I'm ready to create another "Because You Asked" just for this one question. If I needed to pad it, I'm sure that I could insert a Dylan Bundy question, too, but let's stick to Robert Andino this morning. It's natural to wonder how Brian Roberts' return to the 25-man roster, assuming it happens, will impact Andino. Roberts could go on an injury-rehab assignment in a few weeks. This is the closest we've gotten to having any sort of timetable on him. I'm more curious about how...

PHILADELPHIA - Last season, in 154 games, Ian Desmond hit eight home runs. In 2010, also in the span of 154 games, Desmond jacked 10 homers. This season, in just 41 games, the Nationals' shortstop already has seven home runs, tied with Adam LaRoche for most on the team. What's the reason for his newfound power stroke? Possibly his baby boy. "I think daddy strength," Desmond said. "They say when you have a kid, you get stronger. Thanks, Grayson." Desmond delivered his seventh longball...

PHILADELPHIA - Davey Johnson has stood by Henry Rodriguez through his three blown saves, handfuls of wild pitches and bunches of baserunners allowed. But after tonight's performance, in which Rodriguez was pulled after putting the tying runners in scoring position and throwing two wild pitches over 1/3 of an inning, Johnson finally said he's considering a change when it comes to the closer role. "I'm going to sleep on it, but I'm looking at alternatives," Johnson said. There aren't...

Tommy Hunter didn't argue the balk call in the sixth inning that allowed the tying run to score. As he said afterward, "I got got." "A famous Little League play and it worked," he said. Apparently, Hunter heard one of the Red Sox yell and became distracted. "I didn't even see the runner," he said. "I had no idea what the runner (Will Middlebrooks) was doing. There was a little bit of commotion. I thought he was going, stepped off and did some stupid (stuff) and there it was. "Tip...

Tommy Hunter retired the first six batters he faced tonight, striking out two. He just couldn't sustain that momentum. Hunter allowed five runs and nine hits over six innings and left with the score tied, 5-5. "He was driving the ball down and away to right-handed hitters, but then he just started elevating the ball," manager Buck Showalter said following the Orioles' 8-6 loss to the Red Sox. "Made some mistakes and paid for it. Gets him behind in the count, too. "Tommy was pitching...

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...