Safe to say this isn't how Stephen Strasburg and the Nationals wanted to open up their series finale against the Orioles as they try to avoid a sweep. The Nats trail 3-0 in the second inning after a rocky top of the first for Strasburg and an all-around sloppy performance by Washington in the second. Strasburg gave up three hard-hit balls in the first and frankly was lucky to escape having just allowed a single run. He gave up an RBI single to Nick Markakis to get the O's on the board, but...

Dylan Bundy retired the first 12 batters he faced today and pitched five shutout innings at Hagerstown this afternoon to keep his ERA at 0.00 now through 30 professional innings. Bundy was facing a pretty good hitting club today. Hagerstown, with a 23-16 record, began the day leading the South Atlantic League in homers, second in runs scored and fourth in batting average. Today, Bundy may even get his first win as a pro as Delmarva leads 3-0 after five frames. Hagerstown's J.P. Ramirez made...

WASHINGTON - The Orioles haven't faced Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg before today. I'm sure they've heard lots about him, watched a few starts on television, studied the video tape. They just haven't stood at the plate against him. The Nationals probably didn't know much about Xavier Avery before this weekend, but he's left an impression. Avery led off the top of the first inning with a single up the middle. He hustled to second base on J.J. Hardy's long fly ball to center...

Once again today I will post some stats, opinions and notes here in this entry during today's game as we feature a live blog this afternoon. I hope many of you add your own questions and comments today starting right now. Nats get the lead with the longball: The Nats got back-to-back homers with two outs in the fourth from Jesus Flores and Stephen Strasburg to take a 5-3 lead. Yes, the No. 8 and 9 hitters go deep off Chen for the lead. It's the Nats' first lead in this series. Flores'...

WASHINGTON - Matt Wieters doesn't have a hit in his last 18 at-bats. He has four hits in his last 40. He has no concerns about this slump. "It's just one of those stretches," said Wieters, who batted .342 during a nine-game hitting streak April 29-May 8. "I haven't really been hitting too many balls hard lately, but the good thing is we've still been winning games. I'm definitely going to put in some extra work to where I get back to feeling good like it was a week or so ago....

Yes, the Nationals will have a guy with 48 strikeouts - tied for fourth-most in the majors - and a .291 on-base percentage in the leadoff spot today. If Ian Desmond isn't a traditional leadoff guy, Danny Espinosa is even less so. Espinosa did hit a ball really hard during his pinch-hitting appearance last night, so there's that. We'll see if a move to the top of the lineup can get him jump-started. In 170 career plate appearances out of the leadoff spot, Espinosa has struggled, however,...

WASHINGTON - As expected, Luis Exposito will catch today while Matt Wieters takes a break. Rookie Xavier Avery is leading off. Wilson Betemit is starting at third base and Chris Davis is starting at first. For the Orioles: Xavier Avery LF J.J. Hardy SS Nick Markakis RF Adam Jones CF Wilson Betemit 3B Chris Davis 1B Robert Andino 2B Luis Exposito C Wei-Yin Chen LHP

Yesterday's Nationals lineup had success with second baseman Steve Lombardozzi hitting in the leadoff spot. Today, Davey Johnson will again put his second baseman atop the lineup. Today, though, it's Danny Espinosa, who will get the start at second. Ian Desmond will hit fifth for the second consecutive day. The Nats will face O's lefty Wei-Yin Chen, who has gotten off to a great start, going 4-0 with a 2.45 ERA. Stephen Strasburg gets the ball for the Nats, looking to put an end to a...

WASHINGTON - Miguel Tejada is batting fourth and serving as the designated hitter today for Triple-A Norfolk. It's Tejada's first game outside of extended spring training. Brad Bergesen, who cleared waivers and was outrighted, will start for the Tides. The Orioles haven't posted their lineup. The Nats beat them to it. At least the Nats can brag about beating them once this weekend. Danny Espinosa 2B Bryce Harper CF Ryan Zimmerman 3B Adam LaRoche 1B Ian Desmond SS Xavier Nady RF Tyler...

For all the Orioles fans that can remember when it seemed like a .500 record was much too much to ask for, what must they be thinking now watching their team at 27-14 and leading the American League East by two games? Everyone is chasing the Orioles right now, who own the AL's best record. Heavy stuff for a team working on a 14-season losing streak. Just in the last week or so, the Orioles continued to do impressive things daily and nightly. After losing a series to Texas, they took two of...