The Nationals and international free agents go together like fire and Frankenstein, or at least that is how it has been in the past. Few Nats fans will forget Yunesky Maya, who was once touted as the third-best arm in the system behind Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmermann. I don't think we even need to compare those careers to know that Maya was nowhere near either of them in talent. Then there is Katsuhiko Maekawa, and if that name doesn't sound familiar, don't feel bad. The 29-year-old...

I'm no meteorologist, but it's getting hot in Baltimore. I don't need my car thermometer, which hit triple digits on Wednesday afternoon, to convince me. All I have to do is look at the balls flying out of Camden Yards. After a slow start to the season, the Orioles' power bats have started producing in a big way. In April, the O's hit just 16 home runs, ranking 25th in Major League Baseball. Last April, they belted twice that total. The Orioles offense just finished June with a major...

It is not easy to sweep a team in a four-game series, but the Orioles can do that tonight at Camden Yards against Texas. The O's last home four-game sweep against the Rangers came from Aug. 6-9, 2004. The Orioles swept four at Texas from July 8-11, 2010. That was their first four-game sweep at Texas since June of 1976. One reason the Orioles could come back from a 4-0 deficit last night to win 6-4 was another strong night for the bullpen. Brad Brach, Darren O'Day and Zach Britton combined...

While wondering if I'm the only person who imagines Tropical Storm Arthur as a short drunken millionaire in a top hat or a cartoon aardvark ... Each day seems to bring another review of the Orioles' rotation, and this morning is no exception. I'm still expecting Kevin Gausman to start Sunday afternoon in Boston after he worked two innings last night for short-season Single-A Aberdeen. His fastball touched 98 mph in the first inning, according to the IronBirds. T.J. McFarland can back him...

Ryan Flaherty doesn't face left-handed pitchers too often. He had just 23 of his 131 at-bats against southpaws before tonight. But with the Orioles playing without Manny Machado, he went up there against Rangers lefty Neal Cotts in the last of the seventh tonight. He then hit a go-ahead solo homer to break a 4-4 tie and the Orioles beat the Rangers 6-4. Cotts had allowed just two homers over 35 2/3 innings until Flaherty's drive to right field. "Lefty comes in the game. Just trying to...

The Orioles have won all three games while playing with a 24-man roster following third baseman Manny Machado's suspension. A win Thursday would give the Orioles their first four-game sweep of the Rangers at Camden Yards since 2004. Manager Buck Showalter knew he'd need contributions from everyone this season, and not only with Machado off the roster. Ryan Flaherty stepped up tonight with a tie-breaking home run in the seventh and several good plays at third base. "We talked about how we...

Ryan Flaherty began tonight batting just .203 for the season and with just three homers. But given a chance to do something big for his team tonight, he did just that. Facing left-handed reliever Neal Cotts, Flaherty homered over the right field scoreboard leading off the last of the seventh. His fourth homer broke a 4-4 tie and lifted the Orioles to a 6-4 win over the Texas Rangers. The Orioles came back from down 4-0 to tie the game and Flaherty untied it on a 91 mph 3-1 fastball for his...

Nationals shortstop Ian Desmond felt he had hit the ball well enough, but stood at third waiting for the umpires to agree. If it was a homer, it would be the go-ahead run to complete the comeback for the Nationals over the Rockies 4-3. "The way it bounced back hard like that I kind of assumed that it was over," Desmond said. "And the way that (Drew) Stubbs didn't go after it made it a little bit easier. At that point, I am going to get the triple. I thought it was gone, but I wasn't a...

Going for the three-game sweep of the Rockies tonight, Doug Fister wasn't himself early on and the Nationals trailed 3-0 after just two innings. But the comeback formula was there again for this ball club tonight. Fister made some in-start adjustments and went seven strong innings on just 80 pitches, allowing just those three runs. The offense came alive thanks largely to a Jayson Werth two-run shot in the fourth and an Ian Desmond solo homer in the seventh that gave the Nats the lead. And...

Ryan Flaherty led off the bottom of the seventh inning tonight by homering to right field off Rangers left-hander Neal Cotts and giving the Orioles a 5-4 lead at Camden Yards. Flaherty has four home runs this season, including one on Sunday. They've all come at home. The Orioles finally got rid of Rangers starter Miles Mikolas in the sixth inning, and they did it by keeping the bat on their shoulder while plate umpire Toby Basner tried to figure out the strike zone. Mikolas, in his first...