Manny Machado is the topic of plenty of Orioles stories and headlines these days, and rightfully so. Some other topics in the news about the club recently include its bullpen struggles and the call-up of Kevin Gausman. But while all these legit stories have taken up recent headlines, Chris Davis just continues to have a remarkable year. He possibly could be leading or close to leading the American League in the Triple Crown categories right now if not for Miguel Cabrera. After hitting another...

When reporters pointed out to Davey Johnson before today's game that it looked like he was sporting a few days' worth of facial hair growth, the Nationals manager joked that he wasn't going to shave until the Nats started hitting. After the Nats put up five runs in a 5-2 win over the Phillies, Johnson told a couple of his players that he thought it was now OK for the beard to go. "They said, 'It's not coming off yet,' " Johnson said with a smile. "I might leave it on. See if this is...

Jordan Zimmermann wanted to keep it quiet. On the day he was supposed to pitch, the right-hander woke up in some pain. His neck wasn't feeling so good, but he didn't want to make a big deal about it with a big game against the Phillies just hours away. Manager Davey Johnson knew something was up when he saw Zimmermann in the clubhouse. "Zimm woke up with a stiff neck today," Johnson said. "He kind of hid it from me. I knew he had it. Nothing is ever hidden from the manager. "After...

With the Nationals already working with a short bench and Danny Espinosa needing to sit at least two to three days (and possibly much more than that) with a broken bone in his right wrist, the Nats decided to add another position player to their 25-man roster. Infielder Jeff Kobernus will have his contract selected from Triple-A before tomorrow's game, manager Davey Johnson announced after tonight's 5-2 win over the Phillies, and right-hander Yunesky Maya will be designated for assignment to...

The Orioles scored three runs just three batters into tonight's game and the early offensive onslaught continued into the third inning as they bashed their way to a 10-6 win at Toronto tonight. Amid the Orioles hitting a season-high four homers and tying their season high for runs, Manny Machado put his name in the record book again when he singled in the seventh inning. It was his fifth straight road game with three hits or more. According to Elias, the only other player younger than 21...

Ten times this season, Jordan Zimmermann has toed the rubber for the Nationals. In nine of those 10 starts, Zimmermann has allowed two or fewer runs. In the one outlier, he allowed a whopping three runs, and that was in a complete-game victory over the Marlins. Eight of the 10 times Zimmermann has gotten a start this season, he's worked at least seven innings. He's failed to get through the sixth just once. The more you look at Zimmermann's numbers this season, the more impressive those...

Chris Tillman's streak of quality starts has ended at six tonight, but he leaves the game with a 10-3 lead. Seems like a fair trade. Tillman allowed a season-high 10 hits, but he also tied his season high with seven strikeouts and didn't walk a batter. Tillman also fanned seven against Oakland on April 27 and May 14 against San Diego. Tillman still hasn't allowed more than three runs since April 17 against Tampa Bay. This is Tillman's first start at Rogers Centre since Sept. 24, 2010....

The Nationals have had no trouble getting runners on base against Phillies right-hander Kyle Kendrick, who has issued three hits and four walks through the first four innings. The problem has been converting those baserunners into runs. It's a 2-1 Phillies lead here at Nats Park heading to the bottom of the fifth inning, despite the fact that Jordan Zimmermann has outpitched Kendrick, for the most part. The Nats put two runners in scoring position in the second inning, but both Kurt Suzuki...

Toronto left-hander Sean Nolin received a rude introduction to the majors tonight, courtesy of Nick Markakis and the Orioles. Nolin lasted only 1 1/3 innings and left with the Orioles leading 6-1. Markakis led off the top of the first with a single and later scored on J.J. Hardy's three run homer. He brought home three runs in the second inning with a bases-loaded double, making him 2-for-2 with three RBIs and a run scored. Markakis now has a nine-game hitting streak, going 14-for-37 (.378)...

We now know that Danny Espinosa has been playing for the last five-plus weeks with a broken right wrist. Espinosa says that he won't use the injury as an excuse for his poor hitting this season - he has a .163/.196/.291 slash line over 39 games played - but he did say that the wrist felt "stiff" when he was hitting left-handed and it affecting him trying to get his top hand to the ball when hitting right-handed. With Espinosa taking at least 2-3 days to rest the wrist, the Nationals will...