Is it too soon to start looking toward next season when the Nationals are still in the mix for a playoff spot, sitting 4 1/2 games back of the Reds with 11 to play? Maybe so. The Nats are red-hot, having now won 21 of their last 27 games, and they've, at the very least, made these final couple weeks pretty darn interesting as we see how things shake out in the standings. It wasn't too long ago that some were questioning whether the Nats would even break the .500 mark this season. Now...

BOSTON - Orioles catcher Matt Wieters produced his 11th sacrifice fly last night, tops in the majors, to score the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth inning. Wieters had been tied with Cincinnati's Zack Cozart. Forty-eight of Chris Davis' 51 home runs this season have come as a first baseman, tying Jim Thome (2002) for the most at the position in the American League since 1974. Third baseman Manny Machado was having a frustrating night. Two errors, a missed tag and two popups to short...

So what if we had a conversation right before the game last night? What if I had mentioned that I knew the Orioles would make a season-high three errors and go 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position? That their starter would go just five innings and walk six? That they'd have just six hits? That they'd fall behind 2-0? That they would have runners on second and third with no outs in the eighth and not score? That to win, they'd have to beat Koji Uehara, who had gone 30 1/3 consecutive...

BOSTON - Seventeen of the Orioles' last 23 games have been decided by two runs or fewer. Tonight, they improved to 7-10 in that span. It wasn't easy and it sure wasn't pretty, but the Orioles rallied for a 3-2 victory over the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Here's a sampling of comments from manager Buck Showalter: On Scott Feldman and the ninth inning: "Scotty bent, but he didn't break. I know he was frustrated because his command is usually good. He had three or four curveballs that could...

BOSTON - The visiting clubhouse at Fenway Park figures to get a little more cramped Wednesday afternoon. Reliever Darren O'Day is scheduled to take an 11:30 a.m. flight to Boston if he wakes up in the morning without any discomfort in his pitching hand. O'Day threw all of his pitches off a mound today in Sarasota, and manager Buck Showalter wants him back with the team. Showalter is glad that Chris Davis never left. Davis hit his 51st home run in the sixth inning tonight to tie the game...

As Davey Johnson sat down for his postgame press conference after tonight's 4-0 Nationals win, a win that wrapped up a doubleheader sweep of the Braves, Johnson asked the question that most Nats fans were probably asking themselves tonight. "Well, how 'bout Tanner Roark?" Johnson said with a smile. Yeah, how 'bout him? Roark improved to 7-0 with a win tonight after throwing seven scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and a walk and striking out six. His ERA as a big leaguer now sits...

It was certainly a smart move by the Nationals to move Tanner Roark from the bullpen back to a starting role in Triple-A Syracuse this season. And whether he was relieving or starting, Nationals pitching coordinator Spin Williams told manager Davey Johnson that Roark was a pitcher. Williams was right. In three starts for the Nationals, Roark has shown he can be successful in the big leagues. Combining his relief work with these three starts, Roark is now 7-0 following a stunning 4-0 victory...

When Koji Uehara took the mound in the ninth of a 2-2 game tonight, he had pitched 30 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings and retired 37 straight batters, eight off a major league record. But seconds later, both streaks ended as the Orioles picked up a heart-stopping 3-2 win at Boston to start this big three-game series. Earlier, Chris Davis hit his club-record 51st homer as the O's improved to 80-70 on the year and 8-6 against Boston with 10 games to go. Danny Valencia led off the ninth with...

BOSTON - With one swing, Orioles first baseman Chris Davis tied tonight's game and broke Brady Anderson's franchise single-season home run record. Leading off the top of the sixth, Davis drove an 82 mph slider from Red Sox starter Ryan Dempster into the center field seats for his 51st home run, knotting the score at 2-2. Anderson hit 50 homers during the 1996 season. Davis also tied Anderson's record of 92 extra-base hits set in the same season. The Orioles were able to retrieve the ball...

BOSTON - The Orioles will remain tied with the 2008 Astros for most errorless games in a season since 1900. The record still stands at 113 after two Orioles miscues in the bottom of the fourth inning tonight led to an unearned run off Scott Feldman. The Orioles now trail the Red Sox 2-1 after Brian Roberts' RBI grounder in the top of the fifth. Feldman is creating his own problems with a season-high five walks and 88 pitches in four innings. T.J. McFarland was warming in the bullpen. The...