BALTIMORE - Through the first five innings tonight, the Nationals crushed four homers and put up six runs. Then the Orioles' bats woke up and the Nats' shut down. The Nats' 6-2 lead, procured on the back of Ryan Zimmerman, disappeared in a hurry tonight. Despite having Jordan Zimmermann on the mound to start the game, the Nats allowed seven unanswered Orioles runs, six of which came in the seventh inning, and dropped the first game of this two-game set in Baltimore 9-6. After giving up a...

What a wild night at Camden Yards. Chris Davis got out-homered three to two by Ryan Zimmerman, but the Orioles stormed back from a four-run deficit to beat the Nationals 9-6 in front of a stirred up crowd of 39,129 at Oriole Park. The Birds went to the last of the seventh down 6-3 but scored six times to get the lead. The inning featured a two-run homer from Steve Pearce and an RBI double by Manny Machado to tie it 6-6. Nick Markakis singled him in for the 7-6 lead and Davis' second homer of...

BALTIMORE - Have a night, Ryan Zimmerman. Have a night. Zimmerman has stepped into the batter's box here at Camden Yards three times tonight. He's launched three home runs. The first went out to left-center, a frozen rope in the first inning that got out of here in a hurry. The second was a high flyball to dead center in the fourth that flew well over the wall. The third was a shot to right-center in the fifth, one that landed a couple rows deep. Zimmerman now has six homers on the season...

Chris Tillman allowed three home runs in his first six starts, and six in his first eight outings. Suddenly, he can't keep the ball in the park. Tillman has surrendered three more home runs tonight against the Nationals, including two by third baseman Ryan Zimmerman. Roger Bernadina led off the top of the fourth with a shot onto Eutaw Street, the 68th in Camden Yards history and the 40th by an opposing player. Bernadina is the second National to do it, joining Adam Dunn on June 28,...

BALTIMORE - If you were looking for some consistency out of the Nationals' offense, you've gotten it over the last two days. Small sample size, sure. But it's a step in the right direction. The Nats have smacked back-to-back homers for the second straight game, and their three solo home runs through the first four innings tonight have given them a 3-1 lead. Ryan Zimmerman got the party started in the top of the first with an absolute laser beam that flew out over top of the Orioles'...

The Nationals grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning tonight on Ryan Zimmerman's two-out solo home run off Orioles starter Chris Tillman, the ball traveling to the visiting bullpen in left-center field. Tillman struck out Roger Bernadina on a changeup before Zimmerman unloaded on a 93 mph fastball. Tillman has allowed at least one home run in his last five starts, and eight total during that span. The second inning went a bit smoother for Tillman. Ian Desmond reached on an...

BALTIMORE - The Nationals' starting second baseman tonight will be playing with a torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder and a broken bone in his right wrist. Danny Espinosa came into spring training determined to play through the rotator cuff injury, insisting that after a winter of strength training focusing on the muscles around the rotator cuff, he could still be effective even with the injury. Espinosa now is determined to play through the broken wrist, even if there's still a chip...

The Orioles offense, which has produced a batting average of .309 and 5.4 runs per game over the last 17 games, gets a real challenge tonight. They face Nats right-hander Jordan Zimmermann, who is 8-2 with a 1.71 ERA in 10 starts. He has allowed two earned runs or less in seven straight starts, recording nine quality starts on the season. Zimmermann has pitched seven innings or more in his last six starts. The O's entire starting staff has gone seven or more just five times all...

BALTIMORE - Bryce Harper has missed the Nationals' last two games with bursitis in his left knee and will sit out at least these next two games against the Orioles, as well. But Harper's time out of the Nats' lineup might not end there. Manager Davey Johnson said today that Harper isn't progressing as quickly as the Nats might have hoped, leaving his status for this weekend's series in Atlanta in question. "It's kind of a tough thing - inflammation, bursa sac, whatever you want to...

BALTIMORE - With manager Davey Johnson making his final run through major league ballparks in his final season at the helm of the Nationals, Baltimore is certainly a place that holds a special place in his heart. Johnson broke into the majors with the Orioles and was also their manager, with a great deal of success at each stop. Johnson played for the Orioles from 1965-72. He was their manager from 1996-97. In 1997, he was named American League Manager of the Year and guided the Orioles to a...