Last Friday night, I found myself surrounded by native Chicagoans and fellow D.C. transplants at a bar near Union Station when a group of Braves fans walked in. I hadn't been able to watch the Nats-Braves game that night and didn't check my iPhone for any scores, so I decided to do the easy thing and ask those Braves fans, "Who won the game?" They cheerfully obliged my question by saying, "The Braves," with a smile on their faces. My group grabbed a table by a few folks donning Nationals...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter hinted at tonight's lineup while meeting with reporters yesterday in the auxiliary clubhouse at Camden Yards. Nolan Reimold is expected to start in left field against Tampa Bay Rays ace David Price. Steve Pearce is expected to serve as the designated hitter. Showalter is trying to squeeze some production out of the DH slot, and he's giving Pearce another turn. It's a tall order. The club's designated hitters are a combined 3-for-47 after Reimold struck...

The Orioles' first home series of the season, a three-game set against Minnesota, drew a total attendance of 121,788. The last two games against Tampa Bay have drawn a total of 27,182 fans. Frankly, I thought we'd see a little better attendance than that. The club is playing a division rival and the weather has been good. But then I remembered the deal. It's a weeknight home game in April. They usually are pretty poorly attended and so these two games have fit the bill. Will the...

For the second straight night in this series, an O's starting pitcher failed to get one out in the sixth inning. Tonight, Chris Tillman gave up six hits and four runs over five innings as Tampa Bay beat the Orioles 6-2. "It's disappointing," Tillman said of not getting deeper in the game. "I have some things to work on right now and the biggest thing is strike one. Maybe five or six guys tonight, I was able to get strike one. "It's huge, we need to start giving the bullpen a break....

The Orioles' No. 6 through No. 9 hitters in the lineup went 1-for-14 last night and 1-for-14 tonight. There's good consistency and bad consistency. There's also the postgame media session with manager Buck Showalter, who addressed his starters going five innings in back-to-back outings. "The off day and some of the good starts, we were in a position the last two days to cover it," Showalter said following tonight's 6-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. "Mac (T.J. McFarland) gave us some...

Matt Moore hadn't given up a run in his first two starts this year. He gave up two tonight, but that was not nearly enough to beat him as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Orioles 6-2 in front of 13,591 at Camden Yards. The Orioles fall back to .500 at 7-7 and this three-game series is even at a win each heading into Thursday night's series finale. Moore gave up five hits and two runs over 6 2/3 innings to improve to 3-0 with an ERA of 1.00. He went 2-2 with a 1.83 ERA in four starts against...

It hasn't been a good night for the Orioles and we still have three more innings to play. Or should I say, but we still have three more innings to play? Depends whether that glass is half full or empty. Chris Tillman became the latest Orioles starter to exit in the middle innings, lasting only five and departing with the Rays leading 4-2. Rule 5 pick T.J. McFarland replaced him and gave up his first major league run in the sixth inning on a walk and two hits. McFarland had tossed 5 1/3...

Ross Detwiler's third start of the season has gone much the same as his first two. And that's a good thing for the Nationals as they look to leave Miami with a series win. Through four innings tonight, Detwiler has held the Marlins scoreless, allowing four hits and striking out four. He's thrown 61 pitches thus far, 45 for strikes. In typical Detwiler fashion, he's been attacking opposing hitters tonight, throwing 56 fastballs among those 61 pitches. Despite the heavy dose of two- and...

The Tampa Bay Rays entered this series in Baltimore trailing the Orioles' Chris Davis in homers for the season. Davis had six and the entire Rays roster had five heading into Monday's series opener. But in the first 11 innings of this series, Tampa Bay hit five homers and they have now moved ahead of Davis on the year, 10-6 in the homer race. Desmond Jennings led off last night's game with a first-pitch homer off Jake Arrieta, and Tampa hit two in the eighth off Pedro Strop, with Kelly...

First baseman/outfielder Matt Skole, the Nationals' fourth-ranked prospect, is expected to miss three to four months after undergoing successful Tommy John surgery, general manager Mike Rizzo told reporters in Miami. Skole was injured on a freak play at first base in a game with Double-A Harrisburg last week when his non-throwing arm was hit by a runner. He fractured his wrist on the play. A second examination revealed the torn ligament (UCL) in his left arm. He had surgery early...