BOWIE, Md. - Double-A Harrisburg right-hander Taylor Jordan allowed his first earned run in four games, but remained solid on the hill with eight strong innings, defeating Bowie 3-1 at Prince George's Stadium. Jordan recorded his sixth consecutive Double-A victory to no losses, allowing three hits, one earned run, two walks and three strikeouts. He tossed 96 pitches, 64 for strikes. Manager Matt Lecroy said it was another solid outing for the young right-hander. "He pitched out of two...

Kevin Gauman's first start at the Triple-A level didn't produce the desired results. Gausman allowed seven runs and 10 hits in six innings for the Norfolk Tides in Game 1 of a doubleheader, with one walk, four strikeouts and one wild pitch. He served up a three-run homer to Indianapolis left fielder Andrew Lambo in the sixth inning. Jon Rauch replaced Gausman in the seventh and gave up a solo homer in an 8-1 loss. Rauch apparently has decided not to opt out of his contract. Gausman was 2-4...

PHILADELPHIA - Kyle Kendrick has faced 16 Nationals hitters tonight. One of those 16 has reached base. The other 15 have all gone quietly. The Nats trail the Phillies 2-0 as we go to the sixth inning of tonight's series finale at Citizens Bank Park. They've put one runner on base so far and have made things pretty easy on Kendrick, who has needed just 56 pitches. Davey Johnson wants his hitters to be aggressive. They have been. They just continue to have problems getting guys on base and...

PHILADELPHIA - General manager Mike Rizzo said today that outfielder Bryce Harper is "a couple days" away from starting baseball activities as he works his way back from bursitis in his left knee, a condition that has held Harper out of the Nationals' lineup for the last 20 games. Harper got a cortisone shot in his knee last Monday and was told by Dr. James Andrews to rest the knee for a week. Harper was cleared to start some ground-based exercises this Monday after getting examined by...

PHILADELPHIA - We've gone over the Nationals' sub-par offensive numbers countless times to this point. They've scored 3.47 runs per game, the second-fewest of any team in the majors. They have the second-lowest on-base percentage in the big leagues at .291. Their team OPS is .666, fourth-worst in Major League Baseball. This team continues to struggle putting runs on the board, leading some to question the job security of hitting coach Rick Eckstein. But while Eckstein might be a popular...

BOWIE, Md. -- The Double-A Harrisburg Senators face off against the Bowie Baysox at Baysox Stadium tonight here at Prince George's County. It is right-hander Taylor Jordan (5-0, 0.66) taking on Bowie's right-hander Mike Wright (6-0, 3.92). This will be Jordan's seventh start and ninth appearance. He has two complete games and two shutouts with 39 strikeouts to only six walks. Opponents are batting .181 against Jordan. Last night, Harrisburg trounced Bowie 9-1 behind Paul Demny's seven...

Well, it was not a bad last 24 hours for the Orioles. They beat Justin Verlander and Rick Porcello and took another series win against the first-place Detroit Tigers. The Orioles scored six runs in the fourth today, added three in the seventh and four in the ninth in a 13-3 win over Detroit. That is a season high in runs for the O's. The Orioles are 12-5 this season against the American League division leaders - Boston (5-2), Detroit (4-2) and Oakland (3-1). The Orioles have moved 11 games...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter found another safe spot for reliever Pedro Strop today, inserting him into the eighth inning with a six-run lead. Strop responded by retiring all three Tigers he faced, striking out two, and watched the Orioles extend their lead to 13-3. The Orioles tacked on four more runs against Jose Valverde in the top of the ninth on Adam Jones' two-run double that followed singles by Manny Machado and Nick Markakis, and a long two-run homer by Chris Davis that may have...

PHILADELPHIA - The Nationals will look to snap a three-game losing streak and salvage a game out of this three-game set in Philly tonight. If they aren't able to do so, the Nats will fall to a season-worst three games under .500 and drop back into third place in the National League East behind the Braves and Phillies. Davey Johnson has Adam LaRoche back in the cleanup spot tonight against the right-handed Kyle Kendrick, and the left-handed-hitting Roger Bernadina will play left field....

The Orioles scored six runs for Chris Tillman today. He gave them five-plus innings. Tillman won't pick up his 10th quality start, but he could improve to 6-0 on the road this season. Since Aug. 21, 2012, Tillman has made 12 consecutive starts on the road allowing three runs or fewer. He's charged with three today, the last two scoring after T.J. McFarland entered the game with two runners on base and gave up a double to Matt Tuiasosopo. McFarland has let 10 of 16 inherited runners score...