MILWAUKEE - After shutting out the Brewers - the team with the fourth-most runs scored in the major leagues - last night, the Nationals now have the top team ERA in the bigs. Through their first 75 games, the Nats have a 3.00 ERA as a team. And if you prefer more advanced metrics that determine the quality of a pitching staff, consider this: the Nats also rank first in the majors in overall team FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching). Their rotation has been fantastic, especially the last few...

Can one swing turn around a player's season? I guess we are going to find out after Chris Davis' pinch-hit, walk-off homer in the ninth Monday that lifted the Orioles to a 6-4 win over the White Sox. With Toronto's win over New York, the Orioles moved ahead of the Yankees into sole possession of second place and remained 1 1/2 games back of Toronto for the division's top spot. I had a perfectly fine game story ready to go last night. All I needed to do was hit publish when the third out...

MILWAUKEE - Reporters didn't just get to meet with manager Matt Williams after tonight's 3-0 Nationals win. We also got to meet with bench coach Randy Knorr, who took over the managerial duties in the bottom of the second inning after Williams' first career ejection as a big league skipper. Williams was tossed by home plate umpire Mark Wegner for arguing balls and strikes, leaving Knorr in charge the rest of the way. It didn't really matter much who was at the reins tonight, as Gio Gonzalez...

Was anyone else surprised to learn that Chris Davis' pinch-hit walk-off home run last night was the first by an Oriole since Larry Sheets on Aug. 24, 1988 against the Mariners? Your browser does not support iframes. Sheets' shot came against reliever Mike Schooler in Game 1 of a doubleheader at Memorial Stadium. The Mariners' third base coach was current Orioles hitting coach Jim Presley. Sheets was pinch-hitting for third baseman Rene Gonzalez. Pinch-runner Brady Anderson, who replaced...

Some say Manny Machado is in the midst of a slump. That he missed spring training, came into the season cold and proceeded to be off his mark. Before last night's came, that slump has been going on for 199 plate appearances this season with a slash line of .224/.274/.322. If you prefer using a more holistic metric that takes run expectancy for each of his at bats and compares it to the league average, his wRC+ is 66. That is well below league average (100 wRC+), average for a third baseman (97...

To shake or not to shake was a uniting theme between the Nationals and the Atlanta Braves in their recent four-game series that pitted the National League East foes against one another in a fight for first place in the division. For the Nationals, the question was whether to shake off fastballs in favor of other pitches for Friday starter Stephen Strasburg - in particular, against Braves slugger Jason Heyward. For the Braves, it was a continued shakging off of catcher Evan Gattis' signs by...

Chris Davis has two career pinch-hit home runs, the first coming on May 14, 2009. Tonight's shot figures to stay with him a lot longer. Davis ran the count full against White Sox reliever Ronal Belisario with two on and one out in the bottom of the ninth inning and launched a slider into the right field seats for a walk-off home run that gave the Orioles a 6-4 win over the White Sox at Camden Yards. Davis is 5-for-13 with two homers and five RBIs as a pinch-hitter. Manager Buck Showalter...

After struggles that saw him go 4-for-36 over his previous nine games and with a batting average of just .187 in June, Chris Davis stepped to the plate in the ninth inning tonight and hit a walk-off, three-run homer for the Orioles. Davis didn't start tonight's game, but he certainly ended it with a shot to right-center on a 3-2 pitch from Ronald Belisario. It turned what looked like it would be a frustrating one-run loss into an uplifting 6-4 win to start an 11-game homestand. It was the...

After a night of frustration on offense the Orioles won on a walk-off home run by their struggling first baseman. Chris Davis, who didn't start tonight and was 4-for-36 over his last nine games, hit a pinch-hit, three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to turn a potential one-run loss into a 6-4 win over the Chicago White Sox. The ninth inning began with White Sox closer Ronald Belisario on to protect a 4-3 lead. He faced Steve Pearce to start the ninth and Pearce singled to left. Adam...

Through five innings tonight, the Orioles are 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and have stranded nine. They've squandered numerous chances against White Sox left-hander Chris Sale, who's allowed a season-high 10 hits in five innings but only two runs. He's no longer behind in this game. White Sox rookie Jose Abreu homered off left-hander Wei-Yin Chen leading off the top of the sixth to tie the game 2-2, and doubles by Dayan Viciedo and Conor Gillaspie gave Chicago the...