innings. Brad Brach has replaced Chen, who's charged with five runs and seven hits in a career-low 3 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out two. Chen was done after walking Desmond Jennings on his 82nd pitch of the day. Chen's previous shortest outing was 3 2/3 innings against the Red Sox on Aug. 27, 2013 at Fenway...

CHICAGO - You already heard from Matt Williams after the Nationals' 3-0 win over the Cubs. Now, let's hear from the players. Here are postgame reactions from the clubhouse: Gio Gonzalez On if he's starting to feel more like himself each start after a month on the DL: "Yeah absolutely. From the last start to this start, it's just building confidence and velocity. Today it was good to see some high numbers in velocity today. It shows it's just building strength. Obviously coming from...

CHICAGO - Game 1 went as the Nationals had hoped. Now, with a win in game two of today's split doubleheader with the Cubs, the Nats can head home with a series split and a winning road trip. Thanks to Gio Gonzalez's seven strong innings, Anthony Rendon's three-hit ballgame and Denard Span's tremendous defensive work out in center field, the Nats earned a 3-0 victory in the day game here at Wrigley Field. Gonzalez went seven scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and two walks, striking...