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...

Too bad that Major League Baseball doesn't award an extra run based on the distance of a home run. Nelson Cruz could have overcome a three-run deficit today despite only one runner being on base. Cruz put another ball into the third deck, his two-run shot off Phil Hughes reducing Minnesota's lead to 3-2 in the sixth inning. He took a 92 mph four-seam fastball out of the strike zone and launched an 88 mph cutter. Cruz's ninth homer traveled an estimated 416 feet. According to the MASN2 HD...

Phillies right-hander Roberto Hernandez is pitching more like Fausto Carmona circa 2010 than the guy who toted a 5.74 ERA into today's game against the Nationals at Citizens Bank Park. Gio Gonzalez is doing his usual routine of holding the opposition in check, but trails 1-0 after three innings. The Phillies took a 1-0 lead in the first when Jimmy Rollins tripled with one out and scored on Chase Utley's single to center.r. The Nats had runners on first and second with one down in the third,...

Nick Markakis led off today's game for the Orioles by grounding a ball into center field for a single. And so it continues. Markakis extended his hitting streak to 12 games. He's hit safely in 15 of his last 16. Markakis leads the Orioles with 37 hits, six more than runner-up Nelson Cruz. Before today, he ranked second with a .310 average and 15 runs, fourth with a .367 on-base percentage and third with a .790 OPS. Markakis has collected only two home runs, in both ends of Thursday's...

Manager: Don Mattingly, fourth year Record: 18-14 Last 10 games: 5-5 Who to watch: 1B Adrian Gonzalez (.292/.374/.592, 9 HR, 9 doubles, 25 RBIs); RF Yasiel Puig (.309/.397/.500, 11 XBH, 21 RBIs); LHP Clayton Kershaw (1-0, 1.35 ERA); RHP Zack Greinke (5-0, 2.04 ERA, 1.05 WHIP) Season series vs. Nats (2013): 5-1, 22 runs scored, 12 runs allowed Pitching probables May 5: Zack Greinke vs. Jordan Zimmermann 7 p.m., MASN HD May 6: Clayton Kershaw vs. TBD, 7 p.m., MASN HD May 7: Dan Haren vs. Stephen...