Watching Matt Harvey and Zach Wheeler pitch for the New York Mets this past weekend, one has to be concerned about the quality arms that are sprouting like weeds around the National League. The Nationals still have the best threesome of starting pitchers in the NL, but the performance gap is narrowing. The Nationals avoided Jeff Locke in their first series against the Pirates, but he is right behind Harvey in the ERA race. Harvey leads all NL pitchers so far in 2013 with a 2.00 ERA to Locke's...

Right-hander Eddie Gamboa has pitched well enough the last few seasons for Double-A Bowie to keep his spot on the staff, but never quite well enough to get a promotion or to be considered one of the club's top pitching prospects. Gamboa is back at Bowie again this season. But armed with a new pitch and now producing strong results, Gamboa is finally getting noticed. Now his dream of someday making it with the Orioles doesn't seem like the real long shot it once did. The Orioles discovered...

Did everyone enjoy the off-day? The Orioles flew to Chicago last night, and outfielder Nolan Reimold must have been with them. He wasn't in Double-A Bowie's lineup, which pretty much confirmed that he would be activated from the disabled list before tonight's game. The trick is making room for him on the 25-man roster. In any other series, Danny Valencia would be the logical candidate to be optioned. Remove one right-handed DH-type for another, with Reimold also able to replace Nate...

Bryce Harper stepped up to the plate at Nationals Park for the first time in a while, got a loud ovation from the crowd, looked at a ball out of the zone and then slugged the second pitch he saw for a solo homer. He sprinted around the bases, was greeted by smiles and high fives in the Nationals' dugout and then came out to the top step for a curtain call. Harper's first at-bat off the disabled list, one that came in the bottom of the first inning in tonight's 10-5 win over the Brewers,...

It didn't take more than 15 minutes into tonight's ballgame, Bryce Harper's first in over a month, for the 20-year-old outfielder to make his presence felt. Up with two outs in the bottom of the first, Harper took the first pitch he saw from Yovani Gallardo, then smoked the second on a line over the left-center field fence for a solo homer that got the Nationals rolling towards a 10-5 win. "Wouldn't you know it?" manager Davey Johnson said of Harper's theatrics. "We kinda expected...

Right-hander Jordan Zimmermann will remember this one for a while. He tied a career-high with 12 wins. It took him a whole season, and 32 starts, to reach 12 victories in 2012. He set a career-high with three hits in a game, scoring two runs, in a 3-for-3 performance at the plate. The Nationals held off the Brewers 10-5 behind Zimmermann's pitching and hitting. Handed an 8-0 lead, which has been rare for Zimmermann in his young career, he had to fight to hold off a couple of Milwaukee...

The Nationals scored 10 runs or more in one of their first 80 games this season. They've now reached the double-digit run mark on back-to-back days. First, it was a 13-2 romp over the Mets. Tonight, it was a 10-5 win over the Brewers. The last time the Nats put up at least 10 runs in consecutive games was June 26-28 of last year, when they actually scored double-digit runs in three straight games against the Rockies. Jayson Werth went 2-for-5 with five RBIs, Denard Span reached base three...

Was there any doubt Bryce Harper would do something special in his return to the Nationals' lineup after missing 31 games while on the disabled list? If you were one to have those doubts, you must not have seen much of Harper over the last two seasons. In his first big league at-bat in 36 days, Harper took the first pitch he saw from Brewers starter Yovani Gallardo for a ball and then smoked a 93 mph fastball over the left field wall and into the visitors' bullpen for a solo home...

The Nationals got Bryce Harper back today, and they're getting good news on a couple other banged-up players, as well. Ross Detwiler threw a bullpen session today and came out feeling just fine, according to manager Davey Johnson. Detwiler had felt some stiffness in the left side of his lower back after Friday's start against the Mets, and it looked for a bit like the Nats might need to skip his next turn in the rotation - this Wednesday - and go with long reliever Ross Ohlendorf instead....

Around 2 p.m. today, while milling around the Nationals' clubhouse, Davey Johnson saw Bryce Harper, his 20-year-old outfielder who had missed the last 31 games while dealing with left-knee bursitis. "Is that really you?" Johnson asked Harper. "Are you OK? You ready to go?" Harper shook Johnson's hand. "Yeah, I'm ready," Harper said. Harper was reinstated from the disabled list today after a four-game rehab assignment, and he'll play left field and return to the Nationals'...