After the second game of yesterday's doubleheader, Adam LaRoche summed things up as only Adam LaRoche can. "It could've been better, but we're all still alive after that, so we'll get them tomorrow," LaRoche said. The Nationals might have split the two games with the Marlins yesterday, but LaRoche is right - at least no one died on the field. That's always a plus. Splitting a doubleheader isn't anything to be too upset about. Unfortunately for the Nationals, however, the Braves are...

In the series at Yankee Stadium the Orioles hit .345 as a team with 15 extra-base hits including four homers while 19 runs. But they began the series with Tampa Bay, Friday by losing 2-0, and recorded their eighth shutout on the season. In the last week and a half the Orioles are 1-3 against the Rays. In the three losses they have scored two runs total with just 18 hits - only two for extra bases - and a team average of .182. They are a combined 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position in...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Orioles have been held hitless with runners in scoring position in 10 of their last 24 games. They've been limited to one hit in six other games. That's not easy to do, even if you're trying. The current streak is 0-for-22. I don't know if records have been kept, though I'm guessing Elias has them. It will be worth checking if the Orioles take another 0-fer tonight against the Rays. Matt Wieters went 2-for-4 last night and is batting .335 lifetime against the...

Today's roster move of the day which surprises absolutely no one: The Nationals optioned John Lannan back to Triple-A Syracuse following today's doubleheader. Lannan was added as the 26th man on the roster due to a new rule which gives teams an extra player for doubleheaders. The Nationals will be making another roster move shortly. This one apparently did surprise someone. Word of today's trade which brought catcher Kurt Suzuki to Washington apparently didn't reach Jesus Flores, who was...

Gio Gonzalez was good tonight. Very good. Facing the Marlins in the second game of today's doubleheader, the Nationals lefty thought he might've had the best stuff he's had all season. He worked eight innings, going deeper into a game than he had all season. He struck out ten, marking the third time this season that he's reached the double-digit K mark. Still, he ended up with a loss. Gonzalez was good tonight, Josh Johnson was just better. "It was all Josh Johnson really," manager...

Third baseman Matt Skole connected on a walk-off grand slam, his third homer in as many games, to lift low Single-A Hagerstown over the Lexington Legends, 6-3, Saturday night at Municipal Stadium. The grand slam completed a five-RBI night for the Georgia Tech product. He has three homers and 11 RBIs in his last three games. His season statistics are getting ridiculous. Skole now has 25 homers and 18 doubles with 87 RBIs in 94 games for a .292 average. The 25 homers lead the South Atlantic...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Orioles first baseman Mark Reynolds played a guessing game tonight with Rays catcher Jose Lobaton and didn't get the desired results. Reynolds struck out three times and stranded six runners as part of an 0-for-4 night on his 29th birthday that lowered his average to .207. "I know we've got to get better. I've got to get better in those situations," said Reynolds, referring to the Orioles going 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. "I think tonight I was...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Manager Buck Showalter suffered his 1,000th career loss tonight on the two-year anniversary of his first game with the Orioles. The result might have been different if the Orioles hadn't gone 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10. And if Tommy Hunter hadn't allowed two more home runs, though the lack of offensive support didn't leave any margin for error. "We did a lot of good things to get people out there, but there's two sides to that coin....

The Orioles have struggled to hit this year against the Tampa Bay pitching staff and that trend continued tonight. The Orioles were blanked 2-0 by Tampa Bay as Matt Moore and a trio of relievers teamed up to keep the Orioles off the scoreboard. The Orioles were shutout for the eighth time this year. It was a rather frustrating night for the Orioles' offense as they went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 men on base. Mark Reynolds was called out on strikes with the...

Gio Gonzalez was cruising right along through the first five innings of tonight's game against the Marlins. He'd given up just two hits, faced only one over the minimum and had registered five strikeouts. Gonzalez had a 1-0 lead going into the sixth, and seemingly in the blink of an eye, trailed 3-1. The Marlins notched five singles in a six-batter span in the sixth inning, bringing in three runs to take the lead. It all started with a single to deep right by Marlins starter Josh Johnson,...