Orioles rookie left-hander Zach Britton said he understands why his next start was pushed back from Tuesday to tonight against Washington. Manager Buck Showalter said Britton is on a 200-plus innings pace and the club won't allow him to pack on that many innings this year. So there may be more times like this where he gets a start pushed back a few days to spread out the innings and allow Britton to pitch through the entire 162-game schedule. Britton threw 153 innings in the minors last year...

The Nationals were looking good with a 4-2 lead over the St. Louis Cardinals late Thursday night. In the eighth inning, they called upon their set-up man, Tyler Clippard, to get three outs. But an Albert Pujols' home run cut the lead to 4-3. The Nats still had the lead into the ninth frame. As usual, closer Drew Storen was summoned to finish off another game, as he had done 16 times this season. But, Yadier Molina's home run to lead off the inning changed that plan quickly. So, how big...

The Orioles' offense is struggling. It wasn't supposed to be that way. The O's made offseason additions to address the punchless offense of 2010 thorough both trade and free agency. However, those moves have had mixed results. J.J. Hardy has been a great addition to the lineup. Mark Reynolds, in his own unorthodox way, has actually been a productive hitter, even with a .206 batting average. Derrek Lee and Vladimir Guerrero have been disappointing, to say the least. But it could be worse. Or...

The Nationals are tied with the Phillies for fewest errors in the national league with 33 through 68 games (the Phillies have now played 70). That is a significant step forward for the Nationals team defense after leading the majors, alongside the Pirates, last season with 127 miscues. What might be even more impressive is what the team has done in the first summer month of 2011. The Nationals have the longest current errorless streak in the major leagues at 122 2/3 innings, dating back to...

Here are a couple of notes and stats coming out of today's Orioles win in Toronto while we await the Nats series and the latest O's MRI and injury news, this one involving pitcher Jeremy Guthrie. * The Orioles struggled to hit with runners in scoring position in Toronto, going 1-for-10 today and 3-for-27 in the series. The Orioles are just 5-for-40 (.125) with RISP the last five games. * After being held to just four hits Wednesday night, the Orioles picked up 10 today. It's the fifth time...

Jason Berken picked up his first win of the season with two scoreless innings in relief. He struck out two batters. Welcome back, Jason. The Orioles won in Toronto for the first time since Aug. 7, 2009. The winning pitcher that day was Berken, who started and allowed three runs in six innings before Matt Albers replaced him.

A day that featured another Orioles' base-running mistake and a key error in the last of the sixth inning, along with Jeremy Guthrie leaving his start with an injury, still ended in a win for the Orioles today at Toronto. The Orioles scored twice in the top of the ninth to snap a 2-2 tie and beat the Blue Jays 4-3 this afternoon. That ended their 16-game Toronto losing streak. It's the longest road losing streak versus one club in team history. Today marks the first O's win at Rogers Centre...

Derrek Lee was hitting .132 with runners in scoring position before stepping to the plate with no outs in the ninth inning and the potential go-ahead run 90 feet away. Lee hit a slow chopper to third, and Nolan Reimold beat the throw home. Credit Lee with an RBI on a fielder's choice that gives the Orioles a 3-2 lead. OK, so it wasn't the most dramatic at-bat in history. It wasn't the shot heard 'round the world. But the Orioles needed Lee to do something besides strike out or ground into...

Manager Buck Showalter removed Jeremy Guthrie from today's game after five innings. The Blue Jays had only one hit and one walk, and Guthrie's pitch count stood at 64. This is clearly a health issue. Guthrie seemed to be dealing with some tightness in his back. Head athletic trainer Richie Bancells sat next to him in the dugout, and Guthrie was making a motion as if explaining that he felt discomfort when following through on his delivery. Maybe tightness, maybe spasms. Definitely appeared...

J.J Hardy's homer, a solo shot in the sixth, gave the Orioles a 1-0 lead on Toronto today at Rogers Centre. Hardy, who hit 26 homers with Milwaukee in 2007 and 24 in 2008, now has seven homers, or one more than he had all of last year with Minnesota. Hardy homers: 2009: 6 in 340 at bats, 1 every 56.7 at bats 2010: 7 in 142 at bats, 1 every 20.3 at bats Hardy had a slugging percentage of .394 last year and was at .489 before today's game in which he has a bloop double in addition to the...