Thanks to Tanner Roark's strong start and Angels starter Garrett Richards suddenly losing his control in the fourth inning, the Nationals led 1-0 heading to the top of the eighth inning tonight. The Angels then rattled off four runs off Tyler Clippard, and held on for a 4-2 win. All four of the runs Clippard allowed were unearned; they came in an inning which saw Ian Desmond commit two more errors, giving him nine on the season. The first miscue came on a grounder up the middle off the bat of...

The Orioles may be too rested tonight as they begin their series in Toronto. A night game after a day game? Isn't it supposed to be the other way around? Left-hander T.J. McFarland has joined the club and will be in the visiting bullpen tonight at Rogers Centre. A corresponding move will be announced this afternoon. Eighteen games into the season and the Norfolk shuttle already is cranked up. I'm wondering about Steve Pearce's immediate future with the Orioles. As I noted yesterday,...

Double-A Bowie first baseman Christian Walker is off to another good start. The 23-year-old right-handed hitter was named the Eastern League's Player of the Week yesterday. Last April, while with Single-A Delmarva, Walker hit .360 with three homers and 16 RBIs on the way to being named O's minor league Player of the Month. He made it all the way to Bowie last summer and starts there this season. Through 17 games, Walker is batting .306 with two doubles, a triple, two homers, 10 RBIs and a...

The Nationals' Tanner Roark struck out three of the first four batters he faced in tonight's opening game of their three-game set with the Los Angeles Angels. The Angels got a pair of hits in the second and a walk, but Roark worked out of that with a strikeout of Angels starter Garrett Richards to end the inning. In the third, J.B. Shuck was originally called out at first on a grounder to second as he dove for the bag. The Angels requested a video replay review and the call was overturned....

With the arrival of the Los Angeles Angels in D.C. comes the much anticipated matchup between 22-year-old Mike Trout and 21-year-old Bryce Harper. Trout was the 25th overall selection in 2009, while Harper arrived as the first overall pick in 2010. They have been linked because they are both considered power-hitting phenoms and are the faces of the next batch of young superstars to play in the majors. But Harper was not going to buy into the hype prior to Monday's first game of a three-game...

BOSTON - The Orioles were working on short rest this morning after playing late into the night. Three of their relievers - Zach Britton, Brian Matusz and Darren O'Day - pitched in back-to-back games. A sellout crowd at Fenway Park was whipped into the usual frenzy as the Red Sox kept applying pressure, refusing to wilt after falling behind by six runs in the third. Convenient excuses if the Orioles lost. Not that anyone in the clubhouse was searching for one. "The game's a game. They say...

BOSTON - Orioles manager Buck Showalter told reporters after today's 7-6 win over the Red Sox that the club may call up a pitcher from Triple-A Norfolk to aid the bullpen. Showalter said he wants to avoid using three relievers in Tuesday night's series opener against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Feel free to speculate. Ryan Webb, Zach Britton, Darren O'Day, Brian Matusz and Tommy Hunter followed starter Wei-Yin Chen to the mound this afternoon. "There were a lot of proud moments,"...

The Nationals open their first interleague series of the season tonight when they begin a three-game set against Mike Trout and the Angels at Nationals Park. This marks the first time Washington hosted the Angels since 2008 and the first time Bryce Harper and Trout will be on the same field during the regular season. Harper is batting second and playing left field. Tanner Roark starts for the Nats against Los Angeles right-hander Garrett Richards. Roark is seeking his first win since his...

It was far, far from easy, but it was an important win for the Orioles. They beat the Red Sox 7-6 in front of 37,513 this afternoon to split the four-game series at Fenway Park. A day after blowing a 5-0 lead, the O's jumped out to a 6-0 advantage in the third inning today and twice saw Boston pull within two runs late before pulling within one run in the last of the ninth. Down 7-5 in the ninth, Boston loaded the bases with one out against Tommy Hunter. He fell behind Mike Napoli 3-1 but...

BOSTON - Orioles left-hander Wei-Yin Chen didn't make it past the fifth inning today. However, he stands to get the win if the bullpen can cover the rest of the game. A three-run lead at Fenway Park? What could go wrong? Chen allowed three runs and four hits in five innings, with three walks and five strikeouts. He threw 93 pitches, 57 for strikes. In his last start, Chen retired 12 of the first 13 Rays batters and left after 6 1/3 innings with the Orioles leading 7-1. Today, he took a...