Orioles pitcher Jake Arrieta has exuded confidence from the first day that he stepped inside a major league clubhouse in spring training. Not anymore. Arrieta was despondent after tonight's 9-6 loss to the Phillies, reaching a low we haven't seen from him. "It's pretty difficult," he said. "Just frustration seems to continue to build and just having a hard time getting out of it. It's wearing on me a little bit. Searching for answers and not being able to find them is tough." The...

The Orioles lost for the 12th time in 17 games, and they may have lost whatever patience remained with starter Jake Arrieta, who allowed a career-high nine runs and 11 hits in four innings. "He never seemed to get in a real rhythm," Showalter said. "Philadephia had a lot to do with that. They came out swinging the bats real aggressive, like we knew they would and have been all year. It's kind of tough to figure because he was in stride a little bit there and strikes out three or four and...

Orioles manager Buck Showalter just confirmed that Tommy Hunter will start tomorrow afternoon's game against the Phillies at Camden Yards. Dana Eveland tossed three perfect innings tonight in relief of Jake Arrieta. Miguel Gonzalez threw four innings last night in Boston. The choice became an obvious one. Hunter will be recalled from Triple-A Norfolk, and a corresponding 25-man roster move will be made by 1 p.m. tomorrow. Showalter didn't want to speculate about Arrieta's immediate...

BOSTON - A career-high 119 pitches. A stretch of 11 straight hitters retired. A span of 12 outs in which 10 were strikeouts. A ridiculous 13 strikeouts in six innings. A K of Kevin Youkilis to get out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth. Yeah, it was an eventful evening for Stephen Strasburg. The Nationals' ace put up a double-digit strikeout performance for the fifth time in his career, and tonight's 13 strikeouts is the second-most he's recorded in a game. The highest Strasburg...

For struggling Orioles starter Jake Arrieta, it went from bad to worse tonight, as he got an early exit against the Philadelphia Phillies in a 9-6 loss to start the weekend series at Camden Yards. It is almost hard to remember that Arrieta looked so great on opening day in Baltimore, pitching seven shutout innings against Minnesota, or that he had an ERA of 2.66 over his first three starts. Tonight, he got the first two hitters out before three straight Philly singles made it a 1-0 game. Then...

BOSTON - The Nationals seem to be enjoying their time in Beantown. Through four innings tonight, the Nats have six extra-base hits - five doubles (two of which are from Danny Espinosa) and a home run. They lead 6-2, having put up three runs in both the third and fourth innings, and seemingly everything Red Sox lefty Felix Doubront serves up is getting smoked out to the gaps. The hardest-hit ball of the night came off the bat of (who else?) Bryce Harper, who absolutely demolished a Doubront...

It's not a comfortable question to pose, but it's a fair one. I hate to speculate about a player's future, though it's a common practice in the media, but Jake Arrieta is a serious candidate to be optioned tomorrow when Tommy Hunter is recalled and makes the start against Philadelphia. Arrieta turned in his second-shortest outing of the season, allowing a season-high nine runs and 11 hits in four innings. He walked none, struck out five, gave up two home runs and hit a batter. Manager...

If ever there were a game where the Orioles could get behind by seven runs and still have hope, this might be it tonight. That is, if Jake Arrieta can start putting up some zeroes after giving up seven runs in the first two innings. It would be hard to imagine many pitchers coming into a start against the Orioles struggling as much as Phillies right-hander Joe Blanton. On the year, he is 4-6 with a 5.27 ERA, but over his past four starts he is 0-3 with an ERA of 10.98. Before that, he was 4-2...

Jake Arrieta retired the first two Phillies batters tonight on a fly ball and grounder, but three straight singles by Hunter Pence, Jim Thome and Shane Victorino produced a run. Thome's ball never left the infield. Arrieta was late chasing it and couldn't make a play. Carlos Ruiz struck out on Arrieta's 21st pitch to end the inning. The Orioles have scored one run while Arrieta's been in the game in six of his 12 starts, and they've scored two runs in three other outings. In his last 10...

BOSTON - File this in the "duh department," but Tyler Clippard is the Nationals' closer. That's been perfectly clear considering the way manager Davey Johnson has handled his team's save opportunities since he announced he was going to a closer-by-committee two-and-a-half weeks ago. The Nationals have had five save chances, and all have gone to Clippard. But today, for the first time, Johnson actually referred to Clippard as his closer. The Nats' skipper also said that Brad Lidge, who...