Livan Hernandez, John Lannan, Jordan Zimmermann, Jason Marquis, and Tom Gorzelanny were the pitchers who took the mound for the first five games of the 2011 season for the Washington Nationals. One season later, and the opening day rotation lined up Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmermann, Edwin Jackson, and Ross Detwiler. Four out of five starters is a significant change and two of them had never thrown a pitch in the Nationals organization before 2012. The man responsible for...

The Orioles continue to take their fans on a roller coaster of emotions. Yesterday, fans of the Orioles experienced both crest and fall with the announcement of playoff ticket invoices and the crushing defeat at the hands of the Texas Rangers. In the middle of an uneventful Tuesday in Baltimore, the Orioles surprised their fans with the announcement of the year so far: Playoff tickets are on sale now. Baltimore. Orioles. Playoff tickets. Think about those words for a bit and now try to...

It is pretty safe to say that the duo of Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette and director of pitching development Rick Peterson do not like O's young pitchers throwing cut fastballs. During a recent interview Duquette said this: "First of all, the cut fastball, we don't like it as a pitch, OK? And we don't like it for young pitchers because it takes away from the development of their curveball, which is a better pitch long-term and also, the velocity of their fastball. So we...

There's no crying in baseball and there's no reason to shed any tears over a 3-3 road trip to Detroit and Texas. The Orioles fell to 24-40 last night when their opponent scores first and 17-43 when they score three runs or fewer. So... they need to score first and score more than three runs. Simple as that. The Orioles are now 33-26 when they don't commit an error. The defense wasn't the issue last night. The starting pitching let them down. Tommy Hunter faced eight batters in the fourth...

Ian Desmond scared the heck out of his manager and 29,111 fans in attendance at Nats Park tonight when the Nationals' All-Star shortstop came up limping mid-way through his sprint down the first base line in the eighth inning. Desmond appeared shaken up for a minute, then strangely shook off whatever was bugging him and convinced Davey Johnson and a team trainer that he was fine. So what the heck happened there? "I'm not really exactly sure," Desmond said with a smile. "I think it was a...

Braves starter Kris Medlen, who threw seven shutout innings tonight in a win over the Nationals, was a switch-hitting shortstop back in his days at Santa Ana Community College. The Braves drafted him as a pitcher, one who now has a 1.86 ERA this season following tonight's game. "Wish they'd have kept him as a shortstop," Davey Johnson said after tonight's game. Medlen and Ross Detwiler matched zeros through four innings tonight, but in the fifth, the Braves got to Detwiler. The Nats, on...

A nice couple of games for outfielder Caleb Ramsey and third baseman Cutter Dykstra, as they continue to play consistent baseball for the Low Single-A Hagerstown Suns. On Tuesday, Ramsey went 3-for-3 with two triples and three RBIs in the Suns 7-6 win over Kannapolis. Then Wednesday night, Ramsey hit another triple, this one in the fourth, to plate three runs in helping the Suns to a 5-4 win over the Suns. Dykstra's two-run double in the eighth put the Suns up to stay. Dykstra hit his...

A sweep would've meant a nice eight-game lead in the division. Instead, the Nationals will have to settle for taking two out of three and holding a six-game lead over the Braves. The Nats dropped the series finale 5-1 tonight, allowing the Braves to leave town with a bit of momentum when they entered today staring down a possible three-game sweep. If you're Nationals manager Davey Johnson, this one sure wasn't pretty. The Nats managed little off Braves starter Kris Medlen and only got on...

Tommy Hunter has served up three more home runs in four innings tonight, including two to Rangers third baseman Adrian Belte and a grand slam to Mitch Moreland. Beltre's two-run shot in the fourth broke a 1-1 tie, and Moreland's slam later in the inning gave the Rangers an 8-1 lead. Hunter faced eight batters in the inning and didn't retire any of them. Beltre added a third home run off Kevin Gregg in the fourth, giving him two in the inning and five RBIs on the night. Rangers 10,...

It's no secret that Bryce Harper has been struggling at the plate recently. Last night, Harper notched the dreaded Golden Sombrero, striking out all four times he came to the plate. Tonight, he's gone 0-for-2 with a weak ground ball and a pop up. But through his offensive issues the last couple months, Harper has still managed to play strong defense, getting good reads on fly balls and covering lots of ground. Tonight, one defensive miscue from Harper has cost the Nationals two runs and put...