Wei-Yin Chen struggled in another start, and Jake Arrieta came up short in his bid to get out of two straight jams. All that added up to a Toronto Blue Jays' 9-5 win tonight in Game 2 of a doubleheader. The Orioles won the opener 4-1, but fall to 88-66 with this loss. The Yankees beat the Twins 6-3 to drop Baltimore to 1 1/2 games behind New York. The Orioles have not been more than one game out since they were two games behind on September 2. Chen allowed four runs over the first two...

The first inning jumped up and bit Wei-Yin Chen again tonight. Chen allowed two runs in the first, raising his total to 21 this season, and two more in the second to dig an early hole for the Orioles as they attempt to sweep this doubleheader. His pitch count stood at 42 as he took the mound for the third inning. Edwin Encarnacion hit his 41st homer in the top of the first inning following a leadoff walk to Brett Lawrie and Rajai Davis' strikeout. The Blue Jays collected four hits in the...

A few minutes after he got the win here in Game 1 against Toronto, pitching five shutout innings in the Orioles 4-1 victory, Steve Johnson was asked about pitching in pennant race pressure. "This is what you live for," Johnson said. "Pitching in a playoff race and just wanting the team to win. Pitching in a big game. This is a lot of fun. "It was a big win for the team. I had real good stuff, but just wasn't able to command the ball well at least for the first couple innings. Got my...

Chris Davis will bat cleanup in Game 2 of today's doubleheader at Camden Yards. Robert Andino is starting at second base and Taylor Teagarden is behind the plate. For the Orioles: Nate McLouth LF J.J. Hardy SS Adam Jones CF Chris Davis DH Mark Reynolds 1B Manny Machado 3B Endy Chavez RF Robert Andino 2B Taylor Teagarden C Wei-Yin Chen LHP For the Blue Jays: Brett Lawrie 3B Rajai Davis LF Edwin Encarancion DH Yunel Escobar SS Yan Gomes 1B Moises Sierra RF Omar Vizquel 2B J.P....

To say that Steve Johnson has pitched well for the Orioles this year would be an understatement. He's done something even better than that. Today, he pitched the first five innings without allowing a run and wriggled out of a few jams as the Orioles beat Toronto 4-1 in Game 1 of a doubleheader. In Game 2, Wei-Yin Chen (12-9, 3.98 ERA) pitches against lefty Ricky Romero (8-14, 5.72 ERA). With the win, the Orioles have won seven of their last eight games and 33 of their last 47 contests. They...

The baseball gods might have known they gave the Brewers a break yesterday when the Nationals lost two fly balls in the sun, both of which turned into Milwaukee runs. Today, it was the Nats that got the benefit of a sun-aided hit, which came when Brewers center fielder Carlos Gomez lost track of a Jayson Werth fly ball in the fourth inning. Had Gomez made the catch, the inning would have ended. Instead, the Nats took advantage, scoring five runs from that play on before the fifth inning...

Yesterday's 6-2 Nationals loss was a bit of a sloppy affair. The Nats made a couple errors, lost a couple balls in the sun and struggled to do much of anything offensively against Brewers pitching. Flip that script and you'll get an idea how this afternoon's series finale between the Nats and Brewers played out. The Nats benefited from a fly ball which Brewers center fielder Carlos Gomez lost in the sun, extending an inning and allowing five additional runs to score. They watched Milwaukee...

With nine games remaining in the regular season, the Nationals would like nothing better than their starting rotation to get into a groove right before the postseason begins. No. 1 starter Gio Gonzalez continues to roll, earning win No. 20 Saturday in a 10-4 gem over the Brewers. Two days later, the No. 2 starter Jordan Zimmermann dispatched Milwaukee 12-2. On cue, Zimmermann went 6 2/3 innings on Monday, allowing four hits with just one run, a solo shot by Corey Hart, with just two walks...

Steve Johnson walked the first two batters he faced today, an ominous sign if you believe in such things. Johnson retired seven in a row after the second walk, a positive sign if you're more inclined to believe in those. In the first inning, Johnson struck out Edwin Encarnacion on a 91 mph fastball and retired Adam Lind on a ground ball and Rajai Davis on a pop up. He struck out Jeff Mathis on a 90 mph fastball to end the second inning and Anthony Gose on an 89 mph fastball to open the...

Since his callup to the major leagues on September 11, L.J. Hoes has not appeared in one game for the Orioles although tomorrow could be a very big day for him at Camden Yards, even if he doesn't play in the game. Hoes is considered the favorite to win the Brooks Robinson Award, which goes to the O's minor league Player of the Year. Between Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk this season, the 22-year-old Hoes batted .287 with five homers, 54 RBIs and an OPS of .759. His stats actually got...