This recent strong run by the Nationals, who are 14-5 in their last 19 games, has started to bolster the confidence of the guys in the Nats clubhouse. That's not to say that they had ever lost confidence, per se, or that they'd given up on the season. It's not to say that they're blind to the 6 1/2-game deficit they face in the race for the final wild card spot in the National League. But the positive vibes have seemingly returned for the time being, the result of the best stretch this...

Gio Gonzalez finally got another win at home, a place where he has been consistently solid. Prior to Thursday, however, a victory had evaded him since July 5 at Nationals Park. He had gone 0-1 with a 1.99 ERA in his last four home starts and was 0-3 since July 10. On Thursday, Gonzalez went seven innings and did not allow a run to earn his eighth win in a 9-0 Nationals rout of the Marlins, capping a three-game sweep. Early on, though, he allowed three walks and a couple of hits. It appeared...

It probably isn't stretching things to say that this is the most upbeat the Nationals clubhouse has been in months. The Nats picked up their 14th win in 19 games tonight with a 9-0 rout of the Marlins, finishing off a three-game sweep and getting back to three games over .500 for the first time since July 10. After tonight's win, the Nats trail the Reds by 6 1/2 games for the final wild card spot in the National League. Still a ways out with just 29 games to go, for sure, but the Nats are...

BOSTON - Chris Tillman has returned to the mound for the bottom of the seventh inning, trying to hold onto a 3-2 lead over the Red Sox. Jon Lester was done after the sixth, charged with three runs and five hits, with three walks and four strikeouts. He won't pick up his 16th career win over the Orioles in 24 starts. Tillman had retired eight in a row and 12 of 14 before Shane Victorino led off the sixth with his third home run and ninth RBI of this series. Daniel Nava doubled with two outs,...

It's a party at Nationals Park tonight, and Bryce Harper, Jayson Werth and Ian Desmond are providing the fireworks. Each guy has homered tonight, with Harper's two-run shot putting the Nats on the board, Werth's three-run bomb pushing that lead to 5-0 and Desmond's moonshot making it a 9-0 Nats advantage. Desmond's homer came in the seventh, and it was a sky-high blast that seemed like it was in the air forever. When it finally came down a handful of rows into the left field bleachers,...

BOWIE, Md. - After throwing 47 pitches and going 2 2/3 scoreless innings tonight for Double-A Bowie in a rehab outing, Jason Hammel said he feels fine physically and was able to throw all his pitches. The Orioles right-hander said the right flexor mass strain that sent him to the disabled list July 29 was a problem for most of this year but he tried to pitch through it. It's no longer an issue for him. Tonight he gave up three hits with no walks, three strikeouts and two hit batters,...

A recent hot streak has gotten Bryce Harper's batting average and on-base percentage moving in the right direction. But Harper's power numbers have shot up over the last couple weeks, as well. Harper lifted an opposite-field two-run homer off Marlins right-hander Tom Koehler in the fourth, giving the Nationals a 2-0 lead. It's Harper's 19th homer of the season, and second in his last four games. He also has eight extra-base hits in his last 11 games, pushing his slugging percentage back...

BOSTON - Last night, the Orioles were burned by a two-out, two-run single by Boston's Dustin Pedroia in the seventh inning that tied the game. The outcome was decided after pinch-hitting Mike Carp blooped a two-out RBI single into left field in the eighth. Fast-forward to tonight's game and the bottom of the second inning, when Orioles starter Chris Tillman gave up a leadoff double to Daniel Nava, retired the next two batters on a strikeout and fly ball, and surrendered an RBI single to...

BOWIE, Md. - Pitching in a game for the first time since he faced the Boston Red Sox on July 28, Orioles right-hander Jason Hammel is making a major league rehab start tonight for the Double-A Bowie Baysox. Hammel pitched out of a bases loaded jam to keep the Binghamton Mets off the board in the top of the first. The right-hander is expected to go three innings for the Baysox, as the play their last regular season home game at Prince George's Stadium. He is facing a Mets team that has the...

Despite some talk from manager Davey Johnson about Stephen Strasburg possibly getting moved up in the rotation and starting Sunday after his rain-shortened start last night, Johnson said today that Strasburg will stay on his current turn and pitch Monday against the Phillies. As for Sunday's starter, Johnson isn't able to settle on a guy just yet, needing to see how things play out tonight. Ross Ohlendorf seems to be the most likely guy to get the start for the Nationals against the Mets on...