The American League East has long been looked at as one of the best divisions in baseball, and with good reason. Since 1992, the division has produced 13 AL champions and nine World Series titles. Unfortunately for Baltimore baseball fans, the Orioles are the only one of the five current members of the division who haven't participated in the Fall Classic in that timespan. While the O's have come out of the gate this season spinning their wheels a bit, there is nothing to be discouraged about...

Manager: Joe Maddon, ninth year Record: 15-17 Last 10 games: 5-5 Who to watch: 3B Evan Longoria (.276/.333/.409, 3 HR, 17 RBIs); CF Desmond Jennings (.294/.386/.505, 4 HR, 9 doubles, 6 SB, 10 RBIs); LHP David Price (3-2, 4.44 ERA, 55 K); LHP Cesar Ramos (1-1, 2.91 ERA) Season series vs. O's: 0-2, 1 run scored, 10 runs allowed Pitching probables May 6: Chris Archer vs. Chris Tillman, 7 p.m., MASN2 HD May 7: Cesar Ramos vs. Bud Norris, 7 p.m., MASN HD May 8: David Price vs. Ubaldo Jimenez, 7...

What a frustrating weekend for the Nationals and their fans. After beating up on the hapless Houston Astros and another of their characteristic come-from-behind victories in the series opener in Philadelphia, the road trip went south in a hurry. The Nats' bats fell silent at the hands of A.J. Burnett and Roberto Hernandez in a pair of losses to the middling Phillies. To make matters worse, each of those losses cost the Nats a chance to take over first place in the National League East from the...

I wrote just the other day about the parity in the National League East, but even since then, the layout in the division has gotten more interesting. All five NL East teams now have above-.500 records. Only 1 1/2 games separate first place from last place. That's parity, folks. The Nationals could have left Philadelphia atop the division had they been able to close out their series with the Phillies on a positive note. Instead, yesterday's 1-0 loss finished off a 3-2 road trip and left the...

The low Single-A Hagerstown Suns, a Nationals affiliate playing in the South Atlantic League, have started the season 21-7 with big hitting and some good games from the starters. But another reason for their fast start has been the relievers holding leads from the fifth inning on most nights. Hagerstown director of broadcasting Eli Pearlstein told me on 106.7 The Fan's "Nats Insider" that this crew has won a lot of games for the Suns to begin this season. "Two relievers just got promoted...

Hey, look, the Orioles are off again today. Open dates and heavy rains have punched a lot of holes in the schedule, but it comes with a heavy price. If the union allowed it, Major League Baseball probably would force the Orioles to play all 31 days in August. I'll join the team Tuesday in St. Petersburg, Fla. Have to get my Tropicana Field fix. I make fun of the place, but most media types love the working environment. Good press box, climate controlled, convenient parking, easy access to the...

Even though he has struggled at times at bat and has made five errors in the field, I think the Orioles should stick with Jonathan Schoop as their starter at second base. That's for now. With Manny Machado's recent return to the team, Schoop should be given more time now to settle in at second base. How much time? That, as usual, depends on several factors, chief among them how he plays. How the team does and how others are hitting could impact that. If some other regulars start hitting more,...

The Nationals have now set two-thirds of their starting rotation for the three-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers that begins Monday at Nats Park. Washington right-hander Jordan Zimmermann will battle 5-0 Dodgers righty Zack Greinke on Monday. And following Sunday's loss in Philadelphia, Nats manager Matt Williams announced that right-hander Stephen Strasburg would start for the home team on Wednesday against ex-Nat Dan Haren. That leaves only Tuesday's starter for the Nationals...

You won't find the Nationals lamenting breaks that didn't go their way in a 1-0 loss to the Phillies on Sunday. To a man, they admitted they ran into a tough pitcher in Phillies righty Roberto Hernandez., who outdueled Washington's Gio Gonzalez on an afternoon when windy conditions made things tough for both teams. They Nats ran themselves out of a possible big inning in the first and didn't come through with the tying run on third in the eighth. It all added up to a loss capping a 3-2 road...

The Orioles got their weekend series in Minnesota off to an uplifting start with a shutout win behind Ubaldo Jimenez as they moved into first place on Friday night. But their offense never did get going in the series and they lost 5-2 this afternoon as they dropped the final two games at Target Field. The Orioles scored just six runs on 24 hits and went 2-for-22 with runners in scoring position in this series. Nelson Cruz blasted another two-run homer to left and that pulled the O's to...