Facing yet another left-handed starting pitcher, Davey Johnson's lineup looks much the same as it has the last three days. Adam LaRoche returns to the lineup today after a day off, as does Jesus Flores. Tyler Moore remains in there in left field, hitting seventh. This will be the fourth straight lefty starter the Rockies will send to the mound this series. Today's Colorado starter is Josh Outman, who has struggled in 13 games (five starts) this season, going 0-3 with an 8.64 ERA. How does...

Or, reeling in a home run and a reliever. Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy was robbed of a home run last night on an incredible leaping catch by Angels center fielder Mike Trout, who scaled the fence - again, I went there - and made one of the finest plays ever witnessed at Camden Yards. Maybe it's No. 1. I'll leave that debate to everyone else. "For sure, that's probably the best play I've seen against me," Hardy said. "Maybe the best I've seen against anyone else, too. Pretty good." ...

Right now, despite the Orioles doing relatively well so far this season, it has been apparent that there's been an issue with the starting pitching outside of Jason Hammel and Wei-Yin Chen. On Tuesday night, southpaw Brian Matusz struggled on the mound again in a loss to the Los Angeles Angels. He gave up five runs in five innings, plus gave up a career-high 13 hits. Matusz's season has been filled with some ups and downs, but fans have to start wondering if the bright young pitcher we...

How 'bout that Tyler Moore? In the last two minor league seasons, Nats rookie Moore has hit a combined 62 home runs - 31 each season - and 202 RBIs. That's an awful lot of pop, enough that he should have received a fair bit of notice in the offseason prospect lists. However, his defensive limitations, and being older than other prospects at each level, have tempered long-range expectations for the Mississippi native. Those tempered expectations may be the only reason he remains property...

The Orioles have lost six of eight games and given up 20 runs the last two nights against the Angels. For some that stray toward the negative, they may feel the other shoe is finally dropping and that the Orioles are falling. It was about a month ago that the Orioles lost nine of 11, when these questions and concerns surfaced for the first time this year. The Orioles went through that stretch at the end of May and dropped to six games over .500. A month later, another losing run has dropped...

The Nationals only scored two runs after the fourth inning last night. Boy, this offense stinks. Get it together, guys. What can we take out of yesterday's 11-5 thumping of the Rockies? Plenty, and not just that the Rockies are not very good at baseball. Tyler Moore sure looks like he'll be hanging around the big leagues for a while, and manager Davey Johnson told reporters last night that he might be forced to find a spot for Moore even against right-handed starters. It's not hard to...

Could the Orioles be poised to make another roster move today? Nick Johnson exited last night's game after one at-bat with soreness and weakness in his right wrist, the same one that's undergone multiple surgeries. We'll know more after the Orioles receive the results of his MRI. If it's a DL situation, the Orioles could choose to bring back Steve Tolleson after optioning him yesterday. He might still be in Baltimore. Tolleson was going to spend a few days at his South Carolina home...

Jason Hammel has spoiled us with his dominance this season. He brought a streak of 19 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run into tonight's game, and left after giving up eight runs and eight hits in 3 1/3 innings for his shortest outing of the season. The eight runs tied his career high set on July 23, 2011 against the Diamondbacks. "There haven't been many people pitching better than Hamm and he gets a mulligan," said manager Buck Showalter. "Obviously, you've got to give...

Nick Johnson will undergo an MRI on his right wrist tomorrow to learn the source of the soreness and weakness that forced him out of tonight's game. Johnson struck out in the second inning and Ryan Flaherty pinch-hit for him in the fourth. The Orioles have scheduled an MRI amid concerns that it's the same wrist which has undergone multiple surgeries over the years. "Just had some weakness there and some soreness," manager Buck Showalter said. "He said he was good for one swing and after...

Is it possible for the Nationals to play the rest of their games in Coors Field? Or at the very least, can they work something out with the league office to allow them to face the Rockies every night? Seriously, this is getting ridiculous. The laser show that began last night has continued today. The Nats lead the Rockies 9-1 through four innings. They've hit three home runs, have seven extra-base hits and forced the Rockies to go to their third pitcher of the night beginning the fourth...