Three starts ago, Stephen Strasburg pitched six scoreless innings, striking out seven Marlins. Two outings ago, Strasburg got hit around a bit by the Braves, allowing four runs and 11 baserunners over 5 1/3. His last time out, the Nationals ace was dominant, striking out 11 over seven one-run innings in Flushing, NY. Tonight, the run of inconsistency continued, as Strasburg lasted just four innings, surrendering six Phillies runs on eight hits. In Davey Johnson's eyes, it wasn't hard to...

NEW YORK - Chris Tillman looks like a guy who should be wrapped in a blanket and fed chicken soup, not a major league pitcher who should be standing on the mound in front of a hostile crowd at Yankee Stadium. It hurts to watch Tillman try to speak, to think, to stand up straight while waiting for reporters to approach him. But he gutted out five innings tonight to win his third consecutive start and snap a three-game losing streak to the Yankees, defeating them for the first time since Sept....

NEW YORK - Orioles manager Buck Showalter made contingency plans yesterday in case Chris Tillman was too sick to take the mound tonight at Yankee Stadium. Showalter sent Tillman back to the team hotel yesterday with antibiotics and instructions to stay in bed. Tillman almost was sent to the showers in the first inning tonight, but he survived the Yankees' five-run onslaught and shut them out over the next four frames. "We talked to him that first inning," Showalter said following the...

For the second night in a row, the Orioles posted an impressive win in New York. Last night, they held on late to win. Tonight, they came back early on to win. After falling behind 5-0 after the bottom of the first, the Orioles erupted for seven runs in the top of the second to quickly regain the lead on their way to a 11-5 win over the Yankees. In that big inning, all seven runs scored with two outs. Mark Reynolds produced an RBI double, Omar Quintanilla added a two-run single, and then...

One of the teams playing at Nationals Park tonight has the best record in the major leagues. The other has essentially given up on the 2012 season. Hard to tell which is which, isn't it? The Nationals trail the Phillies 6-0 entering the fifth inning, and frankly, the Nats are lucky their deficit is only a half-dozen. They've been completely pushed around by their division rivals so far tonight. Stephen Strasburg tied a career-high by allowing six earned runs. He and catcher Jesus Flores...

NEW YORK - The Yankees don't have Mark Teixeira or Alex Rodriguez tonight, but they still have Chris Tillman's number. They grabbed a 3-0 lead only three batters into the game, and it took Tillman 15 pitches to record his first out. Two more runs scored, as the Yankees sent nine batters to the plate and Matt Lindstrom began to warm in the bullpen. Four of the five runs were earned. Tillman committed an error on Ichiro Suzuki's comebacker before Russell Martin's RBI single. Yes, it's...

Chad Tracy has rejoined the Nationals after a lengthy injury absence. Jayson Werth isn't too far behind him. Manager Davey Johnson said today that Werth will likely get a few more games on a rehab assignment before getting activated, but that he's still hopeful that Werth will be ready to return to the Nationals' lineup before the end of this current homestand, which runs through the weekend. "He feels like he could play, but he's not quite 100 percent," Johnson said. "He's only,...

NEW YORK - Robert Andino is back with the Orioles. Now he has to get back in the lineup. Andino will begin tonight's game on the bench, but at least he's off the disabled list after a brief injury-rehab assignment at Triple-A Norfolk. "Played two games down there pain-free," he said. "Did a little bit of sliding and everything. Ground balls. No pain. See how it goes. "Hardest thing was probably diving glove side right now. The other thing was probably sliding head-first." Andino...

Why didn't the Nationals make a trade of some kind prior to today's 4 p.m. no-waiver deadline? The reasoning is simple. They didn't feel they needed to. General manager Mike Rizzo held discussions with a number of teams over the last couple weeks, and there were a couple times that negotiations ramped up a bit. But at no point did Rizzo feel a deal was "imminent." He didn't see any major holes on his roster, and thus didn't force a trade of some kind. "It's not about complacency,...

NEW YORK - Executive vice president Dan Duquette just completed a conference call with reporters following today's non-waiver trade deadline, which passed without the Orioles making a deal. "The opportunities we looked at had a cost and I wasn't convinced that they weren't a lot better than the people we had in the organization, and you know, hence, we weren't able to make some of the deals we had on the table," Duquette said. "There will be some other opportunities in the month of...