ST. LOUIS – After a two-night stretch in which they drove in 24 runs with a flurry of clutch hits, especially late-game hits, the Nationals found themselves in need of just one more late this afternoon if they wanted to pull off a rare sweep of the Cardinals. That hit proved far more elusive in the daylight than it did the previous two evenings. An

The crowd erupted today in the top of the first inning when Padres leadoff hitter Luis Arraez lifted a popup that Gunnar Henderson ran down in foul territory. No collision or dropped ball. Fans hadn’t forgotten yesterday’s blunder. Henderson ranged past second base in the second inning and made a sprawling stop and throw to retire David Peralta. Th

ST. LOUIS – As Jesse Winker was speaking to New York media members at Citi Field, Alex Call was unpacking his bags at Busch Stadium, taking over the locker Winker occupied only 12 hours earlier. And next door in the manager’s office, Davey Martinez was filling out a lineup card with a new No. 3 hitter and a new regular designated hitter. At least f

The Orioles have been swept this year three in a row by St. Louis, Houston and the Chicago Cubs. Today the San Diego Padres, winners of seven in a row, will try to add their name to the list. San Diego (57-50) has won the first two games of this series by 6-4 and 9-4 scores. The Padres have won these last seven versus Cleveland, Washington and the

Zach Eflin wasn’t ignorant to the trade rumors. He heard and read them. His soon-to-be former club kept him informed. Eflin was in the know and on a flight to Baltimore. This morning’s media clubhouse access allowed for introductions as Eflin stood in front of the locker that belonged to injured pitcher John Means. He already met his new teammates