There was a baseball game played tonight at Nationals Park, but as you might guess, the Nats' 9-2 victory over the Cubs wasn't what Davey Johnson spent the vast majority of his postgame press conference discussing. There were two bench-clearing incidents tonight, one in the bottom of the fifth inning and then another in the bottom of the sixth. The action all started when Cubs bench coach Jamie Quirk began shouting at Nats third base coach Bo Porter, upset that the Nationals still had their...

Right-hander Jordan Zimmermann gave up three extra-base hits in the first two innings Thursday against the Chicago Cubs. After that, it was almost smooth sailing in a 9-2 Nationals sweep of the Cubs. The first big hit was the home run by Anthony Rizzo off a fastball in the first. But Zimmermann was able to settle in later, striking out three straight hitters following Darwin Barney's second-inning triple off Zimmermann's slider. "I went off the game plan to Barney and I threw a slider...

Manager Buck Showalter spoke to reporters for over 11 minutes following tonight's 10-6 victory, which pulled the Orioles into a first-place tie with the Yankees in the American League East. He wasn't particularly chatty. It's just that the Orioles are suddenly a national story. The interview room was packed. A cameraman asked a question. Maybe Showalter is right about how there are no roles around here. Here are some of the highlights from Showalter's press conference: On the mood in...

Adam Jones answered the question about as definitively as he answered the Yankees' comeback tonight. Jones put the homer he hit tonight to break the 6-6 tie in the last of the eighth at the top of his list on his all-time hit parade. "That right there is the biggest hit I've ever had in my life," Jones said. "Everything else has been leading up to this. It's my 100th Orioles home run. If someone knows how to find that ball, let me get it. But (it's) the biggest hit I've ever had....

The Orioles let the lead get away, but certainly not the win tonight as they beat the Yankees 10-6 at Camden Yards behind a stunning power display in the last of the eighth. A frenzied sellout crowd of 46,298 looked on at Camden Yards. The Orioles and Yankees are once again tied for first with identical 77-60 records. Coming to bat right after seeing a 6-1 lead turn into a 6-6 tie, the O's unloaded on David Robertson. First, Adam Jones homered to left for a 7-6 lead one pitch after...

Seemingly out of the blue, things got a little heated in the bottom of the fifth inning of tonight's game. With the bases loaded and a 3-1 count on Jayson Werth, time was called as Cubs catcher Steve Clevenger walked to the dugout to get a new catcher's mitt. As clubhouse staffers went back to grab a new glove, Nationals third base coach Bo Porter suddenly walked over to the top step of the Cubs dugout and started pointing and shouting at someone, believed to be Cubs bench coach Jamie...

Poor Dale Sveum. The Cubs' manager probably wants to pull his hair out right about now. And he doesn't even have any hair. Sveum said that last night's game, a 9-1 throttling by the Nationals, was like men playing against boys. Tonight hasn't been much different. The Nats lead the Cubs 7-2 after 4 1/3 innings and have now put up 27 runs over their last 20 frames. They've scored in three of their four times to the plate tonight. In the one inning they didn't bring a run across, the...

Jason Hammel took a Robinson Cano line drive off his right elbow in the top of the fourth inning, bringing the sounds of silence from a sellout crowd, along with manager Buck Showalter and assistant athletic trainer Brian Ebel from the dugout. As if the Orioles need another starter to go down with an injury. The ball caromed off Hammel's elbow and rolled into left field. Hammel shook his arm and paced behind the mound before Showalter and Ebel reached him. Hammel squeezed Ebel's hand and...

Some mid-game notes after the four-run first had Camden Yards rocking about as loudly as anyone here could remember. Is the sink back on Jason Hammel's fastball? Did it ever go away? No, but Hammel's ground-to-air out ratio did decrease during this season from 1.95 in April to 1.32 in May, 1.33 in June and 1.21 in July. But Hammel got the first five Yankees out tonight on groundballs and then fanned Curtis Granderson to end the top of the second. He needed just 22 pitches over the first...

"Being an Oriole is also about playing meaningful games in September." - Cal Ripken Jr. "The Streak didn't define Junior. Junior defined what The Streak was about." - Billy Ripken Outstanding ceremony for Cal Ripken Jr. earlier today, as his statue - depicting him fielding - was unveiled in the old picnic area. Current Orioles in attendance included Adam Jones, Mark Reynolds, J.J. Hardy and Nick Markakis. Manager Buck Showalter and executive vice president Dan Duquette also were...