ATLANTA - The Nationals have now retired 29 of the last 30 Braves hitters to come to the plate. Dan Haren has faced just one over the minimum through three crisp innings tonight. Strangely enough, the only batter to reach base during this 30-batter stretch was tonight's Braves starter, Kris Medlen, who Haren walked on five pitches. Outside of that meeting with Medlen, Haren's been absolutely cruising. He's needed just 30 pitches to get through his three innings so far, and 20 of those...

The bottom of the Orioles lineup tonight remains shortstop J.J. Hardy, second baseman Ryan Flaherty and designated hitter Nolan Reimold. The top may look familiar, as well, with left fielder Nate McLouth leading off and third baseman Manny Machado batting second. Machado will try to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. 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 Chris Tillman...

The Orioles have won one season series against the Angels since 2003. They went 6-0 in 2010, the only time they've swept the series in franchise history. Here's the lineup they will be facing tonight: For the Angels Erick Aybar SS Mike Trout CF Albert Pujols 1B Mark Trumbo DH Josh Hamilton RF Howie Kendrick 2B Hank Conger C Brendan Harris 3B J.B. Shuck LF Joe Blanton RHP Pujols went hitless against the Orioles in a three-game series in Anaheim on April 20-22, 2012, the first time he was...

ATLANTA -- We're still waiting for the Nationals' official lineup, but both Bryce Harper and Jayson Werth are set to take batting practice, and barring any setbacks, they'll be in the Nats' starting nine. Harper suffered a nasty bruise on his left side after colliding with the right field wall Tuesday and he needed to leave last night's game in the sixth inning after a check-swing aggravated the injury. Werth has missed the last two games with a sore left ankle and hamstring...

First baseman Chris Davis has been voted the American League Player of the Month for April, the first Oriole to receive the honor since Melvin Mora in August 2008. Davis batted .348 (32-for-92) with eight doubles, nine home runs, 28 RBIs, 16 walks and 19 runs scored in 27 games to claim his first career Player of the Month award. Among league leaders last month with a minimum of 81 plate appearances, Davis finished first in slugging percentage (.728) and total bases (67), tied for first in...

ATLANTA - We're still waiting to see whether Bryce Harper and Jayson Werth will find their way into the Nationals' lineup for tonight's series finale against the Braves. The lineup has not yet been posted, likely because team trainers are evaluating one or both of the Nats' ailing outfielders. Harper left last night's game following a check swing in a sixth-inning at-bat. He was diagnosed with a bad bruise on his left side. The Nationals' leader in nearly every offensive category had...

Even after scoring just two runs in a loss at Seattle Monday and just three in last night's loss, the Orioles still rank third in the American League in runs scored with 141. Oakland is first with 162, followed by Boston at 145. Meanwhile, O's players' names are all over other prominent among the AL league leaders. In batting average, Chris Davis is fourth at .337, Adam Jones sixth at .333 and Nate McLouth tied for ninth at .327. Manny Machado is ranked second with 12 doubles and Jones is...

Late last night, I stumbled upon a retweet from one of the Orioles' beat writers and couldn't believe my eyes. The original tweet may rank as the dumbest that I've read since I joined the Twitter world, which explains why it was being shared. It was so absurd, it could not be ignored. You be the judge. A fan contended that Pedro Strop and Darren O'Day need to adjust their mechanics because they're losing games for the Orioles. Strop's issues are well-publicized and obvious to anyone...

Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman was able to pass a big test in his return from the 15-day disabled list Wednesday on a cool night at Pfitzner Stadium in Woodbridge, Va. Zimmerman played third base for the Potomac Nationals in his lone rehab start to test the recovery of a sore hamstring, and despite an 0-for-3 performance, he felt his swing and timing are back. "Everything feels good," Zimmerman said. "I think seeing some live pitching was good. I saw pretty much every pitch,...

Left-hander Robbie Ray received a no-decision Wednesday that might have been a bit overshadowed in the high Single-A Potomac Nationals' 3-2 loss to Carolina at Pfitzner Stadium in Woodbridge, Va. Ray did walk four batters, but did a very nice job of getting out of potential jams with seven strikeouts over five innings. He scattered four hits and allowed two runs. His pitches were so accurate at painting the edge of the plate that the Mudcats arguing of those close calls got a batter and their...