Ian Desmond led off the bottom of the second inning with a homer to left, pulling the Nationals into a 1-1 tie with the Mets. Those early-season plate woes may finally be turning for the Nats shortstop. In his last seven games, Desmond is 8-for-23 (.348) with a triple, three homers and eight RBIs. That kind of punch comes in handy when you're missing the likes of Ryan Zimmerman, Adam LaRoche and Bryce Harper. The Mets took a 1-0 lead against Jordan Zimmermann in the top of the inning. Lucas...

Can the Orioles get their bats going today at Kansas City? We keep waiting. The Orioles have scored just six runs in this series, just 15 over their past seven games and just 39 over the last 14 games. In six games on the season against Kansas City pitching, the Orioles are batting .205 with 12 runs scored. They are 4-for-27 (.148) with runners in scoring position and have drawn just nine walks compared to 48 strikeouts. But their pitching has been outstanding in this series. The Orioles have...

Remember last night, when Matt Williams said there was nothing physically wrong with left-hander Gio Gonzalez, who sounded as if he was contradicting his manager by saying he just had to pitch through an unspecified issue? Well, chalk one up for Gonzalez, who this morning was placed on the 15-day disabled list for the first time in his career. The problem: left shoulder inflammation. Since joining the Nats in 2012, Gonzalez's 35 victories are tied for the most in the majors by a southpaw with...

In 17 games this month, the Orioles rank third in the majors with a 3.02 ERA and a 2.87 starter ERA. Now, if they could start scoring some runs... The Orioles lost their first 1-0 game last night since Sept. 20, 2008 in the Bronx. It was their first 1-0 game since Oct. 2, 2012 at Tropicana Field, when Chris Davis homered off James Shields, who struck out 15 batters. Shields starts today for the Royals. The last time the Orioles lost a 1-0 game when the first batter of the game scored was...

The Washington Nationals today placed left-handed pitcher Gio Gonzalez on the 15-Day Disabled List with left shoulder inflammation and recalled right-handed pitcher Ryan Mattheus from Syracuse of the Triple-A International League. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. Gonzalez, 28, is 3-4 with a 4.62 ERA (26 ER/50.2 IP) in nine starts for Washington after taking the loss in Sat.'s 5-2 home setback against the Mets. Since joining...

Kevin Frandsen will play second base for the Nationals today in their series finale against the Mets, as Danny Espinosa gets the day off (well, at least the start of the day). Right-hander Jordan Zimmermann takes the mound for the Nats, and will be opposed by Zack Wheeler. Right-hander Ryan Mattheus is on the lineup card, which doesn't seem to bode well for left-hander Gio Gonzalez. We'll update that as news becomes available. For the Mets: LF Eric Young Jr.2B Daniel Murphy3B David WrightRF...

The Nationals have allowed three runs or more in 10 of their 42 games this season. Yes, 10 of their 42. I'm sure that's both shocking and frustrating to manager Matt Williams and company. What can be done to fix it? Well, the Nats say that they've gone back and looked at how their starters are warming up compared to previous years. They've studied the number of pitches their starters have thrown in the bullpen. They've looked at how their starters are getting loose before an outing. And...

The Orioles have been held to two runs or fewer in five of their last seven games, which tends to put more pressure on their starting pitchers. Such a small margin for error. It may not matter to Ubaldo Jimenez, who has been a completely different pitcher this month. He's no longer coming up small. Jimenez was 0-4 with a 6.59 ERA in five starts in April, with 17 walks and 21 strikeouts in 27 1/3 innings. Opponents batted .300 against him. Check out what he's done in May. Jimenez is 2-0 with a...

I'll continue to insist that I don't possess the powers to jinx anyone or anything, but as soon as I tweeted tonight that the Orioles didn't have a baserunner through the sixth inning against the Royals, Adam Jones singled up the middle to destroy Danny Duffy's bid for a perfect game. Pure coincidence, but also uncanny. I take a night off and the Orioles almost became a part of history. Duffy, making only his third start this season, retired the first 20 batters. It started to get real...

It took awhile in this 2014 season, but left-hander Troy Patton once again seems to be a key member of the Orioles bullpen. Suspended for the season's first 25 games after testing positive for an amphetamine in violation of Major League Baseball's joint drug prevention and treatment program, Patton finally made it on the roster on May 1. Since he gave up a run in 1/3 of an inning in his first appearance, he has thrown 4 2/3 scoreless innings over six games, giving up just two hits. Opposing...