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...

The starting pitching matchup in Texas tonight features Tommy Hunter (4-7, 5.49 ERA) for the Orioles and lefty Derek Holland (7-6, 4.98 ERA) for Texas. Hunter has given up 29 homers and that ties Ervin Santana of Los Angeles for the American League lead. Holland is tied for seventh, allowing 23 homers. The two have given up a combined 52 homers over 239 innings in 2012. Both are giving up the long ball at a higher rate this year than last season. In 2011 Hunter allowed 1.3 homers per every...

At the risk of this blog becoming all Stephen Strasburg, all the time, I wanted to pass along some quotes from Davey Johnson which set a bit of a rough timetable for when the Nationals might shut down their ace right-hander. Because of off-days down the stretch, Johnson said that the Nationals will only need an extra starter (we're talking about you, John Lannan) for two or, at most, three starts once Strasburg is shut down. Knowing that, we can map out Strasburg's next few starts and take...

Nationals manager Davey Johnson commented on the upcoming roster expansion, which will occur in about 10 days with September call-ups. Johnson said he looked forward to calling up players last year and that need is not as urgent this season. "I really was last year, much more so than this year," Johnson said. "I don't know how many we had last year, but we couldn't have had that many." Johnson believes there could be close to a half-dozen summoned to help shore up the roster for the...

Often this year we have discussed the Orioles shortcomings when batting with runners in scoring position. There were times during this season when it looked like they'd never get another clutch hit. But it's not that way anymore. The Orioles are showing signs of improvement here. Take last night, for instance. The Orioles had runners in scoring position in just two of their nine at-bats but they scored in those two frames. They went 2-for-3 with runners in scoring position and both hits...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter is breaking out his right-handed lineup against Rangers left-hander Derek Holland. Lew Ford replaces Chris Davis as the designated hitter. Adam Jones moves up to third in the order, with Matt Wieters batting fourth and Nate McLouth seventh. For the Orioles: Nick Markakis RF J.J. Hardy SS Adam Jones CF Matt Wieters C Mark Reynolds 1B Lew Ford DH Nate McLouth LF Manny Machado 3B Robert Andino 2B Tommy Hunter RHP For the Rangers: Ian Kinsler 2B Elvis...

Since giving up six earned runs in one-third of an inning on July 27 against the Athletics, Orioles closer Jim Johnson has recorded eight saves in nine appearances and allowed only three runners into scoring position. In those nine games, Johnson has permitted only three hits, walked one and struck out six over nine innings. Opponents are batting .100 against him, going 3-for-30, and he's retired the side in order seven times. The Orioles have announced their rotation for the Blue Jays...

We've got a battle of promising 26-year-old hurlers in the series finale between the Nationals and Braves. The Nats will take their hacks at right-hander Kris Medlen, who has torn it up for the Braves since moving into the rotation July 31. He's 3-0 in his four starts this season, and hasn't allowed more than one run in any of those four outings. His last time out, Medlen pitched a five-hit, complete-game shutout against the Padres, walking none and striking out six. So yeah, he's kind...