Tanner Roark outpitched Jordan Zimmermann by a wide margin today. Baseball can be a funky game. Making his major league debut, Roark, who was called up from Triple-A Syracuse yesterday, pitched two scoreless innings, keeping this game tied 2-2. Roark worked a 1-2-3 fifth inning, his first in relief of Zimmermann (who left after allowing seven hits over four frames), and after surrendering a leadoff bloop single in the sixth, the right-hander needed just two batters to get out of the...

Dating back to last night, the Nationals are 0-for-their-last-15 with 10 strikeouts. Somehow, some way, it keeps finding a way to get worse. The Nats trail 1-0 after three innings tonight and have been set down in order by Kris Medlen to this point. Nine up, nine down. Four strikeouts, five groundouts. Not a single ball hit out of the infield. How much of that is Medlen, who has really looked sharp? How much of it is the Nationals, who continue to scuffle regardless of who is on the mound?...

We hosted a live chat at MASNsports.com during the last Orioles homestand with reliever Darren O'Day. As expected, O'Day was interesting, articulate, told some great stories and answered a lot of fan questions. During these chats, we often find out some interesting things about the players both on and off the field. For instance, O'Day talked about his effectiveness over the years against left-handed batters. A pitcher throwing from his lower arm slot, you would think he'd get...

Chris Davis has been called "Crush" this year and today that nickname fit. Davis crushed a breaking pitch from lefty Colt Hynes in the eighth inning into the right-field stands for a three-run shot that broke a 3-3 tie as the Orioles beat San Diego 10-3 to sweep the two-game series. It was homer No. 41 for Davis and traveled 453 feet. That ties that blast for the second longest homer in the 10-year history of Petco Park. Davis, who has four homers his last eight games, now has 106 RBIs....

A day after Bryce Harper was drilled on the thigh by a Julio Teheran fastball and voiced his displeasure with what he felt was an uncalled-for plunking and saw both benches empty, the chatter about the incident continues. Nationals players continue to believe that Teheran intentionally hit Harper two innings after Harper took Teheran deep and made a slower-than-usual trot around the bases. That hasn't changed in the last 20 or so hours. "No doubt in my mind," one player, who noted that he...

Miguel Gonzalez was cruising today. Then, he hit one of those potholes. Gonzalez surrendered a game-tying, three-run homer to Jedd Gyorko in the bottom of the sixth inning, erasing the Orioles 3-0 lead at Petco Park. Gonzalez has now allowed 13 runs in the sixth this season, most of any inning. He's given up 11 in the fourth and fifth. Gyorko hammered a fastball to center field to tie the game and leave Gonzalez with a no-decision. But Gonzalez did post a quality start after two disastrous...

Manager Davey Johnson has been pleasantly surprised how well Anthony Rendon has come along defensively at second base. It was a position Rendon had only played at a handful of times before arriving in D.C. Johnson noticed Rendon had quick mechanics back in March in Viera, Fla. "I thought his footwork in the spring when we went through a lot of drills was a lot more advanced than I thought it would be, especially for a corner guy," Johnson said. "He has got good feet and he is a smart...

J.J. Hardy has hit more home runs than any shortstop in the American League this season, and he increased the margin this afternoon with his 19th to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Hardy drove an 89 mph fastball from Eric Stults - the Padres left-hander, not the actor who played Rocky Dennis in "Mask" - over the fence in left field. Wasn't much doubt about it. Sort of like Adam Jones' shot last night. Colorado's Troy Tulowitzki leads all shortstops with 20 home runs....

Denard Span is back leading off for the Nationals as manager Davey Johnson produced yet another lineup this afternoon. Ryan Zimmerman will hit second. The Braves are 9-3 against the Nats this season and 5-0 at Nats Park. The Nats will try and take a stand in the home-field advantage department tonight. Jason Heyward is back in the Braves lineup tonight after leaving yesterday's game in the first inning with a strained neck muscle. For the Nationals CF Denard Span 3B Ryan Zimmerman LF...

Yes it was very strange seeing Miguel Gonzalez give up 15 runs over his last two starts. Especially considering he had given up 11 runs total in four June starts and 11 runs total in five starts in July. But Gonzalez gave up a career high nine runs (four earned) in his last start against Houston. Over his last two starts he has pitched 8 1/3 innings allowing 17 hits, 15 runs (10 earned). That has raised his ERA from 3.34 to 3.88. Before that, Gonzalez recorded eight consecutive quality...