Over the last six innings of tonight's game, the Nationals struck out nine times and had just three runners reach base. Their play in the first three frames wasn't nearly enough to carry that type of offensive shutdown. Eighteen of the last 21 Nats hitters to come to the plate tonight were retired while the Yankees rode a four-run seventh inning to a 7-2 win. Curtis Granderson drove in three of those seven Yankees runs with a two-run double in the seventh and a solo homer, his 20th of the...

It wasn't one of Gio Gonzalez's finest outings, but he leaves here in the seventh with his team trailing the Yankees just 2-1. Gonzalez battled his way through six-plus innings, leaving after throwing 109 pitches but holding the Yankees to just two runs over six. Both of those runs came in the third inning on back-to-back RBI singles by Alex Rodriguez and Nick Swisher. Neither ball was struck all that well, but both had enough to get through the infield and plate a run. The Nationals...

The Orioles used a double and two Braves errors to get two runs in the top of the fourth at Atlanta tonight to take a 2-1 lead after three and a half innings. That followed some frustration on offense tonight in the early innings in Atlanta. They hit three rockets off Tommy Hanson in the top of the first, but one went for a groundout and another, by Chris Davis, went for an inning-ending double play. In the second, they got an Adam Jones double and two walks to load the bases, but then Brian...

Before tonight, only one left-handed batter had homered off Orioles starter Brian Matusz. Move over, Curtis Granderson. Atlanta catcher Brian McCann homered with two outs in the first inning tonight to give the Braves a 1-0 lead. Lefties were batting .138 against Matusz before tonight, with four walks and 22 strikeouts. In his career, Matusz was holding lefties to a .219 average and 11 home runs. Right-handed hitters had 40 homers. McCann was a logical candidate to buck the trend. He's...

Davey Johnson was asked during his pregame session with reporters about his experience facing the Yankees. "I have some good memories," Johnson said. "I (also) have some bad memories of 12-year-olds reaching over the field and catching balls." Ah, Jeffrey Maier. You continue to haunt those associated with the Orioles even today. On their last six-game road trip, the Nationals scored just over five runs a game, boosting their season average to 3.93 runs per contest. The offense has...

The Nationals and the Yankees are ready to do battle at Nationals Park for the first time in franchise history. Yankees manager Joe Girardi said he has had some experience working games in D.C., and is impressed with the Nationals of today and the new park. The last time he faced the Nationals, they were still playing at RFK Stadium. "I think it is great that baseball is here in Washington," Girardi said. "I had a chance to come here in 2006 when I was with the Marlins. They were building...

Nationals first-round pick Lucas Giolito is at Nats Park for the second straight day, talking with team officials and watching the Nats take batting practice from behind the cage. The 16th overall pick out of Harvard-Westlake School (Calif.) was at Ryan Zimmerman's charity event at the stadium last night, but today, the 6-foot-6, 230-lb. right-hander is getting an up-close look at the Nats players in action. He spent time talking with general manager Mike Rizzo and owner Mark Lerner (towering...

Manager Buck Showalter is keeping Chris Davis in the lineup tonight by starting him in right field. Davis has never played the outfield in the majors. He's been a corner infielder and emergency reliever (once). Davis played two games in right field with Single-A Spokane in 2006. For the Orioles: Brian Roberts 2B J.J. Hardy SS Chris Davis RF Adam Jones CF Matt Wieters C Mark Reynolds 1B Wilson Betemit 3B Steve Pearce LF Brian Matusz LHP For the Braves: Michael Bourn CF Martin Prado 1B Brian...

Adam LaRoche got the day off on Wednesday for the final game of the Nationals' six-game road trip after he fouled a ball off his right foot the night before. That opened the door for Tyler Moore's two-home run, five-RBI performance in Wednesday's win over the Blue Jays. Today, LaRoche returns to the Nats lineup for the series opener against the Yankees, and Moore returns to the bench. LaRoche will be back in the cleanup spot in the order and will play first. Here's the Nats lineup for...

Left-hander Brian Matusz is starting tonight for the Orioles after being pushed back two days following his bunting mishap, and he's got a score to settle with the National League. Matusz has never faced the Braves, but he's 0-5 with a 7.49 ERA in six career interleague starts, with 28 earned runs allowed in 33 2/3 innings. He's also hitless in four major league at-bats. It's probably safe to assume that Matusz isn't a huge fan of interleague baseball. That's most definitely true of...