Ryan Mattheus gave up a deep fly ball off the bat of J.J. Hardy to begin the top of the 11th, and when center fielder Rick Ankiel tracked it down at the wall in front of the 402-foot sign, it looked like Mattheus might have escaped his one mistake in the inning. But then Nick Markakis took a slider that stayed down and in, and crushed it deep over the right-field wall, giving the Orioles their second run of the game and leading them to a 2-1 win. Normally you hear about pitchers leaving a...

As he sat down at the podium for his postgame press conference, Davey Johnson said what all Nationals fans are probably feeling tonight. "Well, that was a tough one," Johnson said. The Nats battled with the O's over 11 innings, but the frustrating part of the night was the 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. Washington had opportunities but just couldn't get guys in, and they couldn't capitalize on a fantastic eight-inning performance from Edwin Jackson in which he allowed just...

WASHINGTON - Nick Markakis broke a 1-1 tie in the top of the 11th inning with his seventh home run, a shot to right field off Nationals reliever Ryan Mattheus that was gone the second it left his bat. "Slider down in, I'm pretty sure that's what it was," Markakis said. "I wasn't looking for too too much there. I wasn't expecting that. I was just trying to have a good at-bat and put a good swing on it. It went out of the park and we end up winning the game." Just another extra-inning...

WASHINGTON - Orioles starter Jake Arrieta said that a key tonight after two rough outings in a row was being able to relax. "Took some of the pressure off myself," he said. "Just from the get-go wanted to establish my fastball on both sides of the plate, mix in a breaking ball, especially to a pretty heavy left-handed hitting lineup. I think there was five in a row there at one point in the lineup, so there's a lot of guys there. You've got to make quality pitches down in the zone,...

3-2 count. Fastball low, walk. Tough to allow a baserunner in any situation, but having it be the Orioles' leadoff hitter, Xavier Avery, on the first at-bat of the game proved more costly in a tight contest. Avery was able to come around to score the first run of the game, thanks to a double by Nick Markakis and a single from Adam Jones. But really, it was only 1-0 Orioles. In the end, however, the Orioles beat the Nationals 2-1 in 11 innings on a Markakis homer. But when he was in, it...

WASHINGTON - Another extra-inning game, another extra-inning win. And on the road, of course. The Orioles defeated the Nationals 2-1 in 11 innings. They're 6-2 in extras, with all six wins coming in succession away from Camden Yards. They're also in first place in the American League East, two games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays. How does manager Buck Showalter explain all those road wins? "Pitching in general," he replied. "You'd like to do some things and not have that happen. I think...

Outfielder

WASHINGTON - Oh sure, why not? It's really happening. The Orioles are playing their major league-leading eighth extra-inning game of the season. They've won their last five, all on the road, after losing their first two at home. The Nationals are 4-2. Manager Buck Showalter lifted Darren O'Day after the sidearmer retired all four batters he faced. I questioned the move in the press box, with O'Day cruising and extras looming, but Troy Patton retired left-handed hitting Adam LaRoche and...

With the exception of his complete-game, two-hitter back on April 14 against the Reds, Edwin Jackson delivered his finest performance as a National tonight. Jackson was sensational through eight innings, allowing just one run on five hits with one walk and eight strikeouts. After allowing a run in the first inning, Jackson set down 19 of the 23 Orioles he faced and needed just 95 pitches to get through his eight frames. Luckily, he won't get stuck with a tough-luck loss, thanks to Ian...

WASHINGTON - Nationals starter Edwin Jackson has allowed five baserunners in six innings. Xavier Avery has accounted for three of them. Avery walked in the first, doubled in the third and singled in the sixth. Yes, I'll say it: He's halfway to the cycle. Avery also scored the game's only run before Ian Desmond homered leading off the bottom of the sixth. And Avery's average has jumped from .238 to .304. The Orioles were leading 1-0, as Jackson and Jake Arrieta continued to dazzle....