Prior to Friday's game against the Mets, Bryce Harper had been hitting just .171 since the All-Star break with an OPS of .501. He was getting pitched tough, with opposing hurlers giving him lots of soft stuff away and very few pitches in that he could turn on. But Harper also seemed to be swinging with less authority at the plate, often making off-balance contact and failing to stay on the pitches away. In this weekend's series against the Mets, that started to change. Harper went 4-for-8...

Today wasn't what you might consider a typical Gio Gonzalez outing. In four of his last five starts, Gonzalez had worked into at least the seventh inning, and he'd only failed to go six innings once since the All-Star break. Today, he went just 5 2/3 frames, allowing nine baserunners. Still, he managed to work out of trouble and give up just a single run, earning his 16th win in the process. He also added a bloop single to right, to the delight of his teammates. "He was having the ball...

We all saw what happened Friday night in Detroit, so I'll spare you another testimonial or play-by-play account. However, while we don't know what type of internal training or reporting that Major League Baseball requires of its umpires, I think we can all agree with Mark Reynolds in that there's very little outward accountability for the umps. There are a couple of different ways to look at this. First off, it's the natural inclination of an employer to protect his/her employee when...

The Braves lost to the Dodgers earlier today in a game which was not disrupted by rain. Those lucky bums. That loss means if the Nationals are able to take the rubber game against the Mets today, they'll enter their big three-game series with Atlanta with a five-game division lead. So far, so good. The Nats have a 4-0 lead over the Mets and starter Jeremy Hefner through just three innings this afternoon. They've put the leadoff man on in each inning (twice, that leadoff man has been...

Wei-Yin Chen became the first Orioles pitcher to win more than 11 games in a season today since Erik Bedard won 13 in 2007. But it sure looked like he wouldn't do that early in today's game. Chen gave up five runs in the first inning, but the Orioles rallied to get him a win, 7-5 over the Detroit Tigers in front of 40,511 at Comerica Park. The O's won two of three there this weekend. Detroit got first-inning homers from Omar Infante and Jhonny Peralta to go ahead by five before the Orioles...

Wei-Yin Chen fell behind by five runs today before he could record his second out of the game. The first inning continues to challenge Chen. He's allowed 19 runs in the opening frame this season, the most in any inning. The Royals took a 4-0 lead against him on Aug. 9 before finally making an out. The Rays led 5-0 in the first back on June 1. Chen has surrendered 20 home runs this season, including two today. Six of them have come in the first inning. Omar Infante homered with one out in...

If the Orioles are to win a big series today against another wild card contender, they will have to beat Detroit's Doug Fister, a pitcher on a real roll. Fister is 7-7 with a 3.24 ERA through 18 starts this season. But over his last four games, he is 3-0 with a 1.15 ERA. In seven starts since the All-Star break, Fister is 5-1 with a 1.52 ERA and seven quality starts. In those seven games, he has given up one earned run or less five times with a batting average against of .199. He has a...

There's a monster storm heading towards Nationals Park, one which looks like it might play a factor both in what time the game begins and how long we're stuck here this afternoon. The Nationals and Mets have mutual off-days on Aug. 27 and Sept. 13, but with this being the Mets' last visit to D.C. this season, they'll do all they can to get this game in today, even if it means having everyone hang around for a while. Steve Lombardozzi will be hanging around for the first few innings...

Taylor Teagarden gets the start behind the plate today for the Orioles. Mark Reynolds and Manny Machado continue to handle the infield corners. Chris Davis moves up to fifth in the lineup. For the Orioles: Nick Markakis RF J.J. Hardy SS Nate McLouth LF Adam Jones CF Chris Davis DH Mark Reynolds 1B Manny Machado 3B Omar Quintanilla 2B Taylor Teagarden C Wei-Yin Chen LHP For the Tigers: Austin Jackson CF Omar Infante 2B Miguel Cabrera 3B Prince Fielder 1B Jhonny Peralta SS Delmon...

Davey Johnson had said he planned on giving both Ian Desmond and Jayson Werth the day off for today's rubber game against the Mets. That's not happening. Both Desmond and Werth are in today's Nationals lineup. I'd be interested to hear the reasoning for Johnson's change of heart. I have a hard time believing that last night's shutout loss to the Mets factored in at all, but it's possible Desmond and Werth both convinced their skipper that they're OK to play again this afternoon. The...