Maybe it wasn't quite as dramatic as his ninth-inning homer at Fenway Park earlier this year but Manny Machado's latest homer was a big one today for the Orioles as they beat Los Angeles 8-4 in the finale of an 11-game west coast road trip. The Orioles went an impressive 7-4 on the trip, going 3-1 each at Oakland and Anaheim sandwiched around a 1-2 series in Seattle. Down 3-1 after the first inning, the O's tied the game 3-3 on J.J. Hardy's two-run homer in the fourth. But Los Angeles...

PITTSBURGH - Seven batters into today's game, the Nationals looked to be heading for a disastrous conclusion to their seven-game road trip. Bryce Harper had already been ejected. Gio Gonzalez's first pitch of the game had been crushed into the left field seats by Starling Marte, giving the Pirates a 1-0 lead. Ryan Zimmerman committed his fifth throwing error of the season. Gonzalez had the bases full with Pirates and nobody out. Things could've gotten out of hand in a hurry. Instead,...

Knowing Jason Hammel, he's going to pick apart his start today and give himself a failing grade. He's a harsh critic. Hammel needed about two hours to get through the bottom of the first inning - and that's only a mild exaggeration - but he made it through six innings and is in line for the win. Hammel gave up four runs and nine hits, walked three, struck out five and threw a wild pitch. He threw 107 pitches, and most of them seemed to come during that marathon first inning. Three of...

PITTSBURGH - The Nationals beat the Pirates 6-2 this afternoon, taking two of three from Pittsburgh and wrapping up a winning road trip. Danny Espinosa drove in three, Tyler Moore hit a three-run homer in the eighth and Gio Gonzalez bounced back from a rough first inning to throw six solid innings. The highlight we'll see all over the national TV highlight reels tonight, however, will involve Bryce Harper, who was ejected in the first inning for arguing a checked swing that was ruled a third...

PITTSBURGH - Given the way Adam LaRoche has been swinging the bat the last few days, and the way Tyler Moore has struggled to put the bat on the ball the last couple days, you can't really blame the Pirates for intentionally walking LaRoche to get to Moore with first base open in the top of the eighth inning. Just like yesterday, Moore was off to a rough start today, striking out in all three at-bats this afternoon, all three looking. But after falling behind in the count 0-2 with two...

Adam Jones came up with another hit with a runner in scoring position today as the Orioles took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning against the Angels. But the Amgels scored three times with two outs off Jason Hammel to take a 3-1 lead in the bottom half of the inning. Mike Trout reached on a one-out infield single and then stole second base. But MASN slo-mo replays showed that Matt Wieters' throw was just in time even though Trout was ruled safe. Trout would score on the first of...

PITTSBURGH - Bryce Harper's second career ejection came just 14 pitches into this afternoon's ballgame. With two outs in the top of the first, Harper tried to check his swing on a two-strike curveball from Wandy Rodriguez. Third base umpire John Hirschbeck rung Harper up, and Harper threw his hands up in the air in frustration. Hirschbeck then imitated Harper's reaction, throwing his hands up in a similar fashion. Harper stood at the plate staring at Hirschbeck while home plate umpire Bob...

PITTSBURGH - The untuck club is slowly gaining members. Rafael Soriano's trademark post-save celebration of untucking his jersey from his pants on the field is picking up traction in the Nationals clubhouse. And Jayson Werth is the latest to get in on the action. Ian Desmond followed Soriano's lead by violently untucking his jersey after a Soriano save in Atlanta. Following that game, Desmond tried to convince Werth to join the club, as well. Last night, after seeing Roger Bernadina make a...

First baseman Chris Davis is back in the lineup today for the Orioles' series-finale against the Los Angeles Angels that concludes their three-city road trip. Davis missed Saturday's game with a knee injury. Davis' knee is feeling much better and he will avoid the disabled list. The Orioles can give him an extra day off with tomorrow's open date on the schedule. For the Orioles Nate McLouth LF Manny Machado 3B Nick Markakis RF Adam Jones CF Chris Davis 1B Matt Wieters C J.J. Hardy...

The Orioles are going to leave the west coast with a winning record on this road trip. They are 6-4 heading into the last game today. Of course 7-4 would look real good and they have a chance to get there this afternoon behind Jason Hammel. It would look even better considering my entry yesterday morning pointed out the O's have not exactly been tearing it up since last Sunday's game where they blew a 5-0 lead in the sixth at Oakland. But it does seem almost nothing gets this team down and...