The Nationals announced that outfielder Billy Burns, starting pitcher Taylor Jordan and second baseman Tony Renda have won the organization's top awards. Billy Burns - Nationals minor league Player of the Year Burns was promoted to Double-A Harrisburg this season, showcasing his blurring speed out of the box. He spent the first 91 games of the season with high Single-A Potomac, then played 30 games for the Senators. Double-A Harrisburg was just eliminated in the Eastern League finals by...

Low Single-A Hagerstown Suns first baseman/outfielder Bryan Lippincott has done well in the South Atlantic League championship series, going 4-for-8 with a triple and three RBIs through the first two games against Savannah. The surge is a small example of the consistency he has shown at different levels the past two seasons. With short-season Single-A Auburn, Lippincott hit .283 (47-for-166) in 44 games, with nine doubles, seven homers, 19 walks, three stolen bases and 29 RBIs. Prior to his...

This is starting to get ridiculous. Ryan Zimmerman crushed a first-pitch homer off Aaron Harang with one out in the top of the first inning this afternoon, giving him eight homers in his last 10 games, and giving the Nationals a 1-0 lead. Eight of Zimmerman's last 10 hits have left the yard, which is just insane. More than a third of his 23 homers this season have come in the last week and a half. Zimmerman's 23rd homer now ties him with Jayson Werth for the team lead. This homer came on...

The Orioles' offense has not exactly been prolific lately. But maybe tonight they will get things going versus struggling Yankee right-hander Phil Hughes. While the Orioles have pitched well on this homestand - with a team ERA of 3.14 in seven games - the O's are averaging only 3.7 runs per game in the White Sox and Yankees series. The Orioles have scored four runs or fewer in eight of the last nine and 12 of the last 16 games. But Hughes is 4-13 on the year with an ERA of 5.11. In his...

Tanner Roark's first major league start couldn't have gone much better. Roark threw six scoreless innings, allowing just four hits, walking none and striking out four in a win over the Marlins. The rookie right-hander improved to 5-0 with that win, and his ERA dropped to a sparkling 0.94. Today, Roark gets the ball again in the finale of the Nationals' four-game series with the Mets. The Nats have taken the first three in New York and are gunning for a much-needed sweep. Veteran...

Here's how locked-in Ryan Zimmerman is lately, from a power perspective: Over Zimmerman's first 463 at-bats of the season, he hit 15 home runs, an average of 30.8 at-bats per homer. Over Zimmerman's last 39 at-bats, Zimmerman has hit seven home runs, an average of 5.6 at-bats per longball. If Zimmerman could keep this pace up over the course of a full season (550 at-bats), he'd have 98 homers. Sounds pretty doable, right? Strangely enough, in this nine-game span where Zimmerman's power...

The Nationals are now six games back in the wild card chase behind Cincinnati with 17 games left on the schedule. This is after Wednesday night's 3-0 victory against the New York Mets in which Washington notched its fifth consecutive victory. It's like MASN's Dan Kolko said yesterday: finally, it's all clicking. But is it too late? That's the question facing the Nationals. Offense has been an ongoing issue for Washington throughout the season. Batting coach Rick Eckstein was let go,...

You hear about it all the time. Baseball's list of unwritten rules is the most discussed thing in the game that doesn't even exist. Most know what rules are on the list. What most don't know is that there is a reason that these rules aren't real. It's because these rules are pointless. Joe Girardi's little tirade on Monday night at Camden Yards brought this issue to the forefront. The Yankees manager accused Orioles third base coach Bobby Dickerson of stealing signs, which is one of...

Two games. Two blown leads. Two missed chances. Two games the Orioles could have gained on Tampa Bay the last two nights. Two games that could have moved the Orioles into the lead in the chase for the second AL wild card spot. So frustrating for the team and its fans. The O's just can't get on a roll. Will all the missed chances, blown leads, blown saves and lack of hits with runners in scoring position finally do this team in? This seems to be the pennant race that they just never fall out...

Boy, are the Yankees going to be mad when they have to forfeit all those wins after Alex Rodriguez begins serving his suspension. Wait... what? I've been crunching so many numbers lately, I'm surprised that I haven't chipped a tooth. Every lineup, every at-bat, every pitching change has me checking the splits on various Orioles. It happened again last night. Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano steps to the plate leading off the top of the ninth inning in a tie game, and I'm looking up...