After a very brief stint with the Nationals and a couple of days on the waiver wire, Yunesky Maya will be heading back to Triple-A Syracuse. The Nationals have announced that Maya has cleared waivers and will be assigned to Triple-A. The 31-year-old right-hander will slot back into Syracuse's rotation. The Nats called Maya up May 21, and he allowed a two-run walk-off homer to the Giants' Pablo Sandoval that night. That was the only game Maya appeared in for the Nats before they designated...

WASHINGTON - Reliever Alex Burnett has been claimed off waivers. We will know later today where he's headed. The Orioles designated Burnett for assignment on May 23 to create room for Kevin Gausman on the 40-man roster. Gausman is starting against the Nationals Tuesday night. Burnett, 25, made two appearances with the Orioles, allowing three earned runs in 1 1/3 innings. He was 1-0 with a 1.50 ERA in nine appearances with Triple-A Norfolk. The Orioles signed him off waivers from the Blue...

WASHINGTON - One day after stranding 12 runners in a 6-5 loss to the Blue Jays, the Orioles have left four on base in the first three innings against the Nationals. The Orioles were 4-for-18 with runners in scoring position yesterday at Rogers Centre. They're 0-for-1 today, with Adam Jones grounding out with runners on second and third and two outs in the second inning. Manny Machado singled with two outs, his 46th road hit to lead the majors. It's also his 73rd hit this season. He began...

For the first time in its brief history, interleague play is a year-round occurrence. It used to be a novelty, but now it is a regular ho-hum thing, much like watching games on your telephone. But when interleague play came to be in 1997, this week's schedule is what had the baseball world excited: The unofficial "Natural Rivals" week, when the series were Angels-Dodgers, Yankees-Mets, Cubs-White Sox and Nationals-Orioles. This year, with the leagues realigned into two 15-team leagues,...

Davey Johnson joked today that the Nationals' roster is starting to resemble a M*A*S*H unit. It's not far off. Reporters met with Nationals medical director Dr. Wiemi Douoguih and head trainer Lee Kuntz for about eight minutes earlier this afternoon, getting briefed on the latest medical details involving Bryce Harper, Danny Espinosa, Jayson Werth and Wilson Ramos. You already know what's going on with Harper, so here's the rest. Today will mark the fourth straight game that Espinosa...

Bench depth was critical to the Nationals' success last season. This season, the bench got off to a slow start, in part because reserves were not getting enough starts, instead having to settle of occasional pinch-hit appearances or Sunday substitutes. But with injuries to Jayson Werth, Danny Espinosa and Bryce Harper, the bench spotlight is turned back on. Manager Davey Johnson said the bench will get more starts now. The need for them to excel is critical for the Nationals to stay in the...

The good news for the Nationals and Bryce Harper is that an MRI has revealed that there is no structural issue with Harper's sore left knee. The bad news is that Harper has bursitis in the knee and will need to rest the knee to avoid further damage. Harper is out of the lineup today against the Orioles and there's a good chance he'll sit again tomorrow as the Nationals attempt to get Harper's nagging knee issues behind them. Harper initially injured the knee when colliding with a wall at...

WASHINGTON - Orioles manager Buck Showalter said Tommy Hunter will likely have an X-ray taken on his right hand today, though the reliever said this morning that it wasn't necessary. "There's different levels of X-rays. We're at level two," Showalter said. "Richie (Bancells) said he felt pretty good, all things considered, so I'm hoping we dodged an injury. Not necessarily the ball. "Richie's pretty upbeat about what he was hoping he would see today, compared to yesterday. He got...

Something worth tracking in the Orioles-Nationals series over the next four days is the defensive disparity between the teams. The Orioles are tied for first in the American League with a .990 fielding percentage while the Nats tie for last in the National League at .979. The O's have made the fewest errors in the AL (18) while the Nats are tied for the most in the NL (39). O's catchers rank first in the AL, throwing out 52 percent on the season while the Nats rank last in the NL at 13.2...

After leaving yesterday's game in the seventh inning with a sore left knee, Bryce Harper is out of the Nationals lineup for today's series opener against the Orioles. Harper aggravated the knee injury sliding into first and second base head-first in the first inning of yesterday's 6-1 win over the Phillies. He initially injured the knee colliding with the right field wall in Dodger Stadium nearly two weeks ago. Manager Davey Johnson said after last night's game that he planned to give...