Of all the red-letter days in Washington's baseball history, Nationals fans may well look back on April 28, 2012 as the most important date of all. It was on that date that a 19-year-old rookie named Bryce Aron Max Harper made his major league debut, amid the media spotlight of Los Angeles. He singled and drove in a run for a Nats team that was struggling offensively, and while Washington would fall to the Dodgers, both Harper and the Nats would soon heat up and not look back. Harper...

So close to their first four-game sweep at Oakland since May 22-25, 1987. The Orioles lost a 5-0 lead after five innings and a two-run lead in the last of the ninth today, and fell 9-8 in 10 innings to Oakland. After Yoenis Cespedes hit a two-run homer with one out in the the last of the ninth off Brian Matusz to tie it 8-8, the Orioles defense came unglued as they lost it an inning later. Eric Sogard led off the 10th with a single off Pedro Strop and advanced to second on a bunt when Strop...

Nate McLouth and Manny Machado have combined for eight hits, two RBIs and five runs scored today. The Orioles have a pretty nice one-two combination at the top of their order. McLouth produced his first four-hit game in four years. Machado has his first career four-hit game. McLouth, who's scored four of the runs, is batting .351. He's making $2 million this season. That's quite a bargain. Machado, who's accounted for both RBIs, has raised his average to .302. He seems pretty...

Following this afternoon's 5-2 loss to the Reds, in which Adam LaRoche went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, making him 0-for-his-last-26, a frustrated LaRoche was asked how he feels at the plate right now. "Probably about as good as it looks," he said. Yeah, LaRoche is upset at himself for how he's been playing lately. He has 13 strikeouts in his last eight games and doesn't have a hit in more than a week. But he's going to keep fighting, trying to claw out of this deep slump and get...

This afternoon's game officially lasted three hours, 27 minutes. It sure felt a good bit longer than that. The Reds beat the Nationals 5-2 today, salvaging the final game of this four-game series and avoiding a sweep at the hands of their hosts. It wasn't a pretty ballgame to say the least, especially from the Nationals' side. Ross Detwiler allowed 11 hits and four runs over five innings, Anthony Rendon and Danny Espinosa made errors, Henry Rodriguez threw four strikes in a 17-pitch outing...

So much for that scoreless tie in Oakland. Nate McLouth, Manny Machado, Nick Markakis and Adam Jones singled in succession to produce the game's first run in the top of the fourth inning. Chris Davis drove in two more runs with a double and Matt Wieters produced a sacrifice fly. The Orioles didn't knock out Oakland starter Bartolo Colon. They just peppered him with jabs. McLouth has reached base safely in 19 of his last 33 plate appearances. Over his last nine games, he's 12-for-26 with...

A lot went right for the Nationals over the last three days. They pitched incredibly well, allowing just four runs and 11 hits in that three-game span. They brought the bats, scoring 15 runs after putting up just four through their previous four contests. They played sound defense, for the most part. All three of those games resulted in wins. Today, it's been a different story. Ross Detwiler has allowed four runs and 10 hits over his first five innings. He had surrendered four earned runs...

Nolan Reimold is serving as the designated hitter today, as the Oriolestry to complete a four-game sweep of the Oakland Athletics. Nate McLouth remains the leadoff hitter. Ryan Flaherty gets the start at second base. For the Orioles Nate McLouth LF Manny Machado 3B Nick Markakis RF Adam Jones CF Chris Davis 1B Matt Wieters C J.J. Hardy SS Ryan Flaherty 2B Nolan Reimold DH Miguel Gonzalez RHP Down on the farm, Triple-A Norfolk's Jonathan Schoop extended his hitting streak to 10...

The Oakland Athletics activated outfielder Yoenis Cespedes from the disabled list today and designated Casper Wells for assignment. The Toronto Blue Jays selected Wells, the Towson University alum, off waivers from the Seattle Mariners on April 10. The A's purchased him from the Blue Jays on April 22. Now he's out there again. The Orioles had some interest in Wells earlier this year. He's out of minor league options, which is why he keeps hitting the open market more than...

The stats sheet says when Miguel Gonzalez takes the mound, the Orioles have a pretty good chance to win. Today, he will try to pitch the O's to their first four-game sweep at Oakland since May 22-25, 1987. Gonzalez is 2-1 with a 4.13 ERA over four starts in 2013. The Orioles are 3-1 in those starts and 7-1 in Gonzalez's last eight starts, dating to September. Gonzalez has made 19 career starts in an O's uniform and the club is 14-5 in those games for a win percentage of .737. Gonzalez was...