Manager Davey Johnson said the special ceremony prior to game one was a nice moment that he will not forget - and it went better than he thought it would. He spoke after the Nationals walked off in the nightcap with a 5-4 victory over the Marlins. "I was kind of dreading it and then it was very pleasant," he said. "I was very moved by ownership, front office, the fans and the players." It also got him to think of some of his earliest baseball memories. "I don't usually think back and...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - It's still a little too soon to write the Orioles eulogy for the 2013 season. Not that a rough draft would be a bad idea. Always be prepared. The Orioles needed to take three of four from the Rays at the very least. Losing three of four or being swept was the equivalent of sticking a fork in a light socket. Or in the Orioles. There's plenty of blame to go around, of course. The offense has completely shut down, another collective slump like the kind we saw last year...

What a bad four-day run for the Orioles on offense. On Thursday, John Lackey took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and two-hit the Orioles. On Friday, they failed to score in the last 11 innings of an 18-inning loss. On Saturday and Sunday, they were shut out until the ninth inning. Were it not for the Tropicana Field roof, they may be looking at a 29-inning scoreless stretch. But David DeJesus lost a Chris Davis fly ball on Saturday in the ninth and it went for a triple, and Matt Wieters...

Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg, making his 29th start of the season and first in two weeks, got off to a slow start Sunday night in the second game of a split doubleheader versus Miami. The Marlins' Donovan Solano led off the game with a double and later scored on a Christian Yelich grounder to first base. Miami led 1-0 after one. In the second, Justin Ruggiano crushed his 18th homer of the season, a solo shot over the wall in left-center field to extend the Marlins' lead to...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Orioles never wanted to be dependent on other teams to make the playoffs. Their remaining schedule contained games only against division opponents. Their fate rested in their hands. Now, they need a helping hand or two. Today's 3-1 loss to the Rays left the Orioles 4 1/2 games back in the wild card chase. Three teams separate them from the Indians, who currently hold the second spot. "Basically, how it's going to turn out is we're going to have to win out and...

The Nationals have said for the last week they pretty much needed to win out to have a shot at the National League wildcard. So with a 4-2 loss in the opening game of two on Sunday to the Marlins, the window for a shot at the playoff berth is almost shut. "Any loss right now makes it tougher," said third baseman Ryan Zimmerman. "Like I said before, I am not that good at math, but I am good enough to figure it out that losing makes it tougher. But, you just got to keep playing and see what...

The Nationals will mathematically remain alive into their series-opener in St. Louis tomorrow regardless of what happens tonight in the nightcap of the doubleheader between the Nats and Marlins, but this afternoon's action might've effectively ended any real chances the Nats had at a playoff spot. Their loss combined with the Reds' win puts the Nats 5 1/2 games back of both Cincinnati and Pittsburgh entering tonight's game. At best, the Nats will head on the road sitting five games back...

For the Orioles it was a matter of another day and another game with not much offense. By not much, they had a single by Manny Machado to lead off the game and just two hits after that in a 3-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays in a game started by a young pitcher making his major league debut. The Orioles were shut out on one hit heading to the ninth, but scored on a two-out, RBI double by Matt Wieters that hit the catwalk on the Tropicana Field roof and landed in play. Since the eighth inning on...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - While the Orioles' bats remain in a deep freeze, the Rays scored twice in the bottom of the sixth to lead 3-0. T.J. McFarland warmed in the bullpen as Scott Feldman struggled to get three outs. Desmond Jennings led off with a bunt single and was removed for a pinch-runner after pulling up slightly as he reached the bag. Feldman threw a wild pitch while walking Ben Zobrist, and Fuld hustled all the way to third base. Matt Joyce followed with a sacrifice fly to increase...

Dan Haren is done after six innings of work this afternoon, and if not for two mistakes that turned into home runs, the veteran right-hander might've turned in a pretty strong outing. As it is, it will still officially go down as a quality start, but Haren and the Nationals trail 3-0 in the sixth. Haren gave up a two-run bomb to Giancarlo Stanton in the first inning on a 90 mph fastball over the fat part of the plate, and two innings late, it was Christian Yelich crushing an 85 mph cutter...