Livan Hernandez bounced back from a rough outing to go 6 2/3 innings, striking out a season-high nine and throwing a season-high 123 pitches in the Washington Nationals' 2-1 series clinching victory at the Chicago White Sox. Danny Espinosa provided the offense with a two run-homer in the seventh and Drew Storen came on in the ninth to record his 19th save. It was a special win for interim manager John McLaren, who took over as skipper Friday following Jim Riggleman's resignation. McLaren...

Today's attendance: 27,809 Luke Scott homered off Reds reliever Aroldis Chapman in the seventh inning to provide a huge insurance run and end the left-handers strikeout streak at five, and Kevin Gregg recorded his 14th save by retiring three batters after former Oriole Ramon Hernandez greeted him with a home run on the first pitch in the top of the ninth. Orioles 7, Reds 5. Jeremy Guthrie picks up his third victory of the season, and the Orioles take two of three from Cincinnati after going...

He hit a walk-off homer in the 12th inning on Friday night. Today's homer came much earlier but was still pretty important. Derrek Lee's three-run shot gave the Orioles a 4-0 lead in the fourth inning today and they went on to beat Cincinnati 7-5 to win the series, two victories to one. Lee entered this game 6-for-8 in his career versus Reds starter Homer Bailey and is now 7-for-11. It was his sixth homer on the year. One out after Lee's 400-foot blast to left, Mark Reynolds crushed a...

The Orioles gave Jeremy Guthrie a five-run lead today, but he came out of the game after 5 2/3 innings. Guthrie allowed two runs and six hits while he was on the mound, with four walks and five strikeouts. He threw 111 pitches, which forced manager Buck Showalter to call upon relievers Clay Rapada and Jim Johnson in the sixth inning. Rapada walked Joey Votto to load the bases, and Johnson walked Jonny Gomes and Fred Lewis to force in two runs and complete Guthrie's line. Guthrie is charged...

The Orioles took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning on Nick Markakis' two-out single that scored Blake Davis. Davis singled and stole second with one out. Catcher Craig Tatum walked and J.J. Hardy popped up before Markakis came to the plate. Tatum was thrown out at third base to end the inning, but not before Davis scored. Update: Derrek Lee crushed a three-run homer to left field to give the Orioles a 4-0 lead in the fourth inning. The rally started when the Reds let Adam...

I am sure Orioles manager Buck Showalter is not at all opposed to Jeremy Guthrie pitching deep into today's game with Cincinnati. In case you have not noticed, Orioles' starters have not been pitching deep into recent games. This weekend, Chris Jakubauskas went just five against the Reds Friday and Brian Matusz only 4 2/3 innings last night. Over the last nine games, Orioles' starters have pitched six innings or more just twice. They have just one quality start and an ERA of 5.32 in that...

You don't have to worry about Jeremy Guthrie's velocity today. His fastball topped out at 97 mph in the first inning. The Reds forced Guthrie to throw 28 pitches in the inning. They didn't score, but they had a single and walk. Guthrie struck out the last two batters he faced. Mark Reynolds committed his 17th error in the second inning on a high throw to second base on an attempted force. That put runners on first and second with no outs. It also put Guthrie in quite a jam. Miguel Cairo...

Now that I've left the MASN set in the bullpen area and returned to the press box, I can pass along more quotes from Jake Arrieta. Arrieta completed a bullpen session today without experiencing any discomfort in his right elbow. "My side was pretty good," he said afterward while standing at his locker. "I was a little timid at first to let it go, but once we got loose, got stretched out pretty good, it felt close to normal. Breaking balls were good. What I really wanted to make sure I...

The Washington Nationals today announced that Davey Johnson has been named to serve as field manager and will be in uniform Monday for the Nationals game against the Los Angeles Angels. Nationals Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. Johnson, a senior advisor to Rizzo since 2009, will direct the Nationals on the field for the remainder of the 2011 season. He also agreed to a three-year consulting contract that will have him remain...

Jake Arrieta threw around 40 pitches in the bullpen today and said his right elbow felt good, but he's scheduled for another side session on Wednesday and is shooting for a Saturday start in Atlanta. Arrieta was supposed to pitch Wednesday against the Cardinals at Camden Yards, but the Orioles want him to throw again in the bullpen and build up to around 50 pitches. Arrieta, who's been receiving treatment on his right elbow for inflammation caused by a bone spur, said he threw the last 10...