Francisco Rodriguez walked off the mound beside trainer Richie Bancells in the eighth inning tonight, but said he does not expect to end up on the disabled list. He gave up a homer and one batter later, left with a strained right groin, an injury he also dealt with in 2011. "This did not start today," Rodriguez said. "Been for the last week kind of grabbing a bit and a little soreness. Today it got a little worse. But come in tomorrow, get some treatment and go get them, I'll be all...

Bryce Harper has been hit twice tonight. The first time came on the first pitch thrown by Alex Wood in a fourth-inning Harper at-bat, a breaking ball that got Harper in the back. Harper calmly turned around and trotted to first base. Braves fans cheered that plunking with gusto. The second time came on the first pitch thrown by Luis Avilan in an eighth-inning Harper at-bat, a 91 mph fastball that got Harper in the upper back. Harper bent over at the waist, in clear pain, as Braves fans rose...

A pitcher with an ERA of 9.64 over his previous three starts made a quality start and two different No. 9 hitters homered as Colorado beat the Orioles 6-3 in front of 31,438 at Camden Yards. It's going that well for the Orioles, who have now lost four in a row to fall to 65-56. Not the start to the homestand they wanted. The game did begin well for the Orioles when Nate McLouth homered leading off the last of the first for a 1-0 lead. It was his eighth homer of the year, his second leadoff...

Nationals right-hander Ross Ohlendorf completed his second rehab start by going four innings for the high Single-A Potomac Nationals Friday night. Ohlendorf allowed three runs in four innings, with one walk and two strikeouts. He recorded five ground outs and three fly outs. He tossed 79 pitches, 52 for strikes. He allowed eight hits, allowing runs in the second, third and fourth frames. A source on site said he looked good. A scary moment in the game occurred when he got hit on the right...

Orioles reliever Francisco Rodriguez gave up a home run in the eighth inning tonight and left the game with an undisclosed injury after retiring the next batter. Rodriguez appeared to hurt himself while warming up, but he continued to pitch. Charlie Blackmon, who replaced Charlie Culberson in left field, led off with a home run onto Eutaw Street to increase Colorado's lead to 5-2. Dexter Fowler lined a single into right field, and Rodriguez limped to the dugout with head athletic trainer...

Despite having worked just 49 2/3 major league innings this season, Taylor Jordan has allowed the second-most unearned runs of any Nationals pitcher. The Nats have made 11 errors behind Jordan this year, and it seems those errors always come back to hurt him. Tonight, two throwing errors have led to two Braves runs, and Atlanta has a 2-1 lead after four innings. In the first, Wilson Ramos opted to try and catch Jason Heyward stealing despite the fact that Justin Upton had just taken ball...

Orioles left-hander Wei-Yin Chen retired 10 batters in a row and 12 of 13 as he entered the top of the fifth inning. A double, wild pitch and one-out single in the fifth cut the Orioles' lead in half. The first career home run by the Rockies' No. 9 hitter in the sixth tied the game. Chen has allowed 32 runs this season. Seven have come in the sixth inning, six in the seventh and two in the eighth. That's 15 by my math. Rockies left fielder Charlie Culberson continued the tradition of...

ATLANTA - The Nationals might be 14 1/2 games back of the Braves in the National League East entering this three-game set in Atlanta, but Davey Johnson still views this as a big series. "We've lost 10 out of 13 (to Atlanta). We need to show them they're not better than us," Johnson said. "Need to stand up and return the favor. Had our way with them a little bit last year, need to show we can show up and play better than they can." The Nats enter this game coming off a tough one-run loss...

Colorado Rockies pitcher Juan Nicasio started off Orioles leadoff hitter Nate McLouth with a 91 mph four-seam fastball tonight. Then he came back with a 90 mph four-seamer. Then he threw the exact same pitch again at the same speed. McLouth timed it just right. McLouth delivered his second leadoff home run of the season and the 12th of his career to give the Orioles a quick 1-0 lead over the Rockies. McLouth's other leadoff shot came on April 30 in Seattle. His last homer this season came...

ATLANTA - The news of Charlie Manuel's firing by the Phillies this afternoon made its way through the Nationals' clubhouse prior to tonight's game against the Braves, and one guy had a lot more to offer on the topic than anyone else. Jayson Werth played under Manuel in Philadelphia for four seasons from 2007-2010, and it's evident from talking with Werth how much he cares about his former manager. Werth didn't want to discuss the circumstances of Manuel's firing in too much detail, but...