Manny Machado is batting seventh again tonight for the Orioles, hoping to break an 0-for-18 slump. Delmon Young is batting second and serving as the designated hitter. Caleb Joseph is behind the plate. For the Orioles Nick Markakis RF Delmon Young DH Adam Jones CF Chris Davis 1B Nelson Cruz LF J.J. Hardy SS Manny Machado 3B Jonathan Schoop 2B Caleb Joseph C Kevin Gausman RHP For the Blue Jays Jose Reyes SS Melky Cabrera LF Jose Bautista RF Edwin Encarnacion 1B Adam Lind DH Brett Lawrie...

I remember focusing on it last Saturday night as the Nationals battled the Padres. Down 2-0 in the top of the seventh, the Nationals got a rally going against San Diego reliever Nick Vincent. With one out, Adam LaRoche and Ryan Zimmerman smacked back-to-back doubles. Zimmerman's hit made it Padres 2-1. Wilson Ramos was next and forced Vincent to throw five pitches. Vincent threw Ramos two sliders and three four-seam fastballs. Ian Desmond was watching from the on-deck circle. Vincent threw...

SAN FRANCISCO - The Nationals are seeking a four-game sweep of the Giants. Although San Francisco had won five straight games before the Nats came to town, Matt Williams' squad has been able to take the first three games of this series. Williams is giving Danny Espinosa the afternoon off. Kevin Frandsen will bat seventh and play second base. Blake Treinen (0-2, 1.78 ERA) will be on the mound today, seeking his first major league win. The Nats will see veteran Tim Hudson, (6-2, 1.97...

ABERDEEN, Md. - As the one-year anniversary of his Tommy John surgery approaches, Dylan Bundy's comeback is about to take a significant step forward when he pitches for short-season, Single-A Aberdeen on Sunday at Hudson Valley. After pitching in several games in Florida at extended spring training, Bundy is about to pitch in a game that counts for the first time since Sept. 25, 2012 when he threw a scoreless inning for the Orioles against Toronto. He had hoped to make it to a minor league...

Coming into this week, the Nationals had won three consecutive series, but because they were against the underperforming Rangers and the below-.500 Phillies and Padres, it wasn't certain if the Nationals had turned a corner or found a soft spot in the schedule. Starting Monday, the Nationals were going to be tested by the Giants in a four-game series and the Nationals passed the test. Not only have they taken the first three games of the four-game series, they have yet to trail on the...

I can't get enough of the season that Nick Markakis is putting together in 2014. Atop the Orioles lineup, he's turned into one of baseball's most consistent leadoff hitters. Coming into Wednesday's game against the Red Sox, Markakis had hit .318 in 145 games as the O's leadoff hitter and was batting .410 in the first inning this season. But you already know how dominant he has looked to since moving to the top of Buck Showalter's lineup. What I've been more fascinated with is how this...

SAN FRANCISCO - As I've said in the past, I don't put much stock in how the standings look in June, especially not when it comes to jockeying for a division lead when there are still around 100 games left on the schedule. That said, some people seem to really care about that sort of thing. For those people, here's a link to the up-to-date major league standings. I have a feeling you'll like what you see when you scroll down to the National League East portion of the page. When Ryan...

SAN FRANCISCO - Five batters into tonight's game, the Nationals led 3-0. They drew eight walks on the night and grinded out at-bats against a tough Giants pitching staff led tonight by Matt Cain. They got six-plus innings of two-run ball thrown by Tanner Roark - another quality start - and again leaned on their bullpen to lock down a close game in the late innings. And they played exceptional defense, with Ryan Zimmerman making multiple impressive grabs (including one spectacular catch to save...

Wei-Yin Chen went seven innings for the third time this season tonight. For the first time, he did not allow any runs as the Orioles beat Boston 6-0. Now 7-2 with an ERA of 3.76, Chen gave up just four singles in his 87-pitch outing. "I felt great out there pitching," Chen said through his interpreter. "I was glad to help the team get a win. In previous outings, I could not go deep in the game, but today I was able to do that. I'm happy about that, especially against the Red Sox. I gained...

Is Kevin Gauman pitching for his spot in the rotation tonight in the series opener against the Blue Jays? The Orioles are on the verge of activating Miguel Gonzalez from the disabled list following last night's start at Double-A Bowie. Gausman could be optioned to create room in the rotation, but what if he turns in another quality start tonight? Gausman held the Athletics to one run and four hits over seven innings Saturday night for his first major league win as a starter. His fastball...