The Nationals' postseason odds more than doubled with yesterday's results, jumping from 2.7 percent to 5.5 percent, according to both BaseballProspectus.com and CoolStandings.com. By no means is overcoming a 4 1/2-game deficit with 15 games remaining going to be easy. The Nats need to stay insanely hot and hope the Reds continue to flounder over the next two weeks. But 4 1/2 with 15 to go actually sounds somewhat attainable, or at least a heck of a lot more attainable than eight back with...

Manager Buck Showalter started Danny Valencia against a right-hander last night, and he put Steve Clevenger behind the plate for the Baltimore native's debut with the Orioles. He also inserted Ryan Flaherty at second base instead of Brian Roberts. And it worked. Showalter handed the ball to closer Jim Johnson in the ninth inning, and the Orioles headed back to their hotel with a 5-3 win over the Blue Jays. Showalter has been an easy second-guess target of late, but his lineup and...

Guess what? He plays good defense. too. Chris Davis is more than a home run hitter. A few days ago, shortstop J.J. Hardy - who knows a little something about defense - threw some props Davis' way for his defense this year. "Unbelievable. From the first day of spring training, he was out early working," Hardy said of Davis and his glove work. "Compared to last year, amazing. Looking at all the other first baseman in the league, I don't know who you could say is doing a better job...

Going into Monday night's game, the Nationals were eight games back of the Reds in the race for the final National League wild card spot. In just five days' time, the wild card deficit has been trimmed nearly in half. Five straight Nats wins combined with three Cincinnati losses in a five-day span has the Nationals 4 1/2 games out (four in the loss column) with 15 games left on Washington's schedule. Still, the Nats say they aren't getting caught up in the excitement of this recent...

Nationals left fielder Bryce Harper made two huge defensive plays in a span of five batters Friday night that severely crippled the Phillies' opportunity for big innings. The Nationals ended up downing the Phillies 6-1. Harper grew up playing catcher with his brother, Bryan, as a left-handed pitcher. At the College of Southern Nevada, Harper was the backstop for a playoff team. Now as a left fielder in his second season in the majors, he put his powerful arm on display from near the...

The Reds just lost to the Brewers, meaning the Nationals are now 4 1/2 games back of the final National League wild card spot (four back in the loss column) with 15 games left. This is getting a bit more interesting. After tonight's 6-1 Nationals win over the Phillies, manager Davey Johnson was asked if he'd taken a peek out at the Reds score on the out-of-town scoreboard at any point tonight. The Nats skipper said that he hadn't, and was then told that Cincinnati was losing. "Oh,"...

Well, that was a great time to hit an historic home run. Chris Davis hit his 50th homer tonight to tie Brady Anderson's club record, and it was a big one. The solo shot gave the Orioles a 4-3 lead over the Blue Jays in the eighth inning, and they beat Toronto 5-3 at Rogers Centre. With the homer, Davis became just the third player in major league history to have a season with at least 50 homers and 40 doubles, joining Babe Ruth (1921) and Albert Belle (1995). Davis led off the eighth and...

Bryce Harper has two outfield assists in a two-inning span tonight, both on tremendous bullet throws in to second base, both of which wiped the leadoff hitter from the basepaths. In the fifth, Harper went into a slide to cut off a Freddy Galvis base hit before it got into the left field corner, then hopped to his feet and threw out Galvis at second. Steve Lombardozzi applied the tag to Galvis after the Phillies' left fielder had slid past the bag, and Harper pumped his fist as he saw second...

Chris Davis turned 50 tonight. Not his age. Heaven forbid. But Davis hit his 50th home run in the top of the eighth inning to give the Orioles a 4-3 lead. Davis crushed a changeup from Blue Jays' right-hander Steve Delabar leading off the inning, sending the ball to the opposite field, as he tends to do. Delabar had replaced Sergio Santos. Davis has tied Brady Anderson's single-season club record for home runs set in 1996. Anderson also reached the milestone in Toronto, connecting off Pat...

The first inclination among some Orioles fans tonight will be to rip Jason Hammel for his start in Toronto. Two home runs in five innings. A 3-0 deficit. I'm focused more on how Todd Redmond shut out the Orioles over 6 1/3 innings. Todd Redmond. Sound familiar? The Orioles selected him off waivers from the Reds on Feb. 8. He didn't do much to impress in spring training, and the Blue Jays claimed him off waivers in late March. Barely worth a mention in the transactions. Redmond absolutely...