The Nationals send right-hander Doug Fister to the mound against the Orioles tonight, hoping for a split in the two-game D.C. portion of the Battle of the Beltways. Fister is 3-2 with a 5.30 ERA in six lifetime starts against Baltimore. The Nats are hoping he'll pitch more in line with his 2014 numbers: a 7-2 mark with a 2.93 ERA in 11 starts. He will face right-hander Bud Norris, who is being activated off the disabled list today after missing time with a groin issue. Here are the lineups for...

WASHINGTON - Bud Norris is coming off the disabled list tonight and making his first start since June 21, as the Orioles and Nationals conclude their two-games series in D.C. The teams will meet up at Camden Yards on Wednesday to begin another two-game set. The Orioles have won three in a row, scoring 22 runs in the process. They've played 41 innings in their last four games. For the first time in team history, the Orioles hit at least three home runs in the 10th inning or later....

You might hold the belief that the Battle of the Beltways isn't really a rivalry, despite some who try and portray it that way. And frankly, you might be right. It's not like the Nationals have Orioles games on in the clubhouse and monitor Buck Showalter's club on a daily basis. It's not as if Ryan Zimmerman and Chris Davis dislike each other just because these two organizations make their homes 45 minutes from each other. But rivalry or not, I'd find it tough to argue that the Battle of...

Playing a position known more for offensive contributions from players who often lack the defensive skills to play elsewhere, Adam LaRoche has become a unique commodity for his glove work. While no slouch at the plate, as his .385 weighted on-base average (wOBA) and 148 weighted runs created plus (wRC+) - ranking second and third among National League first basemen, respectively - can attest, it's LaRoche's ability to deftly corral balls screaming off of opponents' bats or out of teammates'...

Can the Orioles play a nine-inning game tonight? These guys must get paid by the hour. I guess it doesn't matter, as long as they keep expanding their lead in the American League East. It's up to three games. I stated yesterday that relievers Brad Brach and T.J. McFarland wouldn't be available. I batted .500. Manager Buck Showalter crossed me up by using McFarland in the final two innings. Tommy Hunter warmed as the Orioles broke open the game in the 11th, and he sat down while McFarland...

Chris Davis hit 33 homers in 2012 and 53 in 2013. But going into the 11th inning last night, some Orioles fans probably considered him among the most unlikely O's to homer at that point. But he did just that. When Orioles fans probably least expected it, there it was. Davis with a two-run bomb to right-center and the floodgates opened. The Orioles hit three homers and scored six times in the 11th inning to stun the Nationals 8-2 at Nats Park. The club continues on a roll and is now a...

WASHINGTON - The Orioles tied the club record tonight by scoring six runs in an extra inning, the fourth time it's happened, according to STATS. It felt like just another night of baseball for this group. Or an episode of "Survivor." Chris Davis broke a 2-for-38 slump with a two-run homer in the top of the 11th off Nationals reliever Craig Stammen, and the Orioles piled on to take an 8-2 victory before 35,126. "I said earlier today I feel like for the last month I've been one swing away,"...

Nationals reliever Craig Stammen said his fastball was fine, but he never was able to command his slider and that contributed to a rough 11th inning. The Orioles slammed two of their three homers in that extra frame off of Stammen as the Nats fell 8-2. "I made some good pitches with my fastball, but my slider was just so bad that it didn't really matter what happened," Stammen said. "But I felt confident, I felt I put it behind me, but it just didn't work out." Chris Davis' two-run...

This really was a tremendous ballgame for 10 innings. Then the Orioles broke things open in a big way in the top of the 11th. Chris Davis' two-run homer started a six-run rally in the 11th, with Craig Stammen allowing five of the six runs, as the O's took the first game of the Battle of the Beltways 8-2. Stephen Strasburg allowed just two runs (both coming in on a Nelson Cruz fourth-inning homer) in seven innings, Anthony Rendon had a two-run shot that tied the game in the sixth, and Tyler...

This time, struggling first baseman Chris Davis came through. Then several of his teammates did as well. The Orioles exploded for three homers and six runs in the top of the 11th tonight to break open a tense, extra-inning game and beat Washington 8-2 at Nats Park. Davis found himself at the plate with Nelson Cruz on first and no outs in the 11th with the game tied at two. Davis was 0-for-4 for the game and had just two hits over his previous 38 at-bats. But he picked a good time to snap...