The Nationals won't have to deal with Chipper Jones tonight, as the future Hall of Fame third baseman is out of the Braves lineup. The 40-year-old Jones played all 13 innings last night, but won't be starting against Stephen Strasburg in Game 2 of this big division series. Jones went 1-for-5 with a walk last night. He came into this series with three homers in his past three games. The Nats will face off against left-hander Paul Maholm, who the Braves acquired from the Cubs prior to the...

On the heels of the Nationals' rise to the top of the National League East standings, MASN is experiencing equally impressive increases in viewers watching its game coverage as the team continues its push to the postseason for the first time since relocating to D.C. An average of 69,000 viewers per game are watching the Nationals on MASN this season, a substantial increase over the 45,000 viewers per game recorded during the 2011 campaign. Those numbers mean viewership of Nationals games on...

Left-hander Brian Matusz made his third relief appearance today for Triple-A Norfolk, and the results were much better. Matusz walked one Gwinnett batter in a scoreless eighth inning. He didn't allow a hit, and he threw 10 of 19 pitches for strikes. Pat Egan pitched the ninth and completed an 8-0 victory that moved the Tides, winners of six of their last seven games, to within 2 1/2 games of the wild card lead. In his most recent appearance Sunday, Matusz stranded two inherited runners...

High Single-A Potomac Nationals shortstop Ricky Hague is putting together a full season after missing most of last year with a shoulder injury. Hague has worked very hard to strengthen the shoulder and game repetition has helped him maintain his range of motion. "The shoulder feels great," Hague said recently. "It has given me no problems. It feels strong. No pain at all." Hague has also learned that playing 92 games so far in a season is the true test every baseball player at the...

Think a postgame entry and a morning entry is enough to encapsulate all that happened at 1500 S. Capitol St. last night? Think again. I've got more. Those of us who haven't played major league baseball don't know how it feels to win a big 13-inning game over a division opponent in the midst of a pennant race. We don't know how it feels to lose that type of game, either. So how dramatic is the swing of emotions from one end of the spectrum to the other? How much does it hurt to lose a...

Manny Machado and Bryce Harper are two of the best young players in baseball. Both got their careers off to good starts when they were called to the major leagues this year, Harper on April 28 and Machado on Aug. 9. Here are the stats for each after their first 10 MLB games: Machado: .270 avg., .289 OBP, .649 slugging, .938 OPS, 3 homers, 7 extra-base hits. Harper: .265 avg., .381 OBP, .441 slugging, .822 OPS, 0 homers, 6 extra-base hits. By the way, the Angels' Mike Trout was called up last...

You tweet about the Orioles, interacting with MASNsports.com on a nightly basis on our @MASNOrioles Twitter account. You like our MASN Orioles Facebook page, participating in our game threads. And you've signed up for our mobile text-messaging service in astounding numbers, allowing us to deliver important news and game updates right to your cell phone. Now it's time for MASN to give back to its faithful flock of social media-minded Orioles fans. This weekend, when the Orioles entertain the...

Ten years ago, baseball experts would say that winning one- or two-run games was what defined a great a team. Good teams find a way to win close games, bad teams lose them. Sabremetrics and advanced baseball statistics have changed the way we think about the game today and now many would say that the Orioles' 42-18 record in games decided by one or two runs this season is a fluke. Doubters see this as the stat that will ultimately lead to another collapse and say this trend is too historical...

Teams can expand their rosters beginning Sept. 1, which is right around the corner, and the Orioles are in a different mindset from previous seasons. They're thinking like playoff contenders. Well, when they actually think about it. "Thought about it? Not that much, to be honest with you," manager Buck Showalter said last week. "Trying to do the things for the next two weeks that allows September to mean something here. But there will be a time and a place for that. "The good thing is...

Remember that 11-inning game on July 20, in which the Nationals jumped on top of the Braves 9-0 only to blow the lead and fall in extras 11-10? Of course you do. How could you possibly wipe that disaster out of your memory bank? Is it possible last night's 5-4 13-inning Nationals win was even wackier? Thanks to my four hours of sleep, I'm too tired to really compare the two, but they're close. For whatever reason, these two teams love playing ridiculous extra-inning games which drain...