Davey Johnson couldn't bear to watch Stephen Strasburg finish off his shutout in tonight's 6-0 Nationals win. That had nothing to do with Strasburg or anything Johnson was seeing on the field. Turns out, Johnson's back was acting up so much that the Nats' 70-year-old skipper had to head back to the trainer's room to apply some heat packs and watch the final two innings of the game while lying down. Johnson will spend part of tomorrow's off-day getting a procedure done on his back that...

Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg said earlier in the season that going just six innings wasn't cool anymore. On Sunday, it must have felt really cool as Strasburg tossed 99 pitches in his first complete game shutout of his career, beating the Phillies 6-0. Catcher Wilson Ramos said he was impressed because Strasburg battled through a tweak of his groin on his second pitch to Dominic Brown in the second inning, which could have unraveled the start before he even got going. However,...

When discussing his individual goals for this season back in spring training, Stephen Strasburg would often come back to one word that he hoped would eventually be used to describe him. Workhorse. After a 2012 season in which he never worked longer than seven innings and was shut down during a pennant race after 159 1/3 innings, Strasburg was determined to become the guy that would consistently work deep into games, giving his team a chance to win and eating innings for his pitching...

Through seven scoreless innings tonight, Stephen Strasburg has thrown just 82 pitches. He's struck out 10, surrendered just four hits and a walk and failed to allow a runner into scoring position. Strasburg has notched a number of firsts this season, and he could be in line for another. His first career complete game is well within reach. This is now Strasburg's 10th career double-digit strikeout game, but despite the strikeouts, the pitch count has remained relatively low. Strasburg has...

Over the first five innings today, the Orioles didn't come close to scoring a run off San Francisco right-hander Matt Cain. They were held to an infield hit and Cain needed just 61 pitches to get through five. Who knew they would later explode for 10 runs? But the third time through the order saw the O's bats come to life and they beat San Francisco 10-2 to win the series two games to one. The Orioles are 65-52 on the season. They moved to within 4 1/2 games of first place Boston, which...

I've never been too good at math, but I'm pretty sure Jayson Werth now has 1,001 hits for his career. End one game at 1,000 hits and deliver an RBI single to center in your first at-bat the next night, and I think that leaves us at 1,001. Feel free to double-check the numbers for me. Werth continues to rake, delivering a run-scoring single off Kyle Kendrick in the first inning that quickly broke a scoreless tie and put the Nationals up 1-0. Stephen Strasburg has kept the score right there...

The Orioles won't be shut out today. They won't go the entire afternoon without putting a runner in scoring position. Their starting pitcher won't supply all of their offense. Brian Roberts led off the top of the sixth inning with a triple to right-center field, and he trotted home with one out on Nate McLouth's single to reduce the Giants' lead to 2-1. Roberts hadn't tripled since April 1, 2011. He now has two three-baggers since 2009. The guy's been hurt, you know? Roberts didn't...

Bud Norris gave up two runs in the bottom of the first inning today in San Francisco, putting the Orioles in an early hole. It could have been worse if not for Adam Jones' lunging backhanded catch in left-center field to rob Brandon Crawford following Marco Scutaro's leadoff single. Just another day at the office for the Orioles, who were on pace to commit only 47 errors before today. They have 34 in their first 116 games. As I've noted many times, the major league record for fewest...

OK, one more Jayson Werth stat, and then I'm done for now. Since July 1, Werth has a .404 batting average, which is the best in the majors by quite a wide margin. The Rangers' Adrian Beltre ranks second in batting average since July 1 with a .372 mark, and the Tigers' Victor Martinez is right behind Beltre at .371. But Werth's hot streak over the last six weeks or so crushes just about anyone else's in the game. With one more save, Rafael Soriano will notch the third 30-save campaign of...

It has been two starts and two wins for Bud Norris in an O's uniform. He gave up two runs over six innings in beating his former Houston teammates and then gave up just one run over six innings to win at San Diego. Norris is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA over the two starts with four walks to 13 strikeouts over 12 innings. So far, left-handed batters are hitting .292 (7-for-24) against him as an Oriole and right-handed batters are hitting only .105 (2-for-19) with seven strikeouts. Norris has given up...