The Orioles were able to get into the Rays bullpen early today, which is good news against most teams. Not this one. Michael Wacha served as the opener, Tampa Bay's relievers didn't give an inch and the Orioles lost 7-1 to complete the sweep at Tropicana Field. César Valdez inherited two runners from Travis Lakins Sr. in the seventh, and a strikeout and intentional walk were followed by Randy Arozarena's grand slam. The Orioles are 22-42 and have lost 15 consecutive road games, the streak...

Orioles lefty Bruce Zimmermann surely battled well today. He missed by one out giving the Orioles a quality start, something they have had just once in their last 15 games. But he pitched them deeper into the game than some O's starters recently had and kept his team in the game this afternoon at Tropicana Field. But the O's offense was not getting much going against five Tampa Bay pitchers, and they lost 7-1 to the Rays to get swept in this series. The Orioles fall to 22-42 and have now lost...

As their two aces departed early with injuries the extent of which aren't entirely known just yet, the Nationals were left with no choice but to call upon their longtime No. 5/6 starters to pick up the slack this weekend. Whether Erick Fedde and Joe Ross can continue to thrive under this new pressure for the long haul or not remains to be seen. Certainly, they need to prove they can do it every fifth day, not just once in a blue moon. But for these 24 hours on South Capitol Street, there is no...

Max Scherzer hopes to make his next scheduled start, but the Nationals ace admitted today he'll need to be able to complete a bullpen session Monday without being too restricted by his tweaked groin muscle in order to avoid a short stint on the injured list. "That I can definitely say: I have to be able to throw a bullpen tomorrow if I'm going to make the start," Scherzer said in a brief on-field interview shortly after he played catch prior to today's series finale against the Giants....

O's lefty Bruce Zimmermann will try to pitch the Orioles to a win this afternoon at Tropicana Field. The Birds have won his last two starts and need a victory today to avoid being swept by the Tampa Bay Rays and extending their club record road losing streak to 15 games. Zimmermann (4-3, 4.83 ERA) will be making his 11th start. The Orioles are 3-7 in the first 10 but 2-0 in the last two, versus Minnesota and the New York Mets. In those games he allowed four runs and eight hits over 10 1/3...

DJ Stewart is leading off this afternoon and Cedric Mullins is on the bench as the Orioles close out their series against the Rays and hop on a flight to Cleveland. Austin Hays moves to center field. Austin Wynns stays behind the plate. Ryan Mountcastle is the designated hitter. Pat Valaika is playing second base. Rookie left-hander Bruce Zimmermann - yes, a local product - is 4-3 with a 4.83 ERA and 1.463 WHIP in 11 games (10 starts) over 54 innings. He's allowed five runs in his last three...

To say this series has featured very little offense would be the understatement of the year. Through three games and 24 innings of baseball, the Nationals and Giants have each scored three runs. Yes, three runs. So it's probably not unreasonable to say that the first team to score in today's series finale is going to be in great position to win the game. The Nats will need some quality and some length from Joe Ross, who more than anything just needs to avoid that one bad inning that has so...

So, after all that, what's the state of the Nationals pitching staff heading into today's series finale against the Giants? Not as bad as it could have been, all things considered. But there are still bullpen concerns. The Nats made it through Saturday's 15-inning doubleheader in one piece, thanks to Erick Fedde's five scoreless innings in the opener and Jefry Rodriguez's four scoreless innings in the nightcap. Now they'll turn to Joe Ross for today's nine-inning game. Originally...

The Orioles pretty much knew what they were getting with shortstop Freddy Galvis after signing him to a one-year contract in January. At the plate and on the field. They had the video, statistics, impressions made while watching from the opposite dugout. The rest could be culled in discussions with former teams, the people closest to him professionally. From how he interacted with teammates in the past. His influence inside the clubhouse. But it still had to be seen and heard. Galvis was one of...

Losing games is frustrating enough, but racking up close losses provides a whole other level of angst. The Orioles fell to 22-41 with Saturday's 5-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. They have lost by two runs and one run in this series. During their 14-game losing streak, the Orioles went 0-7 in games decided by two runs or fewer. They are 1-2 in such games since the losing streak ended, with both losses this weekend at Tropicana Field. The Orioles are now 4-10 in one-run games. Austin Wynns hit...