After the Nationals won 27 of their previous 37 games, losing a game became pretty rare. But losing a game to first-place Atlanta late in September with the NL wild card still not within their grasp hurts even more. Starter Ross Ohlendorf cruised through five innings before allowing two home runs and three runs in the sixth. The Braves eventually won 5-2. Ohlendorf said losing this time of year - with the a postseason berth in the balance - stings even more. "All the losses are...

Chris Davis to the rescue. The struggling Orioles offense needed its top homer and RBI man to come through in the 12th inning tonight and he did. Davis delivered a two-out single to score a pair of runs with the bases loaded as the Orioles beat Boston 5-3 in 12 innings. The Orioles improved to 9-6 against Boston this season and ended the Red Sox's eight-series winning streak. With one out in the 12th, J.J. Hardy and Brian Roberts singled against lefty Franklin Morales. After a wild pitch...

Stephen Strasburg has been scratched from tomorrow's scheduled start after having trouble getting loose when throwing earlier today, manager Davey Johnson said after tonight's 5-2 loss to the Braves. Strasburg had been scratched from last Friday's start due to right forearm tightness, and the Nationals had pushed him back to Thursday, hoping that some extra time would allow him to get over that forearm discomfort. Things had been progressing well over the last few days, but when Strasburg...

Under normal circumstances, the Nationals would be happy winning two of three in a series with the first-place Braves. These are not normal circumstances. The Nats need wins. Lots of them. And even though they took the series with Atlanta by sweeping yesterday's doubleheader, they needed a win tonight as well. They didn't get it, falling to the Braves 5-2. "It's just not enough. We just can't afford to lose," manager Davey Johnson said. "It's that simple. We just need to get back at...

BOSTON - The Orioles are trying to improve on their 7-5 record in extra innings, and they don't care how long it takes. Tonight's game has moved to the top of the 11th inning with the score tied 3-3. Tommy Hunter allowed a leadoff bloop single to Shane Victorino in the bottom of the 10th, but David Ortiz grounded into a rare 6-5-3 double play. That sort of thing happens when the infield shifts. Ortiz was 7-for-23 with a double and three homers against Hunter. He's 1-for-20 with 12...

When Denard Span walked from the on-deck circle to the plate leading off the seventh inning, a large portion of the 30,636 at Nationals Park tonight started cheering, trying to spur Span on as he attempted to extend his hitting streak in the late innings. The fans got even louder after Span laced a single to right-center, pushing that hitting streak to 29 games. Span had been 0-for-3 tonight entering that at-bat, and I'm sure he was aware as he made his way into the batter's box that it...

BOSTON - Is it worth mentioning that Danny Valencia was batting .209 against right-handers before tonight? The average is actually climbing, and Valencia gave it another lift with a leadoff single in the top of the fifth inning that ended Jake Peavy's no-hit bid. Valencia scored on Matt Wieters' double to the deepest part of the ballpark in center field, and Wieters came home with the tying run on Brian Roberts' one-out double to left-center. Nate McLouth struck out for the third time and...

I'm not sure anyone could have expected a game started by Ross Ohlendorf and Alex Wood to be scoreless through 4 1/3 innings. I'm also not sure that anyone could have expected Ohlendorf and Tanner Roark to have combined to throw 12 straight scoreless innings against the Braves. But that's where we are. Ohlendorf has put up five scoreless frames tonight, allowing just one baserunner, striking out five and needing just 57 pitches to this point. He set down the first 10 Braves he saw before...

BOSTON - Orioles left-hander Wei-Yin Chen had allowed only four runs in the first inning before tonight. David Ortiz tacked on two more with one huge swing. Ortiz's two-run shot into right field gave the Red Sox a 2-0 lead over the Orioles. Ortiz struck a pose at home plate, as if posing for a statue. As if he actually were the statue. Chen posted a 1.80 ERA in the first inning in his 20 starts before tonight, compared to 5.91 in his 32 starts last season. He allowed only one home run in...

Given how long he's been out while working back from a herniated disc in his back, it always seemed somewhat unlikely that Ross Detwiler would be able to return and pitch in major league games before the end of this season. Detwiler, who has been sidelined since July 4 due to the back injury, threw three simulated innings today at Nationals Park, and is continuing to progress in his rehab. But while the Nationals have been optimistic that Detwiler would be able to come back and pitch out of...