On June 10, the Atlanta Braves beat Pittsburgh 13-7 to move into a first-place tie in the National League East. They built a six-game lead by the All-Star break and on July 15, their lead was 7 1/2 games, largest of the season. A second consecutive division title seemed inevitable. Now, as baseball enters the final six weeks, the Braves face a new reality: They aren't the same dominating team that went 20-8 in June. They aren't the team that's playing the best. Although they beat the Dodgers...

It was good news for a rebuilding Orioles organization last month when Baltimore was ranked No. 8 in Baseball America's midseason Major League Baseball organizational rankings, which came out last month. This marks the first time that the Orioles have ranked in the publication's Top 10 since entering the 2010 season, when they also ranked No. 8. The O's also ranked No. 8 when entering the 1994 and 1989 seasons. Baseball America began publishing organization talent rankings in 1983. At the...

It's hard to believe Nationals manager Davey Martinez isn't aware of the angst and frustration three simple words - "He's our closer" - cause for a fan base tired of watching ninth-inning leads frittered away. For the three weeks Sean Doolittle has been struggling to lock down games, Martinez has dug his heels in and drawn a line in the sand, holding firm that the southpaw will remain his closer because he's the best option to protect a lead with three outs to go. When Matt Williams...

The news yesterday that DL Hall is going to miss the remainder of his season at Single-A Frederick with a mild strain of his left lat muscle shouldn't cause a massive panic. The key word here is "mild," which is confirmed by the Grade 1 diagnosis. Resist the urge to replay all the images of past injured pitching prospects. But try to say it three times fast. An earlier occurrence would have gotten Hall back on the mound this summer, but the Keys don't have many games remaining and there's...

It was as fair question to ask: After Saturday night's - er, early Sunday morning's - demoralizing 15-14 loss to the Brewers in 14 innings, how would the Nationals respond? Apparently soul-crushing defeats and lack of restorative sleep result in prodigious displays of home run power. The Nationals took full advantage of their home park's launching pad characteristics in warm, humid weather, muscling up to hit eight homers in a 16-8 rout of the Brewers that secured a series victory. "What I...

The sixth inning is like the trap door that keeps fooling the Orioles. If they don't fall through it, a lead certainly will disappear. Ahead by six runs in the third, the Orioles became helpless as the Red Sox started to chip away and dismantled them by scoring six times in the sixth to take the lead and complete the sweep with a 13-7 victory at Fenway Park. Chance Sisco was injured twice in the inning, with Sam Travis plowing into his left shoulder and a foul ball slamming into his groin...

Max Scherzer has long posited that the day after an activity - be it long toss, simulated game or bullpen session - is the most important component to the evaluation of an injury. So after throwing a 65-pitch simulated game Saturday, how the right-hander felt this morning would go a long way toward determining if he'll ramp up his normal schedule toward a Thursday start in Pittsburgh or continue his recovery from the rhomboid strain that landed him on the 10-day injured list on July 29...

The Nationals won't be answering incessant questions about closer Sean Doolittle's recent ineffectiveness - well, for at least another 10 days or so. Doolittle was placed on the 10-day injured list Sunday morning with right knee tendinitis, hours after coughing up four runs in one-third of an inning and failing to protect an 11-8 lead in the ninth inning. The Nationals went on to lose 15-14 in 14 innings Saturday night. Manager Davey Martinez and Nationals medical personnel met with Doolittle...

BOSTON - Left-hander DL Hall, the Orioles' first-round pick in the 2017 First-Year Player Draft and one of their top prospects, will miss the remainder of the season at Single-A Frederick due to mild strain of his left lat muscle. Hall complained of soreness after his last start on Aug. 8 and was diagnosed with a Grade 1 strain. There aren't enough games left in the minor league season to get him back on the mound, but he could pitch in the Arizona Fall League. The season already was a...

BOSTON - Chris Davis returns to the Orioles lineup today and they'll try to avoid being swept in their three-game series at Fenway Park. Renato Núñez is playing third base. Trey Mancini is the designated hitter and Anthony Santander is in right field. Jace Peterson is in left. Left-hander Ty Blach makes his second start for the Orioles. Nathan Eovaldi is making his fifth start for the Red Sox this season and his 16th appearance. He's allowed 22 earned runs (23 total) and 38 hits in 34...