Chris Tillman pitched a very solid seven innings, Danny Valencia homered and Nate McLouth manufactured a run on the bases as the Orioles beat Houston, 4-1, tonight to start a three-game series and six-game road trip. The win was the Orioles' fifth in six games and 10th in the last 14. They also snapped Houston's six-game win streak. The Orioles are 18-12 on the road and 33-25 overall. At eight games over .500, the Orioles tie a season high. Tillman gave up a single in the first to leadoff...

The Nationals had a few scoring chances in their series opener against the Mets, but were never able to sustain a rally, managing just four hits in the first eight innings. New York led 2-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth and suddenly, the Nationals bats came alive against Mets reliever Bobby Parnell. Ryan Zimmerman started the rally with a leadoff double. After a wild pitch, Adam LaRoche added a single that scored Zimmerman for the tying run. Ian Desmond laced a double to put men on...

The Nationals made some changes to their roster earlier today. Their offense then changed its M.O. tonight, putting up two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning and turning what could've been another frustrating loss into an uplifting 3-2 walk-off win. Trailing 2-1 going into the bottom of the ninth, the Nats got three straight hits to open the inning and set up Steve Lombardozzi, who delivered a walk-off sac fly to plate Adam LaRoche with the game-winning run. Leading off the ninth, Ryan...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter hasn't been predictable in his use of Danny Valencia. There isn't the anticipated strict platoon at designated hitter. Valencia is starting again tonight against a right-hander, the Astros' Lucas Harrell, and he gave the Orioles a 1-0 lead with a home run to right field in the top of the third inning. Valencia has homered in three of his last seven games, and he's totaled seven RBIs in that span. Chris Dickerson, no longer bothered by a sore wrist, made...

Dating back to the very early stages of spring training this year, the Nationals have said - both on and off the record - that they had confidence that Gio Gonzalez wasn't going to be disciplined by Major League Baseball for his involvement with Biogenesis, an anti-aging clinic in the Miami area that allegedly distributed performance-enhancing drugs to players. ESPN is reporting tonight that MLB has gotten the cooperation of Tony Bosch, the founder of Biogenesis, and that the league office...

Is the pressure really on the Orioles in this series at Houston? The Astros have the worst record in the AL at 21-37, and only the Florida Marlins keep them from having the worst record in baseball. The Astros this season are 0-4 against Boston, 0-9 vs. Oakland, 1-6 against Detroit and 1-5 vs. Texas. But, here is the issue: Most of those losses came during Houston's first 40 games when they went 10-30. Last night, Houston completed a four-game road sweep against the Angels, and the Astros...

The Orioles today announced that they have reinstated catcher Taylor Teagarden from the 15-day disabled list and designated catcher Chris Snyder for assignment. Teagarden, 29, was placed on the DL on April 28 with a dislocated left thumb. He has appeared in four games for the Orioles this season, going hitless in 13 at-bats. He threw out one of two attempted base stealers. Snyder, 32, went 2-for-17 in six games with the Orioles. The club went 4-1 in his five starts.

The Orioles finally made their roster move official tonight, activating Taylor Teagarden from the 15-day disabled list and designating Chris Snyder for assignment in a swap of backup catchers. Teagarden, 29, went on the DL on April 28 with a dislocated left thumb after appearing in four games and going 0-for-13. He threw out one of two runners attempting to steal. Teagarden appeared in three injury-rehab games at Triple-A Norfolk, catching twice and serving as the designated hitter. Snyder,...

It's fair to wonder whether all the roster moves the Nationals made today were made with the intention of shaking things up and giving the team a spark after a mediocre start to the season. According to general manager Mike Rizzo, that wasn't the case. "Well it wasn't for the jolt scenario, more so than getting guys here that gives us the best chance to win baseball games," Rizzo said. "It has nothing to do with trying something different. It's putting the best 25 out there at this...

We've discussed Danny Espinosa landing on the DL and Anthony Rendon getting called up and getting a shot at earning significant playing time at second base. Now let's talk about the other roster moves the Nationals made today - their decision to designate right-hander Henry Rodriguez and left-hander Zach Duke for assignment and call up left-handed reliever Ian Krol from Double-A Harrisburg. Rodriguez was originally acquired by the Nats along with outfielder Corey Brown in the Josh...