San Diego hosts the 87th All-Star Game on Tuesday at Petco Park, so here are random facts about the Padres and the history of the All-Star Game in San Diego. This is the third time the Padres have hosted. The first was in 1978, the second in 1992. In 1978, nine years after the franchise started as an expansion team, the National League won 7-3. The Orioles' Jim Palmer was the American League starter, giving up three runs with four walks and four strikeouts. Palmer in the third gave up a...

The American League and National League All-Star teams will be announced Tuesday, and of course, there's a steady stream of second-guessing about how the rosters are selected for an exhibition that determines World Series home field advantage. Here's what needs to be done: Cut rosters from 34 to 26 players, meaning each team can select an extra pitcher beyond the regular season 25-man roster, which is what teams do for split doubleheaders. Then, play an actual game. It would be a throwback....

The Orioles have a big lead in the American League East, but with one game remaining in June, the story is their steady stream of home runs - and how they are different from the other record-setting teams. Mark Trumbo's home run Wednesday in San Diego gave the Orioles 55 home runs during June, tying the record held by the 1996 Oakland Athletics. The Orioles are three short of tying the all-time monthly record by the 1987 Orioles and the 1999 Seattle Mariners. The noteworthy thread is that none...

The Nationals and Orioles usually have story lines that run on parallel tracks and this year is no different. Each is a first-place team. Each has a sizable lead with a crumbling contender behind them. The defending National League East champion New York Mets have a dysfunctional offense and now, after an 11-4 loss to the Nationals on Monday night, their rotation could be falling apart. The Boston Red Sox, a first-place team in the American League East on June 1, have a list of problems that...

The Nationals and Cubs, two of the best teams in baseball, finished playing their seventh and final game of the regular season Wednesday at Nationals Park. So, what happens now? Will they see each other again? If so, that means they'll meet with the pennant on the line. And, what did each team learn about the other? Nationals manager Dusty Baker says the Cubs will change by late in the season, but there are still nuggets that can be stored, just in case. Baker keeps notes and says he's gotten...

We know there is hitting aplenty in the American League East, but can any of the contenders pitch? The Blue Jays won the AL home run title and the division last season. This season, the Orioles led the majors in home runs while Toronto is fourth and Boston sixth. The Red Sox lead the AL in runs with 369. The Orioles are third and the Blue Jays tied for sixth. The Red Sox have the highest average (.291) and on-base percentage (.357). So while there's plenty of hitting, there is a common thread...

Six years ago today, Stephen Strasburg struck out 14 batters in his big league debut for the Nationals against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Nationals won the game 5-2 before 40,315 fans at Nationals Park. The Nationals moved to D.C. from Montreal in 2005. At the time, Strasburg's debut was the biggest baseball event in Washington since the 1933 World Series. Among the highlights: * Fans stood six deep to watch Strasburg warm up in the bullpen before the game. Then, as he and Nationals pitching...

Looking back to the offseason, it's difficult to believe that Daniel Murphy was the Nationals' third choice when they were looking for a second baseman. They wanted to trade for Cincinnati's Brandon Phillips, but, per his contract, Phillips vetoed a trade and wanted to stay with the rebuilding Reds. Who knows why he didn't want to play for his former Reds manager, Dusty Baker, in D.C.? Phillips, by the way, is hitting .256. Then, the Nationals tried to sign Ben Zobrist, but he did want to...

As Memorial Day arrives, the Nationals lead the National League East because of their excellent starting pitching and improved bullpen. That's not unexpected. But how about the Phillies? The team that lost 99 games last season has started the first two months as a contender because of their rotation and bullpen. They are proving that a team doesn't need to score a lot of runs when pitching dominates. Anyone see the Phillies coming? Like the Nationals, the Mets are winning even though they...

After two months, the Orioles are contending in the American League East, but their biggest rival has been the Red Sox, not the defending champion Blue Jays.The Rays have done a turnaround: They have a dangerous power lineup, but their rotation has questions. The Red Sox, with David Ortiz in his final season, are pounding the ball, playing tight defense and growing a nucleus of talented players. Their issue is pitching. The Yankees were bad in April, but surged in May, thanks to a string of...

You have questions and we have answers to the most-often asked ones in baseball: Q: The San Francisco Giants are leading the National League West after investing $230 million in two pitchers - Jeff Samardzija and Johnny Cueto - who were not effective pitchers last season, but are lights-out this season. What gives? A: Samardzija was 11-13 with a 4.96 ERA for the Chicago White Sox last season, so it seems strange the Giants thought he was worth $90 million. The Giants thought that Samardzija was...

Pitcher Max Scherzer returns to the mound Tuesday night when the Nationals start a three-game series in Citi Field against the New York Mets, the team that beat them in the National League East last season. And while Nationals-Mets rivalry - with all that starting pitching on both sides - is one story, there's another to watch: How will Scherzer follow up his historic 20-strikeout game against Detroit on Wednesday night at Nationals Park? As Nationals fans learned during Scherzer's first...

The Nationals' Max Scherzer became history's fifth pitcher to have 20 strikeouts in a nine-inning game when Washington beat the Detroit Tigers 3-2 Wednesday night. Tigers manager Brad Ausmus has been involved three of the 20-strikeout games. He was the Houston catcher when the Chicago Cubs' Kerry Wood struck out 20 Astros on May 6, 1998 at Wrigley Field in a 2-0 Cubs win. And Ausmus was the Detroit catcher the night Boston's Roger Clemens struck out 20 Tigers on Sept. 18, 1996 in Tiger...

Let's say, for the sake of argument, that the Nationals' Stephen Strasburg wanted to become a free agent after the season and pitch on the West Coast where he'd be closer to home in San Diego. Strasburg, 27, never talked about his future with reporters, but it's reasonable that a West Coast guy would give up the rush-rush pace of the East Coast for the sunshine of Southern California. Strasburg, though, has signed a seven-year, $175 million contract to stay with the Nationals at least...

As the Nationals found out first-hand this weekend, the Cubs are off to a sizzling start. They are 24-6 after sweeping Washington in Wrigley Field. The last time the Cubs were 26-4 to start a season was 1907, the year they won the World Series. The Cubs' start brings back memories of the 1984 Tigers, the Sparky Anderson-managed team that started 35-5, won 104 games and the American League East by 15 games. The Tigers were 26-4 after their first 30 games. Those Tigers won their first nine games...

The Nationals' new second baseman is on a hitting rampage. He's hit in 23 of 26 Nationals games. He has 13 multi-hit games, has RBIs in six consecutive games and in Kansas City, he became the 10th player to get his 1,000th career hit wearing a Nationals uniform. Here are things to know about Murphy: * Murphy, a left-handed batter, hit a career-high 14 home runs for the Mets last season, eight in the final two months, four each in August and September. Mets batting coach Kevin Long worked with...

The first month of the baseball season is in the books. The first checkpoint has arrived, and so here's what you need to know about April's developing stories. * The Trevor-ending story: Sorry to start with a bad pun, but who could resist? And who would have thought that Colorado shortstop Trevor Story's home runs would be all the rage after the first month? He has 10 going into the week, including five in Arizona and four at the Rockies' Coors Field. In an unusual scheduling twist, the...

Emmanuel Burriss arrived early Thursday afternoon in the Phillies clubhouse at Nationals Park. He had spent the morning with his dad, Allen, in his U Street neighborhood in D.C. "We were just driving around, talking, looking at the neighborhood,'' Burriss said. "Things have changed.'' Burriss is happy to see turf fields replacing the diamonds that he played on. "Our fields had weeds, broken glass and rocks,'' Burriss says. "Kids aren't stupid. They don't want to play on those...

The Nationals and Orioles are giving mid-Atlantic baseball fans reasons to believe this season is going to be special. But this isn't the only region that's excited about how the first three weeks have gone. Check out Chicago. The Cubs, picked by many to win their first World Series since 1908, are leading the National League Central, and the White Sox - the team from the Chicago's South Side - are off to their best start since 2006, winning 13 of their first 19. The White Sox hope that a...

You have questions and we have answers: Q: How does Daniel Murphy like playing for the Nationals, given he was with the rival Mets last season? A: Murphy has fit in perfectly, and how could any one argue with his production? Another contribution from Murphy: He's met with each of the Nationals pitchers to give them scouting reports on how the Mets viewed them last season. He's told them when the Mets were comfortable at the plate, when they weren't and when they were expecting certain...