The District's baseball skepticism is warranted. A double dose of 100-loss seasons after 30-plus years of no baseball in town will do that to a person. Those miserable 2008 and 2009 seasons are also what brought the Nationals to this point in time. Baseball in Washington is at crossroads of sorts now that Bryce Harper has made his home debut. With the media hoopla surrounding the young stud of a hitter, it wasn't far-fetched to think that the atmosphere at the ballpark might rival that of...

The Nationals are 0-3 with Bryce Harper in the lineup. That's it; get the kid out of here. He's a jinx. Unfortunately, the solutions to Washington's losing streak aren't that simple. The reasons for the five-game slide are easy to spot, however. The Nationals have now scored seven runs combined during their last five games. They've averaged five hits per game over that span, have 46 strikeouts to just 10 walks and are 2-for-23 with runners in scoring position. Possibly the most...

So in a matchup of 25-year-old pitchers looking to rebound from poor 2011 seasons, the Orioles' Brian Matusz took a big step forward and the Yankees' Phil Hughes struggled again and gave up more homers. No one is saying Matusz is fully back, but it looked like he was making progress earlier this year but not getting the results to show for that. Over his last two starts, he is now also getting results. The Orioles have won his last two outings after losing 13 straight Matusz starts and the...

NEW YORK - The news came fast and furious yesterday, beginning with outfielder Nolan Reimold's tingling fingers and continuing with hitting coach Jim Presley's kidney stone. I hadn't left my hotel room in Times Square and my day already had taken a busy turn. As I walked into the press box at Yankee Stadium, still beaming at my ability to take the D train in the proper direction on this day, the Orioles issued a news release explaining that the Brooks Robinson statue unveiling had been...

The Nationals are without Michael Morse and Ryan Zimmerman. We know this. But their lack of offense during their five-game losing streak is still surprising and disappointing, especially to the man writing out the starting lineup every day. "I feel like we got the hitters that can hit," Johnson said. "(We're) just not as aggressive as I'd like to see. Our one and two hitters (Ian Desmond and Steve Lombardozzi) were aggressive tonight. They went out and swung the bat and got a couple of...

NEW YORK - I'm unable to access your comments at the moment because there's some sort of glitch with Disqus. Yes, I'm disgusted over it. Anyway, we're working to find a solution. In the meantime, here's a little something from Nick Johnson, who ended an 0-for-29 drought with a run-scoring double in the eighth inning: "It feels good. It's been a long time, so it feels good and I'm happy we got the win," he said. "It's been tough, but you've got to keep working. Try to get good...

NEW YORK - Brian Matusz won his first road game since Sept. 27, 2010 at Tampa Bay, snapping a seven-game losing streak away from home. Eleven different Orioles starters earned victories since his last triumph. Tonight's feat is more special to Matusz because of how it ties to manager Buck Showalter. "It couldn't be more exciting being Buck's 1,000th win," Showalter said. "Growing up, I was a huge Diamondbacks fan and Showalter was the manager there. Watched a lot of his games there....

Nationals fans welcomed their young phenom Bryce Harper to Nationals Park for his home debut Tuesday in the 5-1 setback to the Arizona Diamondbacks. When announced for his first at-bat, Harper got a large roar from the partisan 22,675 in attendance. He struck out in his first battle with D-backs starter Trevor Cahill, but still got another rousing applause from the hometown fans as he walked back to the dugout. "I went into my first at-bat a little excited, chasing some pitches I shouldn't...

NEW YORK - The Orioles surrounded manager Buck Showalter on the field after tonight's 7-1 victory became official. "Mobbed him" might be a more accurate description. In the clubhouse, the players toasted him with champagne rather than douse him with Gatorade or deliver a shaving cream pie to his face. "It's kind of embarassing, quite frankly," he said. "I don't make any bones about it, I love baseball players, and it's been an honor to manage this long, with so many good people -...

Not only did Brian Matusz end his long losing steak tonight, but he did it against one of baseball's best offenses in their home park. Matusz gave up just one run over 6 1/3 innings as the Orioles beat the Yankees 7-1 to even this three-game series at Yankee Stadium. For Matusz, it is his first win since June 6 of last year against Oakland. For Orioles manager Buck Showalter, it's the 1,000th of his career. No doubt a meaningful win for the Birds. For Matusz, in 14 starts since the 2011...