As fans, we all want the Orioles to win. That's a fair statement, right? In fact, it's probably the only thing we all agree on. Finding common ground can be hard, but there's always the team. We want it to do well and, there, we're actually united. In a lot of ways that's enough. A winning team. It's just sports, after all, right? To some extent, yes, but there's another layer to it, this thing over which we bond. Meaning that when the Orioles win, we in fact are together in a less...

When I leave to go out of town on trips, like today for example, my favorite topic of conversation along the way tends to veer toward sports, baseball in particular. Whether I'm listening in on a stats-based debate or checking game scores on one of the many televisions within the terminal, there's always a lesson to be learned from these types of conversations. There's a little more to those conversations than what appears on the surface, though. It's one thing to strike up a sports...

This just in. There is another future star in the Nats' clubhouse. He hits home runs that bounce off Pikes Peak and he plays left field like he was born for that position. The thumper. The bulldog. He is Tyler Moore. What a shot. Moore's fifth-inning three-run homer landed 15 to 20 rows up at Coors Field in the left-center stands. A thunderous swing that highlighted the Nationals' best offensive output of the season in a 21-hit, 12-5 shellacking of the defenseless Colorado...

What do you think was going through Jordan Zimmermann's mind as he watched the Nationals pull away from the Rockies and pile up a season-high 12 runs and franchise-record-tying 21 hits last night? "Guys ... stop ... save some of that for me, please?" That's just a guess. Zimmermann would take 12 runs of support over a span of four starts, much less one. Here's hoping the Nationals keep the offensive roll going and get the guy some runs tonight. Yesterday's offensive production was...

After last night's loss, the Orioles now have an even run differential. Their record is nine games over .500 at 41-32 but they have scored 310 runs this year and given up the same number. Their are eight American League teams with a better run differential than the Orioles but just two with a better record (the Rangers and Yankees). Winning close games has clearly been big for the club this year and the Orioles are 25-12 in games decided by two runs or less and 9-2 in extra-inning games. A...

You won't find many Orioles swinging hot bats right now, and shortstop J.J. Hardy definitely needs to knock the frost off the ol' lumber. Hardy is in a 3-for-40 slump that's lowered his average to .239. He went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts last night. The Orioles have played 73 games and Hardy has started 71 of them. The obvious move is to rest him for a night, perhaps giving the start to Robert Andino. Hardy is 0-for-9 lifetime against Jered Weaver, who starts tonight for the Angels. A...

I guess the Nationals were getting a little tired of everyone talking about how much their offense stinks. They've exploded for 12 runs and 16 hits tonight, and have only played six innings. The most runs the Nats had scored in a game this season prior to tonight was nine. They'd already matched that total by the end of the fifth inning. Every hitter in the lineup with the exception of Bryce Harper has a hit. Adam LaRoche has two home runs. Tyler Moore has a three-run shot which I'm not...

Brian Matusz hasn't gone more than 5 2/3 innings in his last four starts, and tonight he failed to retire a batter in the sixth before exiting. "It's a great hitting team, one through nine," he said. "I made some good pitches to get out of some innings, but when it came down to it, I left some fastballs over the plate." Matusz was allowed to come back out for the sixth, but Peter Bourjos' two-run homer ended his night. "I was fighting all the way through to stay in that game, and...

It wasn't difficult to figure out the reason why left-hander Brian Matusz struggled again tonight. "He was up just about the whole outing," manager Buck Showalter said following a 7-3 loss to the Angels before 24,296 at Camden Yards. "Was fortunate to still be the game with those hits. They hit a lot of balls hard that found holes. We hit a lot less hard, but didn't find holes. We made a lot of mistakes and Brian wasn't very crisp tonight." Showalter allowed Matusz to come back out...

As I type this, Ryan Zimmerman just reached a career milestone. With a single in the fifth inning in Colorado on Tuesday night, the Nats third baseman collected his 1,000th-career hit, needing only 903 games in which to do so. It's a great accomplishment, particularly for a guy who has battled some nagging injuries in recent memory. And while Zimmerman continues to achieve greatness on the field, it stands to reason things would be the same off the diamond. That certainly rings true, as it...