CHICAGO - Nick Markakis collected five hits in his first seven at-bats, with a triple, two homers and four RBIs, and the baseball world excitedly proclaimed that he was completely recovered from his abdominal surgery and the worried masses could exhale and relax. Markakis is mired in a 3-for-35 slump, and it might be time to inhale and stress. That's probably an overreaction. Markakis wasn't going to maintain his early pace and he isn't going to keep going 0-fer, as he did again last night...

CHICAGO - I'll close the blog tonight with comments from Nolan Reimold and J.J. Hardy, who hit back-to-back home runs in the sixth inning to break a scoreless tie. Reimold has four home runs in his last four games played. He sat out Sunday's game. The key to his hot streak? "Staying calm," he replied. "No real secret to it. It's just kind of happening. I've just been feeling good, keeping my swing short, not moving my head too much. Get the pitch and don't miss it." Reimold made a...

CHICAGO - Taiwanese left-hander Wei-Yin Chen learned a new American custom tonight related to major league baseball. Get your first win, get covered in shaving cream and a sports drink. Chen walked out of the bathroom after tonight's 3-2 victory over the White Sox and discovered that Luis Ayala and Tommy Hunter were waiting for him. Ayala had the shaving cream, Hunter had the blue Gatorade. You can picture the rest. "It just happened," Chen said through his interpreter, a wide grin on...

Things got a little tight in the ninth inning of tonight's game when Brad Lidge, in trying to protect a 1-0 lead, allowed a leadoff double to Jed Lowrie, then walked J.D. Martinez on four pitches. For a time there, it looked like tonight might be the second time in five days that Lidge was going to blow a game for Gio Gonzalez after the Nationals starter had thrown seven scoreless innings. But Lidge regrouped, retiring the next three hitters in succession to close it out. Jayson Werth has...

Gio Gonzalez was representing the D.C. sports scene after tonight's dominant outing, sporting a Caps throwback t-shirt. The guy must love the nation's capital, huh? After tonight's outing, Gonzalez has now thrown 14 scoreless frames in his two starts at Nats Park this season, and he earned his first win as a National by holding the Astros to just two hits and two walks on a brisk night. It was another overpowering outing which saw Gonzalez outmatch Astros hitters, striking out eight,...

The scenario has played out many times for Brad Lidge. The starter hands off the lead and the bullpen pushes the game to the deciding ninth frame. This time, the margin of error was extremely small, a 1-0 advantage over a hungry Houston Astros squad that had only three hits all night. Astros shortstop Jed Lowrie led off the inning with a double just inside the right field line. Left fielder J.D. Martinez followed with a walk. Houston had men on first and second with nobody out. The Nationals'...

CHICAGO - Nolan Reimold decided not to wait until the ninth inning to hit a home run tonight. Reimiold broke a scoreless tie in the sixth by following a Robert Andino single with a two-run shot to left field off White Sox starter John Danks, his fourth homer in five days and his fourth in his last four games played. Got all that? Reimold didn't play Sunday in Toronto because of cramping in his left leg - now known as Hammygate by reporters who share a strange sense of humor. Luke Scott was...

It's a good thing the Nationals' starters keep turning in gems, because they're not getting a ton of offensive support. Tonight, Gio Gonzalez got just enough help, and the Nationals rode their left-handed starter and bullpen to a tight 1-0 win over the Astros. Gonzalez has his second straight fantastic outing, going seven innings of scoreless ball, allowing just two hits and two walks. He struck out eight Astros hitters and, at one point, retired 13 straight hitters without allowing a ball...

CHICAGO - Orioles manager Buck Showalter explained earlier today why the Orioles wanted Luis Exposito, who was claimed on waivers from the Red Sox. "He's a catcher," Showalter said, grinning. That'll do it. "We're pretty thin there depth-wise," Showalter continued. "I'm not sure exactly where they're going to send him or what the plan is, but we've had some good reports on him, the majority of them. I'm sure the Red Sox know him a lot longer than we do. They've had him a lot...

The No. 1 rule of being on a baseball beat is to never talk about how quickly a game is moving. So I won't. I'll just say that Gio Gonzalez and Astros starter Wandy Rodriguez have been incredibly efficient through five and a half innings of play, and those of us in the press box thank them for it. Gonzalez has been cruising right along so far tonight, allowing just two hits and two walks through six frames, and he has a 1-0 lead going to the bottom of the sixth. Prior to a Jose Altuve...