"September's an eternity." - Buck Showalter In a lot of ways, September feels like it lasts forever. As August concludes, so too does my favorite time of year as those seemingly long summer days grow shorter and shorter. Kids are back in school, the Baltimore humidity begins to subside (it will soon, I promise) and I start to brace myself for the cold winter that will greet us in what seems like a matter of days. I don't think Buck Showalter was talking about my animosity towards the...

PHILADELPHIA - Tyler Clippard might have given up two run-scoring hits in the eighth inning that turned a 2-1 Nationals lead into a 3-2 Phillies advantage, but it wasn't either of those base knocks that he was really kicking himself over after the game. It was the two-out walk to the light-hitting Cesar Hernandez that got it all started. Hernandez came into the at-bat hitting .226 on the season with just one extra-base hit in 31 at-bats. But after getting ahead in the count 1-2, Clippard...

New month, new results for the Orioles? Well, they turned the page on a 12-14 August and have begun September going 2-0. It's a start and they would sure like to make this a September to remember. When the Ryas lost to the Angels in Anaheim last night, the O's moved to within two games of the second American League wild card. Yep, they're still in it. If the Orioles win tonight at Cleveland they will have a three-game win streak. If it seems like it has been a while, it has. The O's last...

PHILADELPHIA - After Sunday night's win over the Mets, Bryce Harper acknowledged that he wasn't 100 percent healthy, although he declined to specify what exactly was ailing him. Turns out, it's Harper's hip. Harper limped his way through four plate appearances in tonight's 3-2 loss, going 1-for-3 with a walk, but there were a handful of times where it was clear that Harper was in some significant discomfort. After the game, manager Davey Johnson revealed that Harper has been getting...

The Orioles scored 13 runs in the first five games of the road trip. They've totaled 14 over the last two days. Scott Feldman pitched seven innings on Saturday and allowed one run. Bud Norris pitched seven innings on Monday and allowed one run. In between, Wei-Yin Chen lasted only four innings. The bullpen posted a 6.43 ERA on the road trip before registering five scoreless innings on Sunday. Matt Wieters had four hits yesterday, making him 5-for-9 in the last two games. Nate McLouth lost...

You will not find his picture on the cover of Sports Illustrated nor Rolling Stone, but Ian Desmond is a rock star. He is a rock, one of the most solid players on the Nationals roster, and he is emerging as a star who deserves to be recognized as such. Desmond's WAR rating currently stands at 5.2 for the 2013 season. Wins Above Replacement - or WAR - is the blue ribbon of baseball analytics. FanGraphs is one of two Web sites that provide ongoing WAR ratings. WAR provides one magical number...

They finally made it. In their 12th year, the short-season Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds are headed to the New York-Penn League playoffs for the first time. With tonight's 7-3 win over Lowell, Aberdeen improved to 38-32 and clinched first place in the McNamara Division. Now the IronBirds advance to the league semifinals and a best-of-three series that it appears will begin Friday night at Ripken Stadium. The championship series is also best-of-three in the New York-Penn League. Aberdeen began...

PHILADELPHIA - Stephen Strasburg and Cole Hamels are locked in a pitchers' duel through six innings. Each All-Star has allowed just one run on two hits. Strasburg has struck out 10 and allowed just three balls out of the infield. Hamels has allowed just two baserunners since the first inning. The difference in this 1-1 game is that Strasburg is going to need to exit after six innings, while Hamels should be good for a little while longer. Strasburg was mowing Phillies batters down with...

PHILADELPHIA - Stephen Strasburg couldn't have asked for a much better start than the one he's gotten through three innings. Strasburg has held the Phillies hitless thus far, has struck out six, and has yet to allow a ball out of the infield. The lone blemish on his line so far is a two-out walk to Chase Utley in the first. Other than that, it's been smooth sailing for the Nationals' right-hander. Strasburg struck out the side in the first, with all three Ks coming on curveballs. He then...

The Double-A Harrisburg Senators are the 2013 Western Division regular season champions after their 1-0 victory at Richmond on Monday at The Diamond. Jeff Howell smacked an RBI single in the sixth and Rob Gilliam and four relievers shut out the Flying Squirrels. Harrisburg finished 77-65, won eight of its last 10 games and was 40-30 on the road. The regular season title was the Senators' first since 2011 and their fourth such title since the Eastern League started a two-division format in...