Orioles manager Buck Showalter brought in left-hander Brian Matusz to face left-handed hitting Robinson Cano with one out, a runner at first base and the Orioles clinging to a 3-2 lead in the seventh inning. Or so it seemed. Cano was 9-for-28 lifetime against Matusz, with a double, two home runs and six strikeouts. Matusz retired him last night on a ground ball. On deck stood switch-hitting Nick Swisher. Showalter ordered the intentional walk to Cano after Ichiro Suzuki stole second base....

ST. LOUIS - Bryce Harper, who is 1-for-10 with six strikeouts over his first two career postseason games, was asked after today's game whether he feels like he's overanxious at the plate or trying to do a bit too much. "You think I'm overanxious? You think so?" Harper asked the reporter, who responded in the affirmative. "Well, you should be our hitting coach." Harper delivered a big double in the seventh inning to give the Nationals a chance to get back into the ballgame, but he was...

The Nationals and Cardinals will leave St. Louis with the best-of-five National League Division Series tied at one game apiece. By now you've read the wall-to-wall coverage of the NLDS on MASNsports.com from Dan Kolko and Byron Kerr. Here's a round-up of what other media outlets are saying about Game 2 of the National League Division Series between the Nationals and Cardinals. * In case you forgot, Cardinals starter Jaime Garcia only lasted two innings, despite the Cards taking the lead in...

ST. LOUIS - It didn't really matter who was on the mound for the Nationals today. Four of the seven Nats pitchers gave up at least a run. All but Ryan Mattheus allowed at least a baserunner. The Cardinals teed off this afternoon, jumping out big and not easing up. "They have a great lineup. It's tough," said Nationals starter Jordan Zimmermann. "You get a few guys out, then you look up and you've got (Carlos) Beltran coming up, (David) Freese. It just never stops. Their lineup, you...

ST. LOUIS - As I try and move past the fact that someone asked Davey Johnson postgame whether Stephen Strasburg, who is not on the Nationals' roster for this series, can "offer something" in Games 3 or 4 ... The Nationals got hit around pretty hard today in St. Louis. They were touched up for 12 runs on 13 hits, seven of which went for extra-bases. Every starting Cardinals position player reached base, and all eight of them scored a run. Yesterday, in a Game 1 win, the Nats saw a patient...

The start of tonight's Game 2 of the American League Division Series was delayed 40 minutes by a light rain. If the top of the first inning is any indication, the wait will be worth it. The Yankees took a 1-0 lead on Robinson Cano's two-out double off Wei-Yin Chen, who surrendered 21 runs in the first inning during the regular season. He remains something of a slow starter. Derek Jeter fell behind 0-2 and singled to right-center field. Ichiro Suzuki fell behind 0-2 and reached on an error...

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny took a huge gamble early in Game 2 of the series. Already down a game in the best-of-five National League Division Series and watching his game two starter Jaime Garcia struggle through the top of the second, Matheny opted to go to pinch-hitter Skip Schumaker and sit his starter down after just two innings. St. Louis scored four runs in that second frame and never looked back. Garcia's replacement, Lance Lynn, came on to go three innings and allowed two late...

ST. LOUIS - The Nationals will head back to D.C. needing to win two out of three games at home. And they'll do all they can to put the memory of this shellacking behind them. The Cardinals took Game 2 of the National League Division Series by a score of 12-4 today, evening the best-of-five series in what was close to a must-win game for them. After going down in order in the first inning, the Cards jumped all over Nationals pitching. They knocked Jordan Zimmermann from the game after just...

Tonight's live blog: Time to get started with tonight's live blog for Game 2 of the American League Division Series between the Orioles and Yankees. The Birds need a win to even the series after losing 7-2 last night. I hope many readers will post many questions and comments in here tonight. Keep 'em coming. Often. I mean it. Tonight the O's face their old friend Andy Pettitte. Since some of you feel we jinx the players when we post positive stats about them (even though that is our job,...

The Orioles still don't have a starter listed for a possible Game 4 on Thursday. The Yankees will start Phil Hughes. Nate McLouth has driven in two runs in each postseason game so far to become the sixth player to record consecutive multi-RBI games in Orioles postseason history, joining Mike Bordick, Todd Zeile, Kiko Garcia, Brooks Robinson and Boog Powell. The postseason may provide executive vice president Dan Duquette with more downtime than usual, since organizational meetings have been...