For Sean Nolin and the Nationals, the message (standing up for a star teammate against an opponent that appeared to hit him on purpose the previous night) superseded all else. If it meant the rest of the pitching staff would face an extreme uphill battle from that point on, so be it. The message, even if nobody would publicly admit it after the fact, was more important. And when Nolin intentionally threw at Freddie Freeman on successive pitches in the bottom of the first tonight in Atlanta,...

A quality start from Matt Harvey on Aug. 27 against the Rays has been followed by two failed attempts to complete the fifth inning. What's also going to follow are questions about his remaining time in a rotation that keeps getting younger and less experienced. The Orioles will figure it out. In the meantime, they seem to be getting more frisky. More confident in themselves. Less inclined to wait for something bad to happen to them. There's no reasonable way to question it. They made sure...

Matt Harvey made his 28th start last night, the former Orioles reclamation project in spring training who turned into the No. 2 guy in the rotation breaking camp. Before all the shuffling that wrecked the order like a wet NASCAR track. Whether Harvey receives a 29th, or when he does, is under discussion. Whether the Orioles bend to the need to evaluate and offer chances to their prospects who suddenly have formed a conga line to Camden Yards. Mike Baumann made his major league debut Tuesday...

Keibert Ruiz's much-hyped Nationals debut came eight days ago, in the club's homestand opener against the Phillies, with fellow former Dodgers prospect Josiah Gray on the mound. Since then, the rookie catcher has gone a pedestrian 3-for-21 at the plate, started four games, fouled a ball off his right knee and spent three days recovering from the bone bruise that caused. The Nats can only hope Ruiz will find his rhythm now that he's back in the lineup for tonight's game against the Braves....

Mike Baumann is going to follow his major league debut last night, and his first victory, with another bullpen appearance. Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said Baumann will be used in similar fashion after working 3 2/3 innings and allowing only an unearned run. "We're going to do the same thing with Mike, probably in a few days," Hyde said, "where he's going to do an extended bullpen appearance where I probably bring him in in a clean inning and give us some innings out of the 'pen that...

What's the best thing the Nationals could do to give themselves a better chance of winning tonight against the Braves? How about a quality performance from their starter, allowing them to avoid falling into an early hole yet again and asking their lineup to battle back just to make it interesting late? As impressive as the offense has been with all these rallies of late - they've come back to at least tie the game six straight times - the task would be so much simpler if they weren't giving...

Trey Mancini (oblique) and Ramón Urías (leg) remain out of the Orioles lineup for tonight's game against the Royals at Camden Yards. Ryan McKenna is in center field and Cedric Mullins is the designated hitter. Pedro Severino is batting cleanup. Austin Hays will try to extend his hitting streak to 15 games. He's 19-for-51 (.373) with 12 RBIs, eight extra-base hits and 10 runs scored during the streak. Mullins has homered in three consecutive games to run his team-leading total to 27....

After last night's win that featured right-hander Mike Baumann's major league debut and homers from Cedric Mullins, Austin Hays and DJ Stewart, the Orioles look for another win tonight as their series continues with the Kansas City Royals. The Orioles (44-93) won for the third time in four games and are 4-3 over the last seven. They are 6-7 the last 13 games since Aug. 25. The clubs have split the first two games of this four-game series and the Orioles are now 3-2 on the year versus the...

It's exciting - thrilling, really - when a rookie gets his big chance and runs with it like Mike Baumann did last night. Nights like that can give Birdland hope that there may be more talents like Baumann still to come. They hope the young talent comes crashing into Camden Yards like waves into the shoreline. And the waves keep coming. And coming. It was before the game in the Orioles dugout when Baumann spoke with reporters and told us how excited he was to get the shot to make his major...

For the sixth straight game, the Nationals mounted a furious comeback, erasing a 5-1 deficit by scoring four times in the seventh to give themselves new life in the opener of their series against the Braves in Atlanta. Yadiel Hernandez's three-run homer in the seventh knotted the score at 5-5, but switch-hitter Ozzie Albies, hitting right-handed against righty Ryne Harper in the bottom of the frame, hit a two-run homer as the Braves recorded an 8-5 victory on Tuesday night. Harper started the...