Well, the Nationals won't be blanked for a second consecutive game. Not only that, the run they scored gives them a lead before Stephen Strasburg throws his first pitch of the evening. With one out in the first, Anthony Rendon laced an opposite-field single to right, then scored from first standing up on Jayson Werth's double to right. It's 1-0 Nats as we head to the bottom of the first. Update: After three innings, we're tied at 1-1. Cardinals pitcher Shelby Miller hit a two-out double to...

With a seventh-inning assist from Darren O'Day and an eighth-inning assist from his defense, Bud Norris pitched another strong game for the Orioles today. Norris gave up just one run over 6 2/3 innings as the Orioles edged Toronto 3-2. The Orioles improved to 35-32 and moved back to within 3 1/2 games of the first-place Blue Jays. Following up on his eight scoreless innings against Boston, Norris gave up seven hits with one walk and five strikeouts. He threw 112 pitches, one shy of his...

Bud Norris faced 10 Blue Jays in the first two innings of today's game. He fell behind on a bases-loaded walk in the second after hitting the previous batter. A bad day? Not anymore. Norris is cruising at Camden Yards, having retired eight in a row and 14 of the last 16 batters while holding a 3-1 lead. He's back on the mound in the seventh with his pitch count at 96, having thrown only eight in the first and fifth. Norris has allowed one run over his last two starts totaling 14 innings...

The Orioles went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position last night. They were 10-for-48 (.208) in the first eight games of the homestand. One inning into today's game and they were already 0-for-3. Nick Markakis singled and Manny Machado doubled off Blue Jays knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. Second and third, no outs and the heart of the order coming up. The Orioles didn't show a pulse with RISP. Adam Jones flied to shallow center, Chris Davis lined to short and Nelson Cruz popped up. The...

The Nationals are 5-3 on their current road trip, and send right-hander Stephen Strasburg to the mound today in St. Louis to try and snap a two-game losing streak. Strasburg is 6-4 with a 2.99 ERA, but he has a string of 10 straight starts in which he's worked at least six innings. Six times in that span, he's pitched at least seven innings. His 108 strikeouts are second in the National League behind Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto, who has 109. Strasburg has won his last three starts and the...

Four of the last five Orioles games have ended with the losing team being shut out. The Orioles are 2-2 in those games. The Birds pitching staff is on a five-game roll: * The team ERA is 1.20 with 26 hits allowed over 45 innings. * The starters' ERA is 1.09 with five consecutive quality starts, a season-high. * The bullpen ERA is 1.50 with four hits allowed in 12 innings. Today, Bud Norris (5-5, 3.94 ERA) faces R.A. Dickey (6-4, 4.20 ERA) as we enjoy day baseball on a beautiful afternoon at...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter revealed his rotation for the series against the Rays that begins Monday at Tropicana Field, and it includes Miguel Gonzalez and Kevin Gausman. Wei-Yin Chen is set to pitch the opener, with Gonzalez and Gausman to follow. However, Gonzalez could be pushed back to Wednesday if he's needed in the bullpen Sunday against the Blue Jays. Today's game will dictate whether the Orioles need to activate Gonzalez from the disabled list on Sunday. Otherwise, they can...

Is Manny Machado's bat beginning to heat up? After a five-game stretch where he went 0-for-17, Machado is 4-for-7 with two doubles the last two games. He had three hits last night. He has been moved back to the second spot in the batting order for today's game. When asked if his bat is starting to get going after last night, Machado was honest to say he needs to see more evidence. "No, not yet. Not yet," he said. "Just because I got three hits doesn't mean anything. Just a good day....

After spending three days batting seventh, Manny Machado is back up to second in the Orioles lineup for this afternoon's game against the Blue Jays. The Orioles have Delmon Young at designated hitter, Nelson Cruz in left, Ryan Flaherty at second and Nick Hundley at catcher as they look to get the upper hand in their four-game series with the Blue Jays. Bud Norris is on the mound five days after pitching eight scoreless innings against the Red Sox, aiming to make it two strong starts in a...

Two losses in a row for the Nationals? Not concerned. This road trip has still been a rousing success. Travel from San Francisco to St. Louis and then back to the diamond did not result in a win thanks to the outstanding pitching of Lance Lynn. The Cardinals right-hander has given up an important postseason home run to the Nats in a relief role, but has done a great job against them as a starter. OK, I got that call a couple of weeks ago on Nats Insider (every Sunday 90 minutes prior to...