The big topic of discussion in the press box during tonight's 7-4 Nationals win was White Sox manager Robin Ventura's decision to intentionally walk Bryce Harper with two outs and Ryan Zimmerman on deck in the fifth inning. Harper, while he's on fire and possesses a world of talent, has played just 148 games in his big league career. Zimmerman has a proven track record, having performed at a high level over nine major league seasons. We're just nine games into the season. You don't often...

BOSTON - Adam Jones and Chris Davis were a combined 3-for-7 tonight with a double, home run, three RBIs, two walks and a run scored. In other words, their standard night. The duo is batting a combined .434 with seven homers and 29 RBIs. The rest of the team is batting .217 with four homers and 14 RBIs. "I think everyone thought we were going to go get a middle-of-the-lineup hitter," Jones said. "I'm glad what (Dan) Duquette and (Buck) Showalter did. They put it upon the in-house (guys)....

The Nationals have played two series at home this season. They've swept them both. Tonight's 7-4 win over the White Sox gave the Nats another three-game sweep at Nats Park and made a winner of Dan Haren for the first time this season. While Haren allowed 10 hits, hit a batter and threw 101 pitches over five innings, he allowed just three runs and kept his team in the game. "You know, he's still not where he wants to be, I'm sure," manager Davey Johnson said of his starter. "They've...

Dan Haren has pitched for five different teams in the majors and has won 120 games. But after a 15-0 loss at Cincinnati last Friday, Haren desperately wanted to bounce back and make a good impression in front of the fans of his newest team. And just like a veteran pitcher, he found his way out of sticky situations Thursday. Scattering 10 hits over five innings, Haren held the Chicago White Sox to three runs and notched his first victory of the season, a 7-4 Nationals' win. "I think I...

BOSTON - The Orioles have won five straight series at Fenway Park, 11 of the last 15 games and 21 of the last 30. The latest conquest became official when Jim Johnson retired Jacoby Ellsbury on a fly ball to left field to strand the potential tying run on first base. The bullpen was solid again tonight with 3 2/3 scoreless innings. Brian Matusz stranded two runners by striking out Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Stephen Drew in the sixth, one of the key moments of the game. Pedro Strop and Darren...

BOWIE, Md. - Showing a mid- to sometimes high-90s fastball and a slider that was much improved over his first start, Kevin Gausman picked up his first professional win, pitching Double-A Bowie to a 5-1 victory over Akron tonight in front of 4,673 chilled fans in the team's home opener. Gausman threw 92 pitches, 66 for strikes over six innings, allowing just two hits and one run. He didn't walk a batter for the second straight start and fanned five. He is now 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA. "I felt...

BOSTON - Adam Jones broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the seventh inning tonight, lining an RBI double to left field against former teammate Koji Uehara. Jones didn't wait long. Uehara replaced Andrew Miller with two on and two outs, and Jones swung at the first pitch. The result was Jones' second RBI and his 10th of the season. He's 2-for-4 tonight and 18-for-38 with five doubles on the season. Jones has six multi-hit games out of eight played by the Orioles. All the damage came with two...

Coming into tonight, the hitter in front of Ryan Zimmerman in the Nationals' batting order had only been intentionally walked once since 2009. That one time, on Sept. 3, 2011, Zimmerman responded with a walk-off homer over the Mets. Zimmerman, after all, has been the Nats' most fearsome hitter for some time now. There's very rarely a reason to put a runner on base in front of him, regardless of most circumstances. Apparently, that's changing. The White Sox decided to intentionally walk...

Through three innings, the White Sox have put six men on base off Nationals starter Dan Haren. The Nats, in turn, have put seven on against Chicago starter Dylan Axelrod, who has already thrown 74 pitches. Still, it's just a 3-1 ballgame, with the Nats holding the lead as we go to the fourth. The two teams have combined to strand nine runners and have gone 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Haren has given up three doubles already tonight, one in each inning, but he's managed to...

BOSTON - Boston Red Sox starter Alfredo Aceves fell behind Chris Davis 3-0 in the top of the second inning tonight. At that point, it may have been a good idea to just bounce one in the dirt. Aceves challenged Davis with a 93-mph four-seam fastball and lost. Davis belted his sixth home run in nine games, the ball slamming into the seats in center field, to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead. Davis watched the flight of the ball for a brief moment before dropping his bat. It was never in...