Everyone loves to see the strikeouts. Left-hander Gio Gonzalez had plenty of them Monday in a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies at a wet Citizens Bank Park. Finishing with nine strikeouts, Gonzalez yo-yoed back over Stephen Strasburg (64), for the team lead, and is now holding onto the major league top spot with 69 punchouts in nine starts. More importantly, Gonzalez tallied another team first: win No. 6 on the season. Plus, the win was against the perennial top seed in the NL East,...

Orioles outfielder Nolan Reimold has an appointment to receive a second epidural injection in his spine from Dr. Lee Riley, a neck specialist, but he isn't sure whether he'll keep it. Reimold is leaning in that direction, but he's been told that the shot will only ease the pain he's experiencing from a herniated disk in his cervical spine, not the numbness and weakness in his left thumb, arm and shoulder. "The pain I can tolerate," he said. "The doctor said we can do another one, but...

Well, at least for now. Matt Wieters was one more failed at-bat from being 0-for-21, the longest hitless stretch of his career. He fouled off six straight pitches from former Orioles left-hander Rich Hill before lining an RBI single into left field to reduce Boston's lead to 8-6. Everybody rejoice. Wieters won a nine-pitch battle with Hill, who began the inning by giving up singles to Nick Markakis and Adam Jones. Jones extended his hitting streak to 13 games, tying his career long. Now we...

PHILADELPHIA - Breathe, Nats fans. Facing a Phillies team which came into tonight having won seven of its last 10, scoring 4.9 runs per game over that span, the Nationals' pitching staff did the trick yet again. But that's not to say it wasn't interesting. Gio Gonzalez pitched six shutout innings, striking out nine and allowing just three hits. Craig Stammen delivered two monster frames in relief, serving as the bridge to the ninth inning. Things then got very tricky (and I mean very...

After making seven straight scoreless appearances covering 9 1/3 innings, that streak ended for pitcher Kevin Gregg tonight and the runs he gave up led to an Orioles loss. Boston pushed across a pair of runs in the seventh against Gregg on an Adrian Gonzalez sac fly and a Will Middlebrooks single to break a 5-5 tie before adding a run against Troy Patton in the eighth. That carried the Red Sox to an 8-6 win over the O's at Camden Yards. Boston rallied from a 5-2 deficit to improve to 9-2...

Tommy Hunter held the Royals to two runs over seven innings in his last start, but he's not as sharp tonight. Hunter has allowed five runs and nine hits in six innings, with no walks and three strikeouts. He's thrown 96 pitches, 65 for strikes. This will be the third time in four outings that Hunter has failed to register a quality start. The Orioles gave him a 5-2 lead, but Boston scored three runs in the sixth, beginning with David Ortiz's home run onto Eutaw St. Ortiz took a big swing,...

PHILADELPHIA - Ian Desmond has provided the offense. And despite a quickly rising pitch count, Gio Gonzalez has done the job on the mound. The Nationals have a 2-0 lead after four innings thanks to a solo home run and RBI single by Desmond and a really sharp start by Gonzalez, who has struck out eight Phillies hitters. Desmond is now 5-for-8 with four RBIs since being moved into the No. 5 spot in the Nats order. Gonzalez, meanwhile, has needed 76 pitches to get through four innings, but...

The Orioles tonight are looking for their sixth win over the last seven games, their 14th win in 20 games and to improve to 20-8 over the last 28 games. They used three singles and three Clay Buchholz walks to take a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the third tonight. Buchholz retired the first six batters he faced, but looked more like the pitcher who entered this outing with an ERA of 7.77 in that inning. The crowd is not big tonight and I bet that will be a topic of conversation for some fans. My...

Matt Wieters grounded out to Boston third baseman Will Middlebrooks in the second inning. The funk continues. Wieters is 0-for-19 and 4-for-41. Is he banged up from that violent collision at home plate? "No more than usual," manager Buck Showalter said. "We gave him a full day off yesterday. I didn't want to even pinch hit unless we had a chance to win the game. As you've seen, we've tried to back off him as much as possible. Sometimes to a fault. "I think it's part of something we...

PHILADELPHIA - There's a slight drizzle coming down here at Citizens Bank Park, but it looks like we'll likely avoid any heavy stuff and should be able to get tonight's game in. Unless I just jinxed it, and the sky suddenly opens up, which will probably happen. Bryce Harper will get his first taste of Philadelphia tonight, and the Nationals' outfielder says he's legitimately excited to play in this city and this ballpark over the next few days. "It's going to be a great experience,"...