Major League Baseball has announced the start times for the first two games of each Division Series. And the schedule they've gone with might leave some D.C. sports fans a little frustrated. The Nationals will start their first postseason game in team history (and the first playoff game in D.C. baseball history in 79 years) at 3:07 p.m. on Sunday. Monday's Game 2 will start at 4:37 p.m. Both games will air on TBS. This means that Game 1 will start sometime just after halftime of the...

The 2012 Orioles, a roster filled with odds-defying heroes, are a perfect match for postseason baseball, which rewards unlikely stars by elevating their clutch performances from enjoyable to unforgettable. Player names that, years later, you can't remember become ones you'll never forget. Taylor Teagarden has recorded three walk-off hits this season, including a game-winning, two-run homer in his second at-bat with the Orioles. I can envision O's fans years from now talking about "that...

First the good news: By virtue of the best record in baseball, the Nationals have the home field advantage in a best-of-five series against Friday's wild card winner. Now the bad news: By virtue of the best record in baseball, the Nationals have the home field advantage in a best-of-five series against Friday's wild card winner. How's that? The half-baked playoff system that Major League Baseball came up with this year means the Nats will take to the road for two games in either Atlanta...

If the Orioles can get past Texas tonight and into a five-game series, that might be where one of their strengths - their bullpen - can really help the team. This unit has been sensational this year and is a big reason the club is so outstanding in one-run and extra-inning games. In the playoffs, it often seems that teams with deep bullpens do well. The Orioles have a deep and talented bullpen, and given a chance to show his mastery at using it, I would expect Buck Showalter to put the right...

ARLINGTON, Texas - The Atlanta Braves already posted their lineup for today's National League wild card game. It actually was tweeted yesterday. Orioles manager Buck Showalter isn't in quite the same hurry. We won't know his lineup until later this afternoon, but it shouldn't be difficult to figure out, based on the pattern that he's established. Four of Showalter's last six lineups have been identical, all of them with the Orioles facing a right-handed starter. The two exceptions came...

A day dawns that Orioles fans have waited 15 years for. Your Baltimore Orioles are back in the playoffs. As I've said a few times now, I am so happy for all O's fans, but especially the very large number of you that stuck with the team through every loss, every negative article, every negative phone call on the talks shows and everything that was negative, negative, negative. Take those days and trash them. This is a new day and time of Orioles baseball. I hope every one takes time today...

ARLINGTON, Texas - No shortage of storylines here. You want the ex-Ranger factor? The Orioles have six of them: Chris Davis, Darren O'Day, Pedro Strop, Tommy Hunter, Taylor Teagarden and Endy Chavez. Perhaps a fired manager returning to the scene tickles your fancy. Buck Showalter guided the Rangers from 2003-06. What does it mean to Showalter to be back in Arlington in the postseason, with a chance to knock out his former team? "We grinded like heck for a chance to roll the dice in...

ARLINGTON, Texas - Unless Joe Saunders steps on a nail on his way to Rangers Ballpark on Friday, Steve Johnson will be sitting in the Orioles' bullpen at first pitch. Johnson said he's ready to help out in a relief role. No pain in his left knee and no hard feelings over being passed over for Saunders. "Disappointed wouldn't be the right word," he said. "It was great to at least be considered. It means a lot to me. But Joe's getting them out and he's going to do a great job. I'm...

ARLINGTON, Texas - Mark Reynolds has his left foot wrapped after fouling a ball off a bone near his big toe during Wednesday night's game against the Tampa Bay Rays. X-rays were negative, but he's hurting. Just not badly enough to consider missing the wild card game. "It's sore, but it's not anything I'm going to sit out over," he said. "It won't be a problem once you get under the lights and get a little adrenaline flowing. We know how important this game is and I'm sure all the...

ARLINGTON, Texas - Orioles manager Buck Showalter is ignoring Joe Saunders' career stats against the Rangers and will start him Friday night in the wild card game. Saunders, who will be working on normal rest, is 3-7 with a 6.48 ERA in 11 career starts against the Rangers, and 0-6 with a 9.38 ERA in Texas, with 41 hits allowed, 16 walks and 13 home runs in 31 2/3 innings. Showalter isn't certain that rookie Steve Johnson's left knee is completely healthy. He's also comfortable playing the...