WILMINGTON, Del. - Dylan Bundy's 10th start for the Single-A Frederick Keys is off to a good start. But it has been halted, at least for a while, by a rain delay at Frawley Stadium. Bundy has pitched scoreless and no-hit ball through 2 2/3 innings and play was halted at 7:50 p.m. with the score tied 0-0. Wilmington had a man on first, two outs and a 3-1 count to their leadoff hitter, Whit Merrifield. Bundy so far: 2 2/3 IP, 0 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts. He has thrown 32 pitches, 21...

WILMINGTON, Del. - There is some good news to report on Frederick pitcher Brandon Erbe. He said he hopes to come off the disabled list soon after experiencing a setback early this month. Erbe had labrum surgery in August 2010 and has been working his way back since. He said earlier this year his shoulder felt great and his velocity had returned to pre-surgery levels. But then he faced five batters and walked all five in a Keys game on July 2, and he went on the DL the next day. He said he...

WILMINGTON, Del. - As Dylan Bundy gets ready to take the mound tonight here at Frawley Stadium for his 18th start of the season and 10th with Single-A Frederick, he could experience both a first and a last this evening. While he will pitch beyond five innings for the first time as a pro, there are also some indications that tonight could be his last start with Frederick before he gets moved to Double-A Bowie. A few minutes ago, I asked Frederick pitching coach Blaine Beatty if this would be...

The Nationals open a four-game series in Milwaukee tonight by sending Edwin Jackson to the mound for the 19th time this season. Jackson will look to get his record back to the .500 mark. At 5-6, he's the only Nationals starter currently with a losing mark. The Brewers will give the ball to right-hander Yovani Gallardo tonight. The 26-year-old is 8-7 with a 3.73 ERA this season. In six career appearances against the Nats, Gallardo is 3-1 with a 3.90 ERA. Here are the lineups for tonight's...

The X-rays taken on shortstop J.J. Hardy's ribcage came back negative. "They're fine," he said. "They hurt, but they're fine. They hurt a lot." The Orioles have a few guys feeling under the weather and icing their bumps and bruises. And now, their hitting is contagious. (See what I did there?) "Yeah, that's kind of what I'm talking about," Hardy said. "We're dry for a while. We're not scoring anything, and we got out there and score five in an inning. It's definitely...

The Orioles were challenged by the heat, the quick turnaround and the Tampa Bay Rays, and they overcame all three in a 6-2 victory at Camden Yards. "It's a day you don't want to make too many visits to the mound," said manager Buck Showalter. "That's a challenging day. I'm proud of them. Short rest, turnaround. That's why they're different. Of course, there's a lot of people who work hard in the heat in our country." Including sportswriters, but back to the game. Here's Showalter...

It was bound to happen again. Chris Tillman took a shutout into the seventh inning today before being charged with two runs. He's registered back-to-back quality starts for the second time in his career, and the first since August 2009. Ryan Roberts opened the seventh with a walk and Carlos Pena followed with a fly ball to left field that Chris Davis appeared to lose in the sun. It bounced on the warning track and hopped the fence for a ground-rule double, and San Fuld's double scored two...

Interested in watching Tyler Clippard, Sean Burnett, Craig Stammen and Ryan Mattheus read segments from "Fifty Shades of Grey"? Of course you are. During the Nationals' stop in New York this week, the four relievers went by the MLB Fan Cave, and took part in a few video shoots. One of them had the guys reading clips from the sultry book which has swept the nation. Stammen told me that the group needed a bunch of takes to get the video segments down, largely because Burnett couldn't stop...

Nationals prospect Anthony Rendon will continue his rehab from a fractured left ankle and start at third base tonight for the short-season Single-A Auburn Doubledays. Doubledays manager Gary Cathcart said Rendon will also serve as the designated hitter for some games and have some days off. Rendon is expected to be with the Doubledays for at least one week, but it could be longer. With the GCL Nats, Rendon played three, five or seven innings as they slowly ramped him up. He never got more...

One of the many reasons why the Nationals have been able to maintain consistency throughout the season is the team's ability to replace starters in the field and not lose momentum. Ryan Zimmerman, Drew Storen, Jayson Werth, Michael Morse, Wilson Ramos and others have gone down to injury and have had to be replaced quickly with very little dropoff. Now, without All-Star shortstop Ian Desmond for what will likely be a month, Danny Espinosa will have to switch from second base to shortstop for...