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...

CHICAGO - Dylan Bundy allowed a baserunner tonight. Better keep him in the South Atlantic League until he figures it out. Making his home debut, Bundy walked Hagerstown center fielder Billy Burns with two outs in the third inning - the only runner to reach against him in three starts. Bundy struck out three more batters, giving him 15 in nine innings. He still hasn't surrendered a hit. The fourth-overall pick in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft got two ground balls and a strikeout in the...

Orioles top pitching prospect Dylan Bundy just completed his third outing as a pro and he has now pitched the equivalent of a nine-inning no-hitter over his three games for the Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds. In the first inning tonight versus Hagerstown, the 19-year-old right-hander got a strikeout, followed by a pair of ground outs. In the second inning he got a fly out and then a pair of strikeouts. In the third he retired the first two hitters on ground outs before allowing a two-out walk...

Here are some impressive home run stats for Orioles catcher Matt Wieters. He started hitting more homers late last year as you may recall and, in fact, he had 12 of his 22 homers in 2011 in the season's final two months. If you combined that with his fast start this year - he has four homers already - Wieters has now hit 16 home runs over his last 45 games. That is a 57-homer pace over 162 games. He hit 12 in his last 36 games last year and has four in the first nine games this season. He...

Edwin Jackson's usually a pretty happy-go-lucky kind of guy. But today especially, his smile lit up the Nationals' clubhouse. Jackson got a surprise today when manager Davey Johnson called for Jackson to come into his office. The Nats skipper didn't want to talk about the hurler's latest outing or anything on-field related, but instead, he had a gift waiting for Jackson. Johnson picked up a small box and passed it across the desk. Inside the black case was Jackson's 2012 St. Louis...