Through 14 games last season, the Nationals were 10-4 coming off an 11-4 loss to the Houston Astros in their 14th game of the season. It was a hot start - and an important one, as the Phillies were missing key pieces, the Marlins weren't playing up to expectations and the Braves were missing Tim Hudson. The Nats' hot start catapulted them into a division lead they would only relinquish once during the rest of the season. It was an impressive start, but it came against the eventual 101-loss...

Last Friday night, Adam Jones dropped an easy fly ball. He dropped that fly ball and it basically cost the Orioles a game against the hated Yankees. How did you feel when it happened? Did you think, "So it goes. Errors are part of the game, even for a player as good as Jones." Or did you find a more sinister angle? Did you think, "Why did he have to blow a bubble? Doesn't he know we need every out we can get? We can't afford to make mistakes like that!" It's not that these are the only...

Orioles starting pitchers have allowed three earned runs or fewer for the last seven games. In that time, the Orioles' rotation ERA is 3.63. This is pretty solid. If you don't think so, consider that the Orioles had the best record in the majors the last two months of last season going 38-20 and the rotation ERA then was 3.85. Also consider that, after six games, the Orioles' rotation ERA was 5.67, so the 3.63 since then is a nice improvement. Now the Orioles need their starters to get...

The Nationals were on the losing end of an 8-2 ballgame in Miami last night, but that's one game of 162. Of bigger concern right now are the struggles of two Nats veterans, guys who appear to be battling some confidence issues at this point. Let's start with Dan Haren. The 32-year-old right-hander, who signed a one-year, $13 million deal with the Nats this offseason, was facing a Marlins team that had scored just 1.8 runs per game entering Tuesday's contest, by far the fewest in the...

Nolan Reimold went 0-for-3 last night, which wouldn't be worth mentioning if he started in left field. But every failed at-bat by an Orioles designated hitter is magnified over these first few weeks of the season. The club's designated hitters are 3-for-43, which works out to a .070 average. The unit has one RBI. That's not much production when the word "hitters" is included in the name. A few more notes from last night: Nate McLouth is 4-for-12 with three doubles and three runs scored...

There seemed to be a theme in the postgame questions tonight, and it was about Jake Arrieta. He pitched a game where he allowed just one run on three hits, but again his pitch count was high and he needed 112 pitches to get through five innings and the first batter of the sixth. "He battled," catcher Matt Wieters said. "He didn't have his best command, but he was able to pound the zone enough to make some pitches when he needed to. We'd like to throw more strikes and get ahead of more...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter believed that starter Jake Arrieta had good stuff tonight. "Command was a challenge for him," Showalter said. That pretty much sums it up. Arrieta allowed only one run and three hits in five-plus innings, but he walked five and threw 112 pitches in a 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. "Very similar to his first two outings," Showalter said. "Someone reminded me today, we've won all three games he's started in. But there's better there." Arrieta...

Matt Wieters hit his first homer since opening day and Jake Arrieta picked up his first win of the year tonight as the Orioles beat Tampa Bay 5-4 in front of 14,670 at Camden Yards. The Orioles improved to 7-6 in the opener of a three-game series and nine-game homestand. The Rays fall to 4-9 with their seventh loss in the last eight games. Arrieta gave up a homer to Desmond Jennings on the first pitch he threw, but wasn't scored on after that. It was not a pitch-efficient night, but he went...

Do you focus on the walks and the pitch count, or do you focus on the runs allowed and strikeouts? Jake Arrieta worked five-plus innings tonight against the Tampa Bay rays, and the only run against him came on Desmond Jennings' leadoff home run in the top of the first inning. He has a chance to win his first game of 2013 after two no-decisions. Arrieta came back out for the top of the sixth and walked Evan Longoria on five pitches, raising his total to 112 (63 strikes). He walked five...

Dan Haren was cruising through his first three innings of work. The veteran right-hander had allowed just one batter to reach, he'd struck out two and was working quickly, clearly feeling like he was in a zone. A Ryan Zimmerman throwing error with one out in the fourth brought an end to that momentum and eventually led to four Marlins runs, all of which were unearned. With one out in the fourth, Zimmerman moved to his left to glove a Placido Polanco grounder, but his three-quarters throw to...