Danny Duffy took a perfect game into the seventh inning tonight as the left-hander pitched Kansas City to a 1-0 win over the Orioles at Kauffman Stadium. This was the Orioles' first 1-0 loss since Sept. 20, 2008 against the Yankees in New York. They were held to a season-low three hits. The Orioles had a chance against Royals closer Greg Holland in the ninth. With one out, Manny Machado singled, sending Nick Markakis, who had walked, to third base. But Holland struck out Adam Jones for the...

Over his last two outings, spanning just 7 1/3 innings, Gio Gonzalez has allowed 12 runs on 16 hits. Not what we're used to seeing from the Nationals left-hander. Gonzalez gave up five runs over three innings today against the Mets, taking his second straight loss and watching his ERA balloon to 4.62 in the Nats' 5-2 defeat. He allowed three runs in the first in a 37-pitch frame, then gave up a two-run homer to Juan Lagares in the third that provided the crucial cushion for the Mets. The...

Manager Matt Williams said in his postgame news conference following a 5-2 loss to the Mets Saturday that Gio Gonzalez's shoulder issue from earlier in the season is not the reason for the Nationals left-hander's two rough outings in a row. But if it is not a health reason for Gonzalez's problems on the hill, what is it? "I can't put a finger on that because I don't know," Williams said. "There's no difference in velocity. He's running it in there at 94 mph. It doesn't feel like...

Bud Norris (2-3, 3.98 ERA) takes the mound for the Orioles tonight. He is making his eighth start of the season and first since he was ejected in the eighth inning Monday night for hitting Detroit's Torii Hunter. Norris said it was the first ejection of his career and he didn't feel it was justified. He hit Hunter following a two-run homer by Ian Kinsler that gave Detroit a 4-1 lead. Norris has allowed three earned runs or fewer three times this year, has two quality starts and has gone six...

The first inning proved to be a problem for Gio Gonzalez for the second straight start. Gonzalez allowed three runs on four hits and two walks while needing 37 pitches, 21 for strikes, to get through the first frame today against the Mets. So down 3-0, the Nationals will need to come from behind yet again if they'll make it two wins in a row over New York. On Sunday, Gonzalez had his worst performance of the season, allowing seven runs on nine hits in 4 1/3 innings. Most of the damage came...

The Orioles are breaking out their right-handed lineup tonight against Royals left-hander Danny Duffy. Jonathan Schoop starts at second base and Caleb Joseph is behind the plate. Nelson Cruz is in left field and Delmon Young is serving as the designated hitter. Brian Graham, serving as bench coach tonight, is wearing No. 43 if you're into that sort of thing. For the Orioles Nick Markakis RF Manny Machado 3B Adam Jones CF Chris Davis 1B Nelson Cruz LF J.J. Hardy SS Delmon Young DH Jonathan...

Bench coach John Russell will manage the Orioles tonight in Kansas City while Buck Showalter attends his daughter Allie's graduation from law school at Southern Methodist University. Director of player development Brian Graham will serve as bench coach. Graham will coach third base Tuesday in Pittsburgh while Bobby Dickerson attends his daughter Ashley's graduation. Adam Jones is batting .469/.514/.938 against left-handed pitching this season, leading the majors in average, slugging and OPS...

After emerging as one of the early positives for the Nationals this season, Danny Espinosa just hasn't been the same hitter. Since Espinosa's average reached a season-high .346 on April 14, he is batting .188 in his last 28 games. But he does have all six of his homers and all but one of his 10 RBIs during that slump. The second baseman has struggled even worse lately, batting .125 (8-for-64) with a .136 on-base percentage, 26 strikeouts and no walks over his last 18 games. Half of...

When Adam LaRoche went to stretch his strained right quad on Friday, the soreness that had been such a hindrance was gone. And that progress has the Nationals first baseman hoping that when he's eligible to come off the disabled list on May 25, he'll be able to do so. "They were optimistic early on with the 15 days, saying, 'Hey, it could very well be gone or obviously it might not be,' " LaRoche said Saturday at Nationals Park. "They acted like there was a really good chance with...

At a time when the Orioles are not scoring many runs, they are now doing a better job of preventing them. This comes as good news since it's clear that how the O's starting pitching especially does will have a lot to say about how this season goes. After Chris Tillman's shutout last night, the O's team ERA moved under 4.00 for the season at 3.94. That is now seventh-best in the American League and ahead of the league average of 4.02. The O's team ERA has been under 4.00 after just nine...