Nationals manager Davey Johnson wants left-hander Ross Detwiler to get more innings to test his back injury. The herniated disk in his back, which dates to July 4, has kept Detwiler on the 60-day disabled list for half the season. Detwiler is scheduled to pitch in a game Monday at instructional league in Florida. Then, whether it is winter ball or something else, Johnson wants Detwiler to pitch on regular rest for a month or so to see if he can withstand the rigors of a regular season pitching...

Here is a stat the Orioles would like to, and probably need to change tonight: In the the first four innings of the Boston series, O's batters were 1-for-37 and the one hit was an infield hit. Talk about getting off to a slow start. I like the new-look lineup Buck Showalter broke out tonight with Manny Machado batting first and Adam Jones second. With this offense struggling, he needed to try something. The Orioles face David Price tonight, the 2012 American League Cy Young Award winner....

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - So, when's the last time Manny Machado batted leadoff? Try his senior season at Brito Miami Private High School. "My whole senior year I batted first," he said. "That was the last time I hit first. Yep." Machado has been moved atop the order for tonight's game against Rays left-hander David Price. And it happened without advance notice from his manager. "Yeah, it caught me by surprise," said Machado, who heard about it from second baseman Brian Roberts....

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Orioles manager Buck Showalter has decided to give Miguel Gonzalez the start on Saturday against the Rays at Tropicana Field. Showalter was deciding between Gonzalez and Bud Norris, who has been available to pitch in relief. Gonzalez performed some fielding drills this afternoon with head athletic trainer Richie Bancells and didn't experience any discomfort related to the groin strain that forced him out of Sunday's game in Toronto. "It feels pretty good. I don't...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Orioles manager Buck Showalter is breaking out a new lineup tonight, one that includes Manny Machado as the leadoff hitter. Machado has never batted first, but he's doing it tonight. Adam Jones moves up to second - he's started in that slot in 135 career games - followed by Chris Davis and Danny Valencia. Looks like Showalter is trying to jump-start the offense. Ben Zobrist is 5-for-9 with a double and home run against Orioles starter Jason Hammel. James Loney is...

Jordan Zimmermann is seeking his 19th win of the season tonight. With a victory, the Nationals right-hander would tie the Tigers' Max Scherzer for the major league lead in wins. The Nats will face Marlins right-hander Jacob Turner, who came to Miami as part of the Anibal Sanchez trade last season. Turner is 3-7 with a 3.51 ERA this season. He allowed five runs on nine hits over four innings in a loss to the Nats back on Sept. 8. For the Nationals CF Denard Span 3B Ryan Zimmerman RF Jayson...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Orioles center fielder Adam Jones broke up John Lackey's no-hit bid last night with a home run in the seventh inning. When Jones crossed home plate, he needed only two more runs to become the fourth Orioles outfielder to hit 30 homers and record at least 100 runs and 100 RBIs in the same season. He's on the verge of joining Frank Robinson (1966 and 1969), Brady Anderson (1996) and Albert Belle (1999), according to STATS. The Orioles have 10 games remaining. Can Jones...

The Orioles have been getting some solid pitching lately. We can't say the same about the hitting. What has happened to the Orioles on offense? The Orioles managed to win series' at Toronto and Boston even though they scored just 11 runs in three games at the Rogers Centre and nine in three games at Fenway Park. The Orioles have now gone 16 consecutive games scoring five or fewer runs, easily their longest stretch of the year. They have scored four or less in 12 of those games. Before this...

Denard Span struck out in his seventh-inning at-bat against Miami right-hander A.J. Ramos on Thursday night, leaving him 0-for-4 in the series finale with the Marlins. Span was three spots away from another at-bat when Wilson Ramos lined out to end the bottom of the eighth. Rafael Soriano pitched a scoreless top of the ninth for the Nationals to earn his 42nd save in the Nats' 82nd win of the year, so Span never got another at-bat and his 29-game hit streak came to an end. Over the course of...

A number of Nationals players had kind words to say about Denard Span and his impressive last month after Span's 29-game hitting streak came to an end last night. Ian Desmond was one of them, noting that it was nice to see Span play the way he knows he can play after a rough start to the season. But Desmond added another interesting angle on to his thoughts about Span's streak ending. "Obviously you never want to see someone who goes to that extent of a hitting streak have it end but it...