Today is the final off-day the Nationals will have during the regular season. They'll finish by playing 16 games in 16 days. How am I celebrating this rare time that I get to spend away from my laptop? Sitting in front of my laptop reading and writing about baseball. Welcome to the life of Dan Kolko. Actually, I'm going to go out to dinner a little later to celebrate my final hours before another birthday. So, there's that. As I was in the cab back from the airport this afternoon, I...

The Orioles today announced three options for fans to purchase postseason tickets, which will be available exclusively online. Fans are encouraged to visit www.orioles.com/postseason for a postseason seating chart, schedule and additional ticket information. All three options are for fans to purchase Wild Card and American League Division Series tickets (ALCS and World Series tickets will be made available for sale at a later date, if necessary). Option 1 Fans will receive the opportunity to...

The Orioles just went through a four-game stretch against Tampa Bay and Oakland where they scored 10 total runs. But they broke out of that by scoring nine Sunday in Oakland. In the nine games before, all that they scored 60 runs. The point is the Orioles' offense has picked up and so far, they are putting up better numbers in September than they have in any previous month. The Orioles are scoring 5.46 runs per game this month and the next best is the 4.79 they produced in May. The team...

The Orioles today announced three options for fans to purchase postseason tickets, which will be available exclusively online. Fans may visit www.orioles.com/postseason for a seating chart, schedule and additional ticket information. All three options are for the purchase of wild card and American League Division Series tickets. American League Championship Series and World Series tickets will become available for sale at a later date, if necessary. Option 1: Fans will receive the...

Atlanta swept three games from the Nationals over the weekend in a disheartening affair that Bruce Springsteen, who appeared at Nationals Park on Friday night, might well have called a "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out." Averaging almost 40,000 for the first two games, the Braves gave the Nationals a look at playoff atmosphere and pressure. The Braves were playing with their backs to the wall, 8 1/2 games behind Washington. But they showed how it's done, battling back Saturday and winning three...

The Orioles are assured of posting a winning record for the first time since 1997, and it feels anti-climatic. It's been assumed for so long, the attention has shifted to whether the Orioles can win the division or a wild card berth. Finishing above .500? Ho-hum. Matt Wieters homered twice yesterday, Endy Chavez collected four hits for the first time as an Oriole, Robert Andino had two hits and Brian Matusz picked up his first relief win with two scoreless innings. Almost lost in the...

Based on their play this season against the teams remaining on their schedule, the Orioles seem to have a real good shot at a very strong finish, one that might be good enough for them to win their first AL East title since 1997. The Orioles are one game behind the Yankees with 16 to play and here are the remaining opponents for both teams: Orioles: 3 at Seattle 3 at Boston 4 vs. Toronto 3 vs. Boston 3 at Tampa Bay Yankees: 3 vs. Toronto 3 vs. Oakland 3 at Minnesota 4 at Toronto 3 vs....

ATLANTA - Over 24 defensive innings the last three days, the Nationals surrendered 13 walks, hit two Braves batters and allowed three more to reach on errors. That's 18 guys who reached base without truly earning it. "You can't do that," manager Davey Johnson said. Offensively, the Nats plated just six runs in three games, struck out 35 times and had only 15 at-bats with runners in scoring position. The Braves played well enough to win all three games in this series, but the Nationals...

ATLANTA - Despite a slow start offensively and a sloppy first few innings from starter Gio Gonzalez, the Nationals still trailed by just a run after six innings. Things then got away from the Nats in the bottom of the seventh. Two tough defensive plays allowed the Braves to turn a 2-1 lead into a 5-1 advantage, effectively wrapping up a three-game sweep in a 15-minute span. With one out in the seventh and the speedy Michael Bourn on first, Reed Johnson hit a high chopper to third base. Ryan...

Instructional league workouts have begun for close to four dozen prospects in the Nationals organization. Low Single-A Hagerstown manager Brian Daubach is one of the 20 or so coaches that are working to get the players ready for their first game September 22. Daubach said instructional league workouts in Viera, Fla., are organized very similar to the way spring training is set up, with a lot of hands-on specialized teaching going on in each area. "We are working on a lot of the fundamental...