The flowers remain in full bloom, the weather as gorgeous as a quad full of coeds and the Nationals took three of four from a good Cincinnati team over the weekend to move their record to 7-3. There was a billboard near the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta for many years that read, "It's Always Springtime at Bulldog Bonding." Always springtime? I think I could learn to like that. Ross Detwiler pitched well Sunday. His fastball was sitting at 94 mph and there was plenty of life to all his...

I'm glad to see Robert Andino at second base. Flash back a year, and I can assure you that the previous sentence would never come out of my mouth. But with injuries and gaps in the roster, the utility infielder has been upgraded to an everyday role. So what can we expect from the almost-28-year-old this year? This 2012 season is Andino's to seize. With the chance to finally play pretty much every day, Andino has the chance to show what he can do not only at second base, but also at the...

This is how good the fast start is for the Nationals: They have a winning record even though they have no Michael Morse, no Drew Storen and virtually no offense. Last season, the Nationals scored 3.8 runs a game. This season, through the first 10 games, they were at 3.9. The Nationals missed a chance at their first four-game sweep since moving to D.C. in 2005 when they lost 8-5 in 11 innings to the Reds at Nationals Park on Sunday. But while the Nationals have new swagger, the Reds, one of...

It's Monday morning, which means it's time for another edition of Clubhouse Cliff Notes. In this entry, you'll find a few of the most interesting/funny/insightful things spoken in the Nationals clubhouse over the last week. Again, I might re-use a quote that you've seen in one of my previous entries, but I'll do my best to keep this stuff fresh with new material. Here we go: Mark DeRosa April 11 postgame Context: On winning the first two series of the season, both on the road Quote:...

I'm heading to the airport to catch my flight to Chicago, where the Orioles begin a four-game series tonight. It's not a coincidence. That's why I'm going to Chicago. The Orioles took two of three games from the Blue Jays, but it felt like a losing series after yesterday's meltdown. Maybe the bar's actually been raised. The Orioles led 2-1 before giving up seven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. But on the plus side, manager Buck Showalter didn't burn up his bullpen. It should...

As first reported on MASNSports.com on Saturday, the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs will start Tyler Moore in left field Monday night against the Pawtucket Red Sox. It will be Moore's first start in the outfield. Appearing on Sports Radio 106.7 The Fan's "Nats Insider" Sunday night, Chiefs manager Tony Beasley confirmed that Moore would start in left field Monday. Veteran Mark Teahan is expected to move to first base for the first game against Pawtucket. "Starting (Monday), he's is going to...

I would guess if you put it to a vote right now among the fan base, it might be almost unanimous that the club should now cut ties with reliever Kevin Gregg, even if the Orioles have to eat all of his 2012 salary. The 2011 season was bad for him, but it's started worse this season. He allowed six straight batters to reach yesterday turning a 3-2 deficit that the Orioles could possibly overcome into an 8-2 game that was now pretty much out of reach. The Orioles clearly have better options...

Davey Johnson revealed after today's game that All-Star reliever Tyler Clippard is battling some shoulder discomfort, although it wasn't enough to keep him out of today's game. Clippard and Johnson both say that the discomfort didn't affect the righty's performance today (Clippard allowed three runs in the 11th inning) and isn't anything major. Instead, they say, this is something that 27-year-old experiences every season around this time. "It's just normal stuff I've been going...

Here's Ross Detwiler on the umpiring in today's game: "I'm not going to make any comment on the umpiring." Later, Detwiler was asked if he thought he had struck out Ryan Ludwick on a 1-2 pitch in the first inning, two pitches prior to Ludwick hitting a grand slam that gave the Reds a 4-0 lead. The Nationals lefty cracked a wry smile but didn't speak a word. Yeah, he wasn't pleased. Detwiler allowed five runs today over five innings, but only one of the runs was earned. As I described...

The first question Nationals manager Davey Johnson was asked in his press conference following today's 8-5 extra-inning loss to the Reds was about the umpiring. That's how much a couple first-inning calls that didn't go the Nats way affected the course of this game. It started with a close play at first in which Adam LaRoche appeared to touch first base only to hear first base umpire Mike Everitt say LaRoche had missed the bag and call Scott Rolen safe. That kept the inning alive. A...