Just a few weeks ago, Jones switched positions from linebacker to tight end, and was expected to provide security for Todd Heap and Daniel Wilcox, who both are recovering from injuries.

The Ravens also released their injury report going into the weekend:

Heap (knee) and RB Willis McGahee (knee) are both listed as probable, as are T Oniel Cousins (back) and G Marshal Yanda (thumb). "Probable" implies a 75% chance of playing, which is an upgrade over the 50% chance that McGahee gave himself yesterday.

S Ed Reed (neck) is listed as questionable, implying a 50% chance of playing.

DT Kelly Gregg (knee) is listed as doubtful, and QB Troy Smith is out (illness).

Adam Terry had been slotted to start at right tackle, Willie Anderson's spot on the line. Terry will now likely move over to left tackle and challenge Jared Gaither for playing time.

But the Ravens don't know how good Gaither can be. He's got all the talent in the world, but the knock against him has been his work ethic. Is he willing to work hard enough to become an elite left tackle?

This was going to be the season the Ravens would find out. Barring injury, he was set to man Joe Flacco's (or Troy Smith's) blind-side for the whole season, or at least until he proved he wasn't up to the job.

If Terry moves to the left side and takes snaps away from Gaither, head coach John Harbaugh and GM Ozzie Newsome still won't know if they have a cornerstone left tackle, or a guy who isn't ready for the big stage yet.

Gaither might out-play Terry and get his chance to play full-time. But if he has a bad game, Terry will be sitting there, and Gaither might not have as much of a chance to work through his troubles as he did before big Willie Anderson came to town.

Oh, and then there's Anderson's contract.

$11 million over three years for a 33-year-old who missed most of last season with knee and foot injuries.

Eek.

Let's start by thinking positive and thinking short-term: The Ravens play the Bengals this Sunday. Willie Anderson used to play for the Bengals. For 12 seasons.

You think Ravens coaches won't sit Willie down for a few hours over the next couple days and pick his brain?

Anderson told The Cincinnati Enquirer that he would be ready to play this week, but I wouldn't expect that to happen. He needs time to learn the Ravens' offense. But he could play just as big of a role just by providing the team with some inside information.

In the bigger picture, the 33-year-old provides the Ravens with some stability on an offensive line that struggled through much of training camp and the preseason.

Look, with rookie Joe Flacco starting under center, the Ravens are going to need as much help for him as they can get. A lot has been made about Flacco's jump from a 1-AA college to the NFL, and while I don't buy as much into that as most, the more comfortable "Joe Cool" is, the better.

The pocket collapsed on him more than a few times this preseason, and adding a four-time Pro Bowl tackle to the mix obviously will help buy Flacco some more time.

On second thought, maybe having him suit up on Sunday isn't such a bad idea.

Pitcher Jair Jurrjens hit an infield single to get the inning started. Josh Anderson singled to put runners on the corners for Kelly Johnson. Johnson doubled to right, scoring Jurrjens. After Chipper Jones walked, to load the bases, Brian McCann hit a sac fly to make it 3-1 Atlanta.

Bergmann walked Yunel Escobar to load the bases for the second time and Casey Kotchman forced in a run with a free pass. Estrada walked Jeff Francoeur to force in the fourth run of the inning and Brandon Jones cleared the bases with a three-run double to make it 8-1.

Pete McElroy's Live Gameblog

Bergmann's awful outing
To say Jason Bergmann had an off night would be an understatement. He didn't make it out of the third, giving up seven runs on five hits and three walks in 2 1/3 innings. Six of the seven batters Bergmann faced reached base and all of them scored.
2 1/3 IP, 5 H, 7 R, 3 BB, 2 K. 60 pitches, 33 strikes

Nationals scoring, 3rd inning
Roger Bernadina's first career RBI tied the game 1-1 in the third. Bernadina tripled home Ryan Zimmerman, who single to lead-off the inning, extending his hitting streak to 11 games. The triple was the first of Bernadin's career.

Braves scoring, 1st inning
Chipper Jones' ground out scored Josh Anderson, who doubled to lead-off the inning, giving the Braves the 1-0 lead. Kelly Johnson moved Anderson to third on a ground out before Jones 68th RBI on the season

Nationals fail to capitalize
Washington loaded the bases on Jair Jurrjens in the first but failed to produce a run. Cristian Guzman drew a one-out walk and Kory Casto singled, with two outs, before Ryan Langerhans walked. Jurrjens got Roger Bernadina to grounded out to second to end the threat.

Starting Line-ups

Nationals
LF Willie Harris
SS Cristian Guzman
3B Ryan Zimmerman
1B Kory Casto
RF Ryan Langerhans
CF Roger Bernadina
C Wil Nieves
2B Emilio Bonifacio
P Jason Bergmann

Braves
CF Josh Anderson
2B Kelly Johnson
3B Chipper Jones
C Brian McCann
SS Yunel Escobar
1B Casey Kotchman
RF Jeff Francoeur
LF Brandon Jones
P Jair Jurrjens

Game Preview
Nationals (54-87) at Atlanta (61-80)
Washington, winners of eight of nine on their most recent homestand, lost to the Braves 2-0 last night and dropped their third straight road game.

Right-handed pitcher Shairon Martis, making a spot start, lost his Major League debut by giving up two runs on four hits and five walks in five innings.

The Nationals' offense managed just five hits off James Parr, also making his Major League debut, and three Braves relievers. The 2-0 loss was the 21st time Washington was held without a run this season.

Ronnie Belliard, who had three of the five hits, left the game with a right groin injury and may be finished for the season.

Jason Bergmann gets the rock and looks to end the Nationals' road troubles. Atlanta sends Jair Jurrjens to the hill.

Pitching Match-Up

RHP Jason Bergmann (2-10, 4.83) didn't make it out of the fifth in his last start on August 30th against the Braves at Nationals Park.

Bergmann gave up four runs on five hits in the third inning. Seth Anderson hit a one-out double and scored on Chipper Jones' two-out double. Brian McCann and Omar Infante followed with doubles to make it 3-0. Martin Prado's RBI single made it 4-0.

After the Nationals scored two in the fourth, Bergmann gave up a lead-off homer to McCann and one-out later Prado hit a solo home run to end Bergmann's evening. Washington scored five times in the bottom of the inning to let Bergmann off the hook.

In his career vs. the Braves, Bergmann is 4-2 with a 4.37 ERA in 16 games, eight starts. At Turner field, he's 2-1 with a 2.19 ERA in eight games, three starts.

Last year Bergmann faced the Braves five times, going 3-1 with a 2.64 ERA. He was 2-0 with a 3.07 ERA in two starts at RFK Stadium and 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA at Turner Field.

RHP Jair Jurrjens (11-9, 3.59) faced the Nationals last Sunday at Nationals Park and had a quality start, but the bullpen failed him and he received a no-decision in the Braves 8-4 loss.

Jurrjens allowed two runs in the first after the Braves scored a run in the top of the inning. Willie Harris singled and Cristain Guzman doubled to put runners on second and third. Elijah Dukes' groundout scored Harris and Aaron Boone's RBI single plated Guzman for the 2-1 lead.

Harris' two-out single in the fourth scored Emilio Bonifacio, who walked to lead-off the inning and moved into scoring position when Jurrjens walked opposing pitcher Collin Balester.

The 22-year-old is making his fourth start against the Nationals this season and he's still looking for his first win. He's allowed nine runs in 19 1/3 innings vs. Washington.

Jurrjens, who hasn't won at home since June 5th, is 0-4 in his last six starts at Turner Field and has a 5-4 record with a 3.84 ERA in Atlanta this season.

Prior to the All-Star break, Jurrjens was 9-4 with a 3.00 ERA. Since the mid-summer classic, he's 2-5 with a 4.80 ERA.

In the O's 5th the Orioles tied the game, 2-2. A Lou Montanez RBI double plated Oscar Salazar, who had walked.

Brian Roberts' RBI single in the last of the third gave the O's a 1-0 lead. It scored Montanez who had singled and advanced to second on an error. The run was unearned.

Steve Melewski's Live GameBlog From Camden Yards

Nice Throw
Adam Jones hasn't had too many chances to show off his arm this year, but he just had one in the top of the 6th. He threw Emil Brown out at the plate to save a run with his 4th OF assist of the season. Jones throw made it all the way on the fly just in front of and to the third base side of the plate. Ramon Hernandez caught it and quickly tagged out Brown.

Recapping Today's Moves
The O's added pitchers Brian Bass and Alfredo Simon, both right-handers, IF Brandon Fahey and C Omir Santos from Triple-A. All but Fahey were not already on the 40-man roster so to make room the O's released P Fernando Cabrera, IF Eider Torres was designated for assignment and Chris Ray went from the 15 to the 60-day DL.

Bass came in a trade from Minnesota where he went 3-4, 4.87 this season in 44 games for the Twins. He gave up 37ER in 68 1/3 innings. Bass is 26 and was acquired for a player to be named later or cash considerations.

Simon was signed by the O's out of the Mexican League on August 29th. The 27-year-old this year for Monterrey went 7-2, 2.67 in 15 games, 11 starts, holding opponents to a .220 average.

The 27-year-old Santos played in 84 games for the Tides, batting .269 with 39 RBI. This is his 8th pro season and when he gets in an O's game it will be his Major League debut.

Fahey hit .252 in 64 games for Norfolk. He has played in 40 O's games this year.

Fall and Winter Leagues
The Orioles have announced that the following players are going to the Arizona Fall League to play for Norfolk manager Gary Allenson and the Surprise Rafters. They are Nolan Reimold, Brandon Snyder, Matt Wieters and these pitchers: Brian Matusz, Chad Thall, Kam Mickilio and Bob McCrory.

Headed to play for the West Oahu Canefires of the Hawaiian Winter League are: C Wally Crancer, 3B Tyler Hensen and pitchers Tim Bascom, Sean Gleason, Cliff Flagello, Brian Parker and Chris Salberg.

Play Ball
Tonight's game is underway here at cloudy Camden Yards. The first pitch was at 7:08pm and it's 88 degrees. Check back during tonight's game for the latest from Camden Yards.

Starting Lineups

A's
CF Ryan Sweeney
SS Bobby Crosby
LF Emil Brown
DH Jack Cust
C Kurt Suzuki
1B Daric Barton
3B Jack Hannahan
RF Aaron Cunningham
2B Eric Patterson

Orioles
2B Brian Roberts
CF Adam Jones
RF Nick Markakis
C Ramon Hernandez
1B Kevin Millar
LF Luke Scott
3B Oscar Salazar
LF Lou Montanez
SS Juan Castro
P Chris Waters

Trembley's Talk
The manager and team announced today the release of RHP Fernando Cabrera, IF Eider Torres has been designated for assignment and RHP Chris Ray was moved from the 15 to the 60-day DL. That opens 40-man roster spots for today's additions in pitchers Brian Bass and Alfredo Simon and catcher Omir Santos. Brandon Fahey has also joined the club but was already on the 40-man roster.

Trembley was asked if Cabrera's release was partly because of him flipping Trembley the ball in a disrespectful manner recently.

"Performance is the bottom line, I didn't see him fitting in on this club next year, we can do better. Also, there is no substitute at any time for respect and integrity."

Trembley said he wasn't sure if Bass would get a chance to pitch as a starter.

Trembley said George Sherrill threw well today in a side session and will throw again on Monday. Trembley said he'd like him to throw one more time before he is activated. Jim Johnson had an MRI today but did not yet know the results.

Aubrey Huff is not with the club today as his wife has given birth to a baby boy.

"Melvin Mora will go out on the field today to see where he's at," Trembley said. "He said he's improved and he's better, but I don't know how close he is."

Trembley said the rotation for Cleveland will be announced later today and that Daniel Cabrera is fine to pitch tomorrow night.

Game Preview
Oakland (63-77) at Orioles (63-76)
After an 0-6 road trip to Tampa and Boston, the Orioles return home tonight to start a ten-game homestand hosting Oakland in game one of a three-game, two-day series.

The clubs are scheduled to play a day-night, split-doubleheader Saturday at 1:05 and 7:05 p.m.

The O's were outscored 60-26 on the road trip and the team ERA was 10.43 on the trip. The ERA of the O's starters during the six-game stretch was 12.58.

The O's, who have lost 11 of their last 12 games, are 33-31 at home this season.

The A's aren't playing very well, either. Oakland lost a doubleheader at Kansas City last night by scores of 5-4 and 9-6. Oakland has lost four in a row and is 12-35 since July 11th. The A's have lost 18 of their last 24 road games.

With another doubleheader scheduled for Oakland tomorrow, the A's are slated to play 5 games in 3 days for the first time since August of 1986.

The A's are not producing much on offense and are, in fact, last in the Majors in batting average, slugging and OBP. Oakland has scored just 120 runs in its last 40 games for an average of 3.0 per game.

The O's are 0-3 vs. Oakland in 2008, losing three games in Oakland in early May by a combined 12-8 score. The O's had just 22 hits, only 3 for extra bases, in that series.

Pitching Match-Up

LHP Chris Waters (2-1, 5.45) tonight makes his 7th Major League start of this season, his 4th at home and the first of his career vs. Oakland.

Waters has allowed 8ER over 11 1/3 innings in his last two starts.

He has struggled at times in the first inning, giving up 8 runs and an opponent average of .357 in that inning. Waters has recorded 2 quality starts in 6 outings.

Left-handed batters are hitting .429 off him but he holds right-handed hitters to a .236 average. Waters is 1-1, 7.31 in three home starts. The Orioles are 3-3 when he starts.

Waters pitches 1-25: .314 opponent ave.
Waters pitches 26-50: .355 opponent ave.
Waters pitches 51-75: .135 opponent ave.

Waters made a combined 22 starts earlier this season between Norfolk and Bowie and went 8-6, 4.65.

LHP Dallas Braden (4-3, 3.88) tonight makes his 18th appearance of this season, his 9th as a starter and his second outing this season vs. the Orioles.

Braden, who was drafted in round 24 by the A's in 2004, has allowed just 2ER over 13 innings in his last two starts vs. the Angels and Twins and is 2-1, 2.76 over his past five starts.

Braden began this season in the bullpen and moved into the rotation on July 22nd. Since then, in his 8 starts, he is 3-3, 3.59. Oakland is 5-3 in those games.

The 25-year-old can struggle early in his outings and gives up an average of .388 in his first two innings. In six August starts, Braden was 2-2, 3.50. He has given up 3ER or less in five straight starts.

Braden vs. Baltimore:
2008: 1-0, 0.00, one outing in relief, 2 1/3 innings
2007: 1-1, 1.38, two starts
Career: 2-1, 1.17, three games, two starts (15 1/3IP, 7H, 2R-ER)

O's Hitters, 2008 vs. Oakland:
Castro: 0-0
Cintron: 0-0
Hernandez: 2-8/0/2
Huff: 2-12/0/1
Jones: 1-8/0/0
Markakis: 3-12/0/0
Millar: 3-8/0/1, 5 walks
Montanez: 0-0
Mora: 3-12/0/1, 2 doubles
Payton: 1-9/0/0
Quiroz: 0-4/0/0
Roberts: 2-9/0/2
Salazar: 0-0
Scott: 2-6/0/1

Anderson, a four-time Pro Bowler, was cut by Cincinnati this weekend after he refused to take a pay cut. He visited the Ravens at their team headquarters earlier this week, and had planned to visit the Buccaneers and Chargers as well, but canceled those visits after deciding to sign with Baltimore.

Anderson might take a couple weeks to learn the offense, but he should slide in at the starting right tackle spot before long. Adam Terry will move over to the left side, and will likely compete with Jared Gaither for playing time at left tackle.

Joe Flacco is probably smiling from ear to ear.

Anderson will provide stability and experience to an O-line that looked shaky at times during the preseason.

Anderson told The Cincinnati Enquirer that when he went into the Ravens' locker room during his visit to Owings Mills, Ray Lewis, Lorenzo Neal, Chris McAlister and others ran up to him and made him feel right at home. Anderson, a 13 year veteran, has spent many Sundays matched up against a lot of the Ravens, and his relationships with them obviously played a role in his decision to come to Baltimore.

I'm sure $11 million didn't hurt either.

McGahee, who missed the entire preseason as he recovered from arthroscopic knee surgery, returned to practice earlier this week, but his status for Sunday is still uncertain. He said that he hopes to play in the opener, but it all depends on how his knee feels on Saturday.

It's in that aspect that the rookie has noticed the biggest changes in his play from his time in college.

"I can feel it. It's not just like I'm out there running plays anymore," Rice said. "I know the schemes of plays. I know where certain plays are supposed to go and it's not just out there with X's and O's. I know how to read defenses and everything now. But through more time, I'll get better at all that stuff."

If Rice gets the start, the Ravens will have rookies at both quarterback and running back, as Joe Flacco will get the nod under center. Flacco and Rice, the Ravens' first and second-round picks respectively, will get a great opportunity to get thrown into the fire and learn on the fly.

"As rookies, we just have to embrace every opportunity," Rice said. "Joe's played in a few preseason games now, I've played in a few, and if we're out there this week, we just look forward to getting going."

McGahee estimated his odds of being able play on Sunday at about 50-50, and if the Pro Bowler feels well enough to go, Rice will be bumped into a backup role. Regardless of who gets the first carry, Rice says he'll be ready for his first NFL action.

"If Willis is ready to go, he's ready to go. That's one thing I can't control. If he's back and healthy, I think our offense will be a lot better because of what he can contribute. So when he's back, he's back. But if not, when I'm in there, I'm the starter whether I started the game or when I come in the game. I have to take that approach every rep I get."

Four Braves pitchers combined to shut out the Nationals 2-0, the 21st time this season Washington failed to score a run. The win by Atlanta snaps a five-game losing streak to the Nationals.

Parr was excellent in his first career start. He tossed six innings of two-hit ball to earn his first Major League victory. The two hits, a double and infield single, came off the bat of Ronnie Belliard. Parr walked three and struck out three while throwing 101 pitches.

The Braves got to the Nationals rookie right-hander in the third when Kelly Johnson tripled and scored on Brian McCann's deep sac fly to left field. The fourth proved to be the toughest of the night for Martis.

Casey Kotchman walked to lead-off the inning. One out later Brandon Jones and Parr walked to load the bases. On a 3-2 pitch, Gregor Blanco hit a sharp grounder to short that Cristian Guzman stopped, before he spun around and got the force out at second. Kotchman scored on the play to make it 2-0.

Kelly Johnson hit a hump-back liner to second to end the inning and Martis got away with only one run scoring in the inning.

The only real threat the Nationals mounted was in the third. Parr walked Martis with one-out and a wild pitch moved him to second. Willie Harris walked, but Cristian Guzman struck out and Ryan Zimmerman grounded into a force out to end the inning.

Ryan Zimmerman led-off the ninth with a double, extending his hitting streak to 10 games; but closer Mike Gonzalez struck out Lastings Milledge, pinch-hitter Aaron Boone and Elijah Dukes to end the game and nail down his ninth save of the season.

Postgame Notes
Martis struck out Gregor Blanco for the first out of his MLB career.

Luke Montz, who was excellent behind the dish, went 0-3 in his MLB debut, but threw out Brandon Jones trying to steal second base in the eighth inning

Ryan Zimmerman extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a ninth-inning double.

Cristian Guzman, who went 0-3 with a walk, had his eight-game streak come to an end.

Final Linescore
Nationals 0-5-1
Braves 2-5-0
WP-Parr (1-0)
LP-Martis (0-1)
SV-Gonzalez (9)

Pete McElroy's Live Gameblog

Montz with the gun
Luke Montz, who threw out 37 percent of of attempted base stealers this season in Double-A and Triple-A combind, gunned down Brandon Jones in the eighth.

On Parr
James Parr was outstanding in his MLB debut. He only gave up two hits, both to Ronnie Belliard. He walked three and struck out three in six solid innings. He retired the seven batters he faced.
6 IP, 2 H, 3 BB, 3 K, WP. 101 pitches, 59 strikes

Martis ok in MLB debut
Shairon Martis lasted five innings in his big league debut. He allowed two runs on fur hits, but he walked five Braves, one of which scored the second run. He had trouble throwing strikes and his night ended a little premature. He threw 92 pitches and exactly half were balls. He shouldn't be embarrassed by his performance and he can take away a lot from his first ever start.
5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 5 BB, 2 K, WP. 92 pitches, 46 strikes.

Martis struggles in 4th
Shairon looks like his is trying to throw the ball instead of pitch. What I mean by that is, he's trying to force his throws. He walked the bases loaded, including the Braves pitcher. He can't seem to get any of his pitches over the plate for strikes and has gotten a few borderline strike calls.
4 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 2 K, WP. 78 pitches, 40 strikes.

Braves scoring, 4th inning
Nationals' rookie Shairon Martis struggled with his command in the fourth and it cost him a run.

Martis walked the bases loaded, including Braves pitcher James Parr. Lead-off hitter Gregor Blanco grounded into a fielder's choice, but the Braves scored to take a 2-0 lead. Both of Atlanta's runs came with out a base hit driving it in.

Braves scoring, 3rd inning
Shairon Martis gave up the first run of his career and he finds himself trailing the Braves 1-0 after three innings.

Kelly Johnson tripled with one-out and scored on Brian McCann's sac fly. Martis has allowed four hits and walked one so far. He's thrown 50 pitches, 30 for strikes.

Nats leave two stranded
Nationals missed a chance to get on the board in the third and give Shairon Martis some offensive help.

Shairon Martis walked in his first career at bat, with one-out, and moved to second on a wild pitch. Willie Harris worked a free pass, on the ninth pitch of the at bat. After Cristian Guzman struck out, on a foul tip, Ryan Zimmerman grounded into a force out to end the inning.

Montz's career MLB at bat
Luke fouled off a couple of pitches before lining out to left on a good 1-2 curveball from James Parr. Montz reached out for it and was able to pull the ball to left but Brandon Jones had it played perfectly.

Martis's second inning
Another solid inning for the rookie right-hander. He gave up a one-out single, but struck out the pitcher on four pitches. Martis has stranded three base runners to this point. His changeup and breaking pitches look good and his fastball is topping out at 92 MPH.

Martis's first inning
Shairon's first pitch was a ball, but he ended up striking out Gregor Blanco, on a check swing. He got Kelly Johnson to hit a weak grounder just to the right of Martis, who picked it up and threw Johnson out at first. Veteran Chipper Jones sharply singled to right on a 2-1 pitch and Brian McCann blooped an opposite field single to left. Omar Infante popped out to shallow center to end the inning. Not a bad start to his career. Martis threw 15 pitches, 10 strikes.

Breaking News
Just a few hours prior to the first pitch, Jo-Jo Reyes was scratched as the starting pitcher. Rookie right-hander James Parr will make his MLB debut in his place. Parr went 5-3 with a 3.23 ERA in 10 games, nine starts for Triple-A Richmond.

Starting Line-ups

Nationals
LF Willie Harris
SS Cristian Guzman
3B Ryan Zimmerman
CF Lastings Milledge
1B Ronnie Belliard
RF Elijah Dukes
2B Anderson Hernandez
C Luke Montz
P Shairon Martis

Braves
CF Gregor Blanco
2B Kelly Johnson
3B Chipper Jones
C Brian McCann
SS Omar Infante
1B Casey Kotchman
RF Jeff Francoeur
LF Brandon Jones
P James Parr

Game Preview
Nationals (54-86) at Atlanta (60-80)
Washington just wrapped up their nine-game homestand, with an 8-1 record, by beating Philadelphia 9-7 last night. The win gave the Nationals three straight series victories, something they hadn't accomplished since beating the Cubs, Braves and Pirates from April 25-May 4.

Tonight, they begin a four-game series with the Braves, the final time the two teams meet this season. Washington, who swept Atlanta at Nationals Park last week, is 10-4 vs. the Braves this season. They've won five in a row, including two straight at Turner Field.

Atlanta, 3-7 in their last 10 home games, wrapped up a six-game road trip with a 1-5 record. The Braves are only six ahead of the Nationals in the NL East.

Right-handed pitcher Shairon Martis will make his Major League debut tonight. Atlanta counters with Jo-Jo Reyes.

Martis is getting his shot because Collin Balester, who was scheduled to start on Friday, will miss his turn in the rotation due to a mild left glut strain. Jason Bergmann, who was to start tonight, will be pushed back one day and pitch Friday night.

Pitching Match-Up

RHP Shairon Martis (NR), a 21-year old rookie, was a combined to go 5-6 with a 3.64 ERA in 21 starts this season for Columbus and Harrisburg.

Martis' 3.64 ERA this season ranks fourth among Nationals Minor League pitchers throwing at least 100 innings in 2008.

Acquired from San Francisco in exchange for Mike Stanton on July 28, 2006, Martis pitched in the MLB Futures Game, which was played on July 13 at Yankee Stadium as part of All-Star Weekend.

Less than a month later, he pitched in the Olympics for the Netherlands. He also pitched for the Netherlands in the 2006 World Baseball Classic and tossed a seven-inning no-hitter in his lone start of the tournament.

LHP Jo-Jo Reyes (3-10, 5.49) is making his second start against the Nationals in five days. He gave up four runs on eight hits in four innings last Friday night at Nationals Park. Washington pulled off the 9-8 win in 10 innings when Elijah Dukes walked with the bases loaded.

Reyes, staked to a 4-0 lead entering the bottom of the fourth, gave up a two-run single to Anderson Hernandez. Things only got worse for the Braves lefty in the fifth. After Atlanta scored two in the top of the inning to take a 6-2 lead, Reyes didn't retire a batter before he was lifted for Buddy Carlyle.

Carlyle gave up an RBI double to Ronnie Belliard and walked Dukes to load the bases before Jesus Flores cleared them with a three-run double. Two of the runs were charged to Reyes and by the time the inning was over, the Nationals had a 7-6 lead.

Reyes is making his third career start against Washington and he's still looking for his first win. He's 0-1 with a 14.21 ERA and they are hitting .469 off him. No, it's not a type-o! Reyes has given up 10 earned runs on 15 hits and six walks in just 6 1/3 innings against the Nationals.

If that's not bad enough, Reyes is 2-5 with a 7.14 ERA in nine starts at Turner Field and he's 0-6 in his last 10 starts.

Boller was placed on injured reserve today, ending his season. He is in the last year of his contract with the team.

The Ravens' first-round pick in the 2003 draft injured his shoulder during the Baltimore's preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings on Aug. 16, and he hasn't played since.

Head coach John Harbaugh said that Boller had been receiving treatment for the injury, but it did not respond.

Boller was expected to compete for the starting quarterback job this preseason, but he struggled in the playing time he saw even before his injury.

The 27-year-old was never able to become the franchise quarterback that the Ravens had envisioned. He struggled with his decision making, and had trouble taking care of the football.

Harbaugh announced that the Ravens have signed veteran quarterback Todd Bouman to replace Boller on the roster. The 36-year-old Bouman was released by the Jaguars over the weekend, and has spent time with Minnesota, New Orleans, Green Bay and Jacksonville.

Bouman will back-up starter Joe Flacco for the immediate future, as Troy Smith is still recovering from a tonsil infection.

Washington didn't wait until the bottom of the ninth because they exploded for four runs in the eighth to dump the Phillies 9-7 and take the series, their third straight, two games to one.

Ronnie Belliard's pinch-hit, RBI single, off Chad Durbin, broke a 5-5 tie and Cristian Guzman's bases-loaded double broke the game wide open.

J.C. Romero replaced Durbin and walked Emilio Bonifacio to load the bases. Guzman cleared them with a double to the gap in left-center. Durbin was charged with all three runs and the loss.

The Phillies mounted a mini-rally in the top of the ninth, but it wasn't enough. Defensive replacement Matt Stairs doubled home Shane Victorino and Chase Utley's sac fly scored Stairs to make it 9-7. Joel Hanrahan struck out Jason Werth to end the threat and the game.

Philadelphia jumped out to a 2-0 lead off Odalis Perez in the first. With one-out, Perez hit Chase Utley and one batter later, Ryan Howard hit a 2-run blast, his 38th of the season.

Washington got both runs back in the home half of the inning off Joe Blanton. Cristian Guzman hit a one-out single and scored on Ryan Zimmerman's double. Three batters later, Kory Casto singled Zimmerman home to tie the game 2-2.

The Phillies took a 3-2 lead in the third when center fielder Lastings Milledge misplayed a fly ball off the bat of Utley. Jimmy Rollins was on second, after a single and wild pitch, and he scored easily on the triple by Utley.

Milledge froze on the line drive, took one step in and began to retreat, but it was too late. He did manage to get leather on it, but it dropped in for the three-base hit.

Washington was able to load the bases on Blanton with nobody out in the fifth, on two walks sandwiched around a single. Phillies manager Charlies Manuel pulled Blanton and sent in Ryan Madson.

Madson, facing Milledge with the infield playing half way, got a ground ball to first. Ryan Howard, screened by Zimmerman, got the force out at second. Emilio Bonifacio, who singled to start the inning, scored to tie the game 3-3.

Elijah Dukes followed with a grounder to third. Pedro Feliz got the force out at second, but Milledge's hard slide prevented Utley from throwing to first. Guzman scored to put the Nationals up 4-3.

The lead for Washington didn't last long however. Marco Estrada started the sixth inning by giving up a single to Jason Werth. Howard followed with his second two-run homer of the night, giving the Phillies the 5-4 lead. It was Howard's fifth multi-homer game of the season and 17th of his career.

Zimmerman's two-out, solo home run in the seventh tied the game. It was his 11th of the season and second in three games.

Postgame Notes
The Nationals have won 8 of 9 and 10 of their last 13. By taking 2 of 3 from Philadelphia, Washington has won 3 straight series for the first time since April 25-May 4 (vs. Chicago, vs. Atlanta and vs. Pittsburgh). The Nationals went 8-1 on the 9-game homestand. Washington won a series from Philly in Washington, DC for the first time since taking 2 of 3, September 26-28, 2006.

With a pair of singles and a bases-clearing double, Cristian Guzman established a franchise single-season mark with eight consecutive multi-hit games. During that span, Guzman is batting at a .538 (21-for-39) clip with eight runs, five doubles, one triple, one homer and 10 RBI. The last DC-based player to post a multi-hit effort in eight consecutive games was Hall-of-Famer Joe Cronin in June of 1933.

Ryan Zimmerman went 2-for-4 with a double, a homer and two RBI. Zimmerman has now hit safely in his last 9 games. During the streak, he is batting .417 (15-for-36) with four doubles, three homers and eight RBI.

Since returning from the DL on August 27, Elijah Dukes is batting .321 (9-for-28) with eight runs, four doubles, two homers, seven RBI, six walks and a .441 OBP in eight games.

Final Linescore
Phillies
Nationals 9-13-0
WP-Rivera (5-5)
LP-Durbin (5-4)
HR-Howard 2 (39), Zimmerman (11)

Pete McElroy's Live Gameblog

Nationals scoring, 8th inning
Ronnie Belliard broke a 5-5 tie, in the eighth, with a pinch-hit RBI single, off Chad Durbin, to put the Nationals up by a run.

Kory Casto lead-off with a single and he was replaced by pinch-runnr Pete Orr. After Wil Nieves failed to sacrifice Orr to second, Roger Bernadina singled to put runners on the corners. Belliard jumped on the first pitch from Durbin and lined into left field, scoring Orr with the go-ahead run.

After Emilio Bonifacio walked to load the bases, Cristian Guzman unloaded them with a three-run double and the Nationals have a 9-4 lead.

Nationals scoring, 7th inning
Ryan Zimmerman's 11th home run of the season, a solo blast to deep center off Chad Durbin, tied the game 5-5 in the seventh.

Durbin, a right hander, replaced Scott Eyre, a lefty, to face Zimmerman. Zimmerman jumped on a 1-1 slider and hit it to the deepest part of the ballpark.

Eyre had retired the first two Nationals before Charlie Manuel replaced him.

Phillies scoring, 7th inning
As fast as the Nationals loaded the bases and scored two runs in the fifth, to take a 4-3 lead, Marco Estrada gave it back in the sixth.

Jason Werth greeted Estrada with an infield single to short. Ryan Howard, who hit a two-run homer in the first, hit his second two-run shot to put the Phillies back on top 5-4. It was Howard's' 39th long ball of the year and fifth multi-homer game of the season.

After Pat Burrell singled off Estrada, Manny Acta had seen enough of the rookie right-hander and replaced him with Jesus Colome. Colome retired the next three Phillies in order to end the inning.

Nationals scoring, 5th inning
The Nationals loaded the bases on Joe Blanton to start the fifth before Phillies manager Charlie Manuel pulled him for Ryan Madson.

Madson got two ground balls that he hoped for, but neither one led to a double play and the Nationals scored twice to take a 4-3 lead.

Lastings Milledge grounded to first, but Ryan Howard hesitated and couldn't get Emilio Bonifacio at the plate. He settled for the force out at second. The next batter, Elijah Dukes, hit a grounder to third. Pedro Feliz got the force at second, but Milledge's slide took out Chase Utley and he wasn't able to get a throw off and Cristian Guzman scored the go-ahead run.

Odalis Perez's average night
Perez pitched five good innings, but his pitch count ran high and Manny Acta decided to replace him to start the sixth. After giving up a run in the third, Perez retired eight of the last nine batters he faced. He didn't walk a batter and struck out five. Perez will get his 10th no-decision of the season.
5 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 5 K, HR, WP. 93 pitches, 65 strikes.

Phillies scoring, 3rd inning
Lastings Milledge misjudged another fly ball and it cost the Nationals a run in the third inning.

With Jimmy Rollins on first, Chase Utley hit a liner right at Milledge. He took a step in, then to his right and finally started back. The ball ate him up and Milledge barely got leather on it as it fell in for an RBI triple, giving the Phillies the 3-2 lead.

This is the third time in the last few weeks that Milledge misplayed a fly ball that led to a run.

Perez thru 3 innings
Odalis gave up the big blast in the first, to Ryan Howard, but he's settled down and found a decent groove. The defense did him in in the third. He allowed a one-out single to Jimmy Rollins and an RBI triple to Chase Utley. Utley's hit should've been an out, but Lastings Milledge misplayed the liner and it cost Perez.
3 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 2 K, HR, WP. 55 pitches, 39 strikes

Nationals scoring, 1st inning
Ryan Zimmerman's double and Kory Casto's single, tied the game at 2-2 after the first inning.

Cristian Guzman blooped a single over third baseman Pedro Feliz's head and scored on Zimmerman's double to right. After Elijah Dukes walked, Casto singled home Zimmerman to tie the game 2-2.

Phillies scoring, 1st inning
Odalis Perez may as well have put the ball on a tee for Ryan Howard becuase that's what the slider he hung to the Phillies clean-up batter must have looked like.

Perez hung a 2-2 slider over the fat part of the plate and Howard jacked it to right-center for a 2-run homer, his 38th of the year. Chase Utley, who injured Jesus Flores during a collision at the plate during last night's game, was hit by the first pitch from Perez.

Starting Line-ups

Phillies
SS Jimmy Rollins
2B Chase Utley
CF Jason Werth
1B Ryan Howard
LF Pat Burrell
3B Pedro Feliz
C Chris Coste
RF Eric Bruntlett
P Joe Blanton

Nationals
2B Emilio Bonifacio
SS Cristian Guzman
3B Ryan Zimmerman
CF Lastings Milledge
RF Elijah Dukes
1B Kory Casto
C Wil Nieves
LF Roger Bernadina
P Odalis Perez

Game Preview
Philadelphia (76-63) at Nationals (53-86)
Last night, the Nationals' seven-game winning streak came to a grinding halt in their 4-0 loss to the Phillies. The shutout was the 20th of the season for Washington.

Cole Hamels tossed 7 1/3 innings of five-hit ball to earn his 12th win of the year. John Lannan's 19th quality start in 27 outings wasn't enough to keep Washington's winning streak in tact. Lannan gave up two runs in six innings but fell to 8-13.

Besides losing the game, Washington lost starting catcher Jesus Flores with a sprained left ankle. Flores was injured in a collision at the plate with Chase Utley in the third inning.

Flores was placed on a stretcher and carted off the field. An MRI taken Wednesday morning confirmed a left ankle sprain. After Tuesday's game, Washington selected catcher Luke Montz from Triple-A Columbus, though Flores is expected to return to the lineup this season.

The Nationals, who swept their two previous series, can still win the three-game set vs. the Phillies with a win tonight.

Tonight, Odalis Perez goes against Joe Blanton.

Pitching Match-Up

LHP Odalis Perez (6-10, 4.14) snapped a three-game winless streak by beating the Braves 7-3 last Friday night at Nationals Park.

Perez gave up three runs, two earned, on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings. He got out of a first-inning, bases-loaded, one-out, jam by getting Yunel Escobar to ground into the inning ending double play.

After that rough first, Perez allowed just one hit in the next three innings before running into trouble in the fifth. Leading 5-0, Perez gave up a 2-run homer to pinch-hitter Greg Norton and an RBI double to Martin Prado. He settled down before allowing a single and a walk in the seventh, when Manny Acta pulled him for Charlie Manning.

The veteran lefty is making his first start against the Phillies since July 21, 2005. As a member of the Dodgers, he beat Philadelphia 1-0 by tossing seven scoreless innings of three hit ball. Perez walked one and struck out seven.

Perez, who has been solid at Nationals Park this season, is making his 14th start for the DC faithful. He's 2-5 with a 2.57 ERA and holding opponents to a .240 batting average.

RHP Joe Blanton (6-12, 4.19), making his ninth start for the Phillies, is 1-0 with a 3.92 ERA in his eight starts since the trade with the Oakland A's. Four of those outings have been quality starts; three have been mediocre; and one was cut short due to a rain delay.

Against the Cubs last Friday, Blanton gave up two runs on two hits and five walks in 5 2/3 innings. Philadelphia lost the game 3-2 when the bullpen gave up a run in the seventh.

Blanton faced the Nationals on August 19th at Citizens Bank Park and received a no-decision in the Phillies 5-4 win. He gave up four runs on eight hits in five innings.

Willie Harris hit a solo homer in the first and Jesus Flores had an RBI single in the fourth to put Washington up 2-0. Ryan Zimmerman tripled home a run and Ronnie Belliard singled home Zimmerman for a 4-1 lead and put an end to Blanton's night. Jason Werth's solo homer in the eighth, off Steven Shell, proved to be a game winner.

Blanton faced the Nationals, while pitching for the A's in June of 2005 and took the loss in the Nationals' 4-3 win. He gave up four runs on seven hits in six innings.

Blanton, 4-3 with a 5.28 ERA in 10 road starts this season, is 1-0 with a 4.56 ERA in four starts with the Phillies outside of Philadelphia.

Boston came up in the 7th trailing 4-0 but scored twice in the 7th and 8th to tie it. Cora led off the last of the 9th with a single and went to second on Coco Crisp's bunt single. Jacoby Ellsbury then dropped a bunt toward third. Miller fielded it and threw past third allowing the winning run to score.

The late-inning meltdown wasted three scoreless innings each by Lance Cormier and Dennis Sarfate.

Boston has won 8 of 10 and 18 of 26 games. They end the season with a 12-6 record vs. the Orioles, including a 7-2 mark in Boston.

A two-run triple by Mark Kotsay in the last of the 8th tied the game, 4-4. It scored David Ortiz who walked and Dustin Pedroia who had doubled. Miller struck out Jason Bay and Jason Varitek with a man on third and one out to end the inning and keep the game tied.

Boston got two runs in the seventh to trail 4-2. Pedroia hit a solo homer and later in the frame Crisp drew a bases-loaded walk to force in the second run. Rocky Cherry got Jacoby Ellsbury to pop out with the sacks full to preserve the two-run lead.

The O's added three runs in the fourth to lead 4-0. Aubrey Huff led the inning with a single and Oscar Salazar walked. Luke Scott's RBI double made it a 2-0 game and a Lou Montanez RBI groundout gave the O's a 3-0 lead. Guillermo Quiroz then came up with a clutch, two-out, RBI single for a 4-0 edge.

The O's took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Brian Roberts led off with his AL-leading 47th double. Nick Markakis then hit a fly ball to deep center, the ball went off the glove of Coco Crisp for an error and Roberts scored for a 1-0 lead.

Balt 4-5-1
Bos 5-9-1

Postgame Notes
The O's were winless, 0-6 on this road trip and were outscored 60-26.....O's pitching allowed 77 hits and 46 walks on the trip......After Lance Cormier and Dennis Sarfate combined for six innings of shutout, three-hit ball, the O's pen gave up 5 runs over the last 2 plus innings.

Dustin Pedroia went 3-4 with a homer today and in this series went 8-13 with two homers, two doubles and 8 RBI.....Boston outscored the O's 26-10 in this series....The Sox won the season series 12-6, same mark as they had vs. the Orioles last season.

Aubrey Huff continued his hot hitting with a 2-4 day and he was robbed of a homer by Jacoby Ellsbury in right in the 5th inning.....Huff is now 13-26 during a 7-game hitting streak.....Over his last 12 games, Huff is batting .467-3-11......He has 8 multi-hit games in his last 12 contests..........Nick Markakis went 0-4 snapping his four-game batting streak.

The O's were poised to hand Daisuke Matsuzaka just his third loss of the year and first since July 28th, until Boston's late rally took him off the hook for the loss......He did allow four or more runs for just the 5th time all season.......After the O's took a 4-0 lead in the fourth, they had just one more hit the rest of the game.....From the 5th on, O's batters went just 1-15......the O's team ERA on this road trip was 10.43.

Steve Melewski's Live GameBlog

Jamie Walker's Struggles
Over his last seven games he has pitched 6 2/3 allowing 12 hits and 9 ER for an ERA of 12.15 over that time. He has been scored on in six of his last seven outings. He has allowed four homers in his last 4 1/3 innings counting the one he allowed today. Walker is one of the nicest and gutsiest performers on this team. He would go out and pitch with his left arm hanging down to his knee, but his struggles right now may force the O's to not use him in any close-game situations. It's pretty much reached that point.

Sarfate's Day
He pitched three shutout innings with no walks and five strikeouts. That was probably his most dominating performance of the season. The Sox could not catch up to his mid 90's fastballs. He threw free and easy and didn't try to muscle up at all. Hopefully he can repeat that and remember how well he threw without seemingly trying to throw hard.

Dice-K Out
Matsuzaka's line: 6IP, 4H, 4R, 3ER, 4BB, 7K.....119 pitches.

His two losses this year have come on June 21 vs. St. Louis and July 28th vs. the Angels. This is just the 5th time this year he has allowed 4 runs or more.

O's Pitching Retires The Side in Order:
First five games of road trip: 5 times total
Today through six innings: 3 times

Huff's Hitting
Aubrey Huff is 1-3 so far today with a single in the 4th that extended his latest hitting streak to seven games. Huff is 12-25 (.480) during that streak. Over his last 12 games he is batting (.455) 20-44. Huff has 67 RBI his last 73 games and began today leading the AL in extra-base hits and total bases, he is second in doubles, 3rd in slugging, 5th in RBI, 6th in homers and 8th in batting average.

I Don't Understand
Lance Cormier pitched great for three innings and has been taken out. He has thrown only 32 pitches, 23 for strikes. He was rolling. I know he could not pitch 6 or 7 innings, but another one was certainly not out of the question. Why go to the pen even an inning sooner than you need to ? Fourteen times this year, that's 14 times, Cormier has thrown more than 32 pitches in an outing. Unless there's something we don't know about, there seemed to be no reason he comes out after just three.

Cormier's line: 3IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 1K......32 pitches, 23 strikes.

Playoff Opener Tonight
The Bowie Baysox (84-58) host the Akron Aeros (80-62) tonight at 7:05pm in game one of their best of 5 playoff series. Jason Berken (12-4, 3.58) pitches vs. Akron LHP Scott Lewis (6-2, 2.33) tonight. Berken made six starts vs. Akron this year, going 2-2, 1.71. Lewis made 3 starts vs. Bowie, going 2-0, 5.02. Bowie will host games one and two tonight and Thursday and, will host game five, if necessary, on Sunday. Bowie was 45-26 at home this year, but lost the season series vs. Akron, 13-11.

Working the Count
Matsuzaka has thrown a whopping total of 51 pitches in the first two innings. He threw 28 in the first and 23 in fanning the side around a walk in the second. Give the O's hitters some credit for fouling off some good pitches and getting deep in counts. At this rate he won't make it past five or six frames.

First-Inning Pitches:
Cormier - 10
Matsuzaka - 28

Game Time
The final game of this series and road trip is now underway at Boston. The O's need a win to avoid an 0-6 road trip. The O's pitching a bullpen game vs. Dice-K doesn't seem like a fair fight. Maybe the O's will be the reverse lock and win it today. Check back during today's game right here for the latest notes, news and updates.

Trembley's Talk
Dave Trembley told reporters in Boston today that Lance Cormier would pitch a maximum of three innings today. He said it's not likely that he would use a pitcher today who had pitched last night.

George Sherrill threw today and Trembley said he looked good. He will throw again Friday and would not be activated until Sunday at the very earliest. Jim Johnson's MRI on his shoulder will take place Friday in Baltimore.

Trembley is just giving Adam Jones a day off since he missed so much time. The skipper was asked about all the pitching injuries that have hit his club.

"I don't feel snakebitten," Trembley said. "It happens and you move on."

Starting Lineups

Orioles (stats vs. Matsuzaka)
2B Brian Roberts (5-10)
CF Jay Payton (1-8)
RF Nick Markakis (0-6, 5BB)
3B Aubrey Huff (1-8)
1B Oscar Salazar (0-0)
DH Luke Scott (1-3, rbi)
LF Lou Montanez (0-0)
SS Alex Cintron (0-0)
C Guillermo Quiroz (0-3)
P Lance Cormier

Red Sox
RF Jacoby Ellsbury
3B Jed Lowrie
DH David Ortiz
2B Dustin Pedroia
1B Mark Kotsay
LF Jason Bay
C Jason Varitek
SS Alex Cora
CF Coco Crisp
P Daisuke Matsuzaka

Game Preview
Orioles (63-75) at Boston (81-57)
After posting wins by 7-4 and 14-2 scores over the Orioles, the Boston Red Sox go for a three-game sweep of the Birds today at Fenway Park. The Orioles are winless, 0-5, on this road trip that ends today.

The last Sox three-game sweep of the O's at Fenway was in August of 2006.

Dustin Pedroia had 5 RBI and David Ortiz 4 as the Sox banged out 20 hits in handing the Orioles their worst loss of the year on Tuesday night. Winning pitcher Jon Lester improved to 6-0, 2.81 lifetime vs. Baltimore.

The O's will use Lance Cormier as a spot starter today as Jeremy Guthrie will miss one turn with a tired arm.

O's starters have pitched a total of 21 1/3 innings on this road trip, to an ERA of 14.35. O's pitching has allowed 55 runs, 68 hits and 43 walks so far on the trip.

The O's have lost 10 of 11 and 12 of their last 14 contests.

Pitching Match-Up

RHP Lance Cormier (2-3, 4.61) is expected to make his first Orioles' start of this season, replacing Jeremy Guthrie, who will be skipped once in the rotation due to a tired arm. Cormier has made 35 appearances this season, all in relief.

He has not pitched as well lately. His ERA was 3.00 in the first half and is 7.40 in 14 games since the All-Star break. His ERA was 8.49 in July and 6.60 in August.

The 28-year-old from Lafayette, Louisiana, has made 23 career starts in the Majors for Arizona and Atlanta. In those outings he is 5-14, 6.55. In nine starts in 2007 for Atlanta, he was 2-6, 6.85.

Cormier, a fourth-round draft pick by Arizona in 2002, has been scored on in 10 of his last 14 games.

Cormier has pitched a total of 7 innings in four games this season vs. Boston and is 0-1, 6.43.

RHP Daisuka Matsuzaka (16-2, 2.82) today makes his 25th start of the year, his 14th at home and his third of the season vs. the Orioles.

Matsuzaka is a pitcher on a roll. In August, he went 5-0, 2.25 in six starts. Last Friday he pitched 8 shutout innings, allowing just two hits, vs. the White Sox. In 8 second-half starts, he is 6-1, 3.10.

Pitches 1-25: .257 batting average against
Pitches 26-50: .140 batting average against

Matsuzaka can be tough to hit but he has walked 80 in 140 2/3, making him a rare excellent pitcher who walks a lot. He seems to pitch around batters to get a matchup he likes better at times. In 20 2/3 career innings vs. the Orioles, he's walked 17.

In 13 home starts in 2008, he is 9-2, 2.93. The Red Sox have an amazing 20-4 record when he starts.

Matsuzaka vs. Baltimore:
2008: 2-0, 1.64, two starts, 11 IP, 10 walks
2007: 0-1, 8.38, two starts
Career: 2-1, 4.79, four starts, 20 2/3 IP, 17 walks

O's Current Hot Hitters:
Hernandez: Is 5-11, 2 RBI his last four games......8 RBI in 11 games
Huff: During six-game hitting streak batting, .500-2-7, is 19-41 at bat
Markakis: Is 7-14 the last 4 games with 3 doubles and 2 RBI
Montanez: Is 6-15 over 5 games with 5 runs
Mora: Batting .423-8-32 over his last 24 games
Payton: Batting .382 over his last 9 games
Roberts: Hitting .296 over 13 contests

When the Orioles drafted catcher Matt Wieters with the 5th overall pick in the 2007 draft, they knew they were getting a special player. He was the top rated position player in the draft; he's a switch hitter with power; and he understands what it takes to be a complete player.

"You're not going to go four for four every day," Wieters said. "You're not going to get 2 or 3 hits or throw out 2 or 3 base runners every game. So every day you come to the ballpark you have to do something that's going to help your team win."

"Whether you call a good game or get that big sacrifice fly or even move a runner from 2nd to 3rd you can help your team win a game," he said. "It's something I try to pride myself on every day. Just try to help the team win."

After the 2007 draft, the Orioles were involved in extended negotiations to get Wieters signed. It came down to the last minute last August 15. But the organization gave Wieters the largest signing bonus ever given to a draft pick.

Wieters is mature beyond his 22 years, and he says he doesn't feel any extra pressure as the top prospect, big bonus draft pick.

"Once you get all that behind you, it's a relief more than anything, getting the contract signed to be able to get out and play. Now I just get out on the field with eight other guys trying to compete and trying to win ballgames."

Wieters has split this season between Frederick and Bowie and he has excelled at each level. He was named to the Carolina League All Star team after batting .345 for the Keys with 15 home runs and 40-RBI's in 69 games.

He's been equally productive in double A for the Baysox, batting .365 with 12 home runs and 51-RBIs in 61 games.

His combined numbers for his first full professional season are eye opening:
.355-BA, 27-HR, 91-RBI, 155-Hits, 51-Extra Base Hits, in 130-Games

Wieters works as hard at his defense as he does on his hitting. In college at Georgia Tech, he didn't call pitches for the pitchers. The calls came from a coach on the bench. But as a pro, it's up to him to guide his pitcher through the game.

"It's something you have to enjoy doing," he said. "You try to get on the same page as your pitcher and build chemistry."

Bowie has an outstanding pitching staff with four top prospects:
Brad Bergesen (15-6) 3.22-ERA
Jason Berken (12-4) 3.58-ERA
David Hernandez (10-4) 2.68-ERA, 166-strikeouts
Chris Tillman (11-4) 3.18-ERA, 154-strikeouts

The 20-year-old Tillman may be the Orioles' top Minor League pitching prospect, and he has grown this season working with Wieters.

"I can tell what he's going to call before he puts down the sign," Tillman said. "The only time I shake him off is about location. Then he'll come to the mound and ask me why I did that and before he gets to the mound I can tell you exactly what he's going to say. But we're on the same page and that's important."

Wieters will not be a September call up to the Orioles. After the Baysox compete in the Eastern League playoffs, he'll get some rest and then join other Orioles prospects in the Arizona Fall League. When asked if he's disappointed at not getting a chance to put on a big league uniform this season he again showed his maturity.

"You always want to get called up to the Majors as quickly as possible but I definitely understand the path the organization has me on. It's been a great first professional season for me, it's gone very well. Right now I'm enjoying Bowie and my teammates in this playoff push and hopefully I'll get a ring."

Frederick won the Carolina League championship in 2007 and Bowie has a chance to win its first ever Eastern League championship this season. Many of the players who won last season are now on the Baysox roster. They are learning to win as a group. And Wieters has not only fit in, he's become the leader. He's a top prospect in every way, and the Orioles couldn't be happier with his progress.

That's right; we just surpassed the Texas Rangers. And what may make this even harder to swallow is that as of recently, we have the best offense in baseball.

Does anyone else remember when the pitching staff (mainly the bullpen) was the strong part of this team? Man, does that seem like a century ago. We have now given up 10 or more runs in 4 of our last 5 games.

In the last 4 and a half games, we have surrendered 38 walks. So what do O's fans have to look forward to in September? Well, since Trembley, for some reason, is not playing the young guys (I guess all those vets deserve playing time--give me a break), at least you'll get your money's worth watching 4 and half hour games.

Fred Genau III

Today, ESPN's John Clayton reported that the Ravens have come to terms with 10-year veteran Todd Bouman on a one-year, $830,000 deal, but Baltimore has yet to release confirmation of the agreement.

Bouman has spent time with Minnesota, New Orleans, Green Bay, Jacksonville and St. Louis. The Jaguars released the 36-year-old over the weekend.

Yesterday, ESPN.com reported that Joey Harrington, who was cut by the Falcons, had signed with the Ravens. ESPN has since backed off that claim, and is now saying that although Harrington is still an option, the former first-round pick is also talking with other teams.

Chris Simms was the other quarterback that worked out in Owings Mills on Monday, but it appears that the former Tampa Bay Buccaneer is the least likely of the three to join the Ravens, perhaps because he would demand too large of a contract.

Here is an update on the Ravens' roster moves over the last couple of days:

The Ravens claimed and added DT Lamar Divens, a rookie out of Tennessee State who was cut by the San Diego Chargers, and K Steven Hauschka, another rookie, out of North Carolina State. Hauschka was waived by the Minnesota Vikings.

Baltimore also came to an injury settlement and waived CB David Pittman. The former third-round pick was put on injured reserve last week.

The following players have been added to the eight-man practice squad:
Casey Bramlet (QB, 6-4, 220, 2nd-year, Wyoming)
Joe Reitz (T, 6-7, 270, Rookie, Western Michigan)
Ernie Wheelwright (WR, 6-5, 220, Rookie, Minnesota)
J'Vonne Parker (DT, 6-4, 325, 2nd-year, Rutgers)
Nate Lawrie (TE, 6-6, 255, 4th-year, Yale)
Marcus Mason (RB, 5-9, 215, 1st-year, Youngstown State)
Bryan Mattison (DE, 6-3, 272, Rookie, Iowa)
Matt Willis (WR, 5-11, 190, 2nd-year, UCLA)

Rookie wide receiver Justin Harper was initially signed to the practice squad, but has been placed on injured reserve.

Parker, who was waived by the Ravens over the weekend, was signed to fill the opening on the practice squad.

My nephew asked me who 'the fat guy in the suit' was? I was about to answer Santa Claus, when I realized he was pointing at the manager. I realized he was referring to the players' uniforms as suits; and then I had a hard time explaining to him why a guy who didn't play was wearing a suit. Kids say the darnedest things.

It's not the first time I've heard this kind of talk. Last year, it was Sam Perlozzo who was run out of town. And at the time, most of the O's woes were stapled squarely to Sam's ticket out of town.

The Orioles seemed to turn it around for the skipper who for the time was labeled the "interim manager." So they made it official about a year ago, signing Dave Trembley; and then they began rummaging through the toolboxes of other teams and their own farm system for tools to rebuild the rickety structure that was Birdland last September.

MacPhail made some big trades, exchanging salary and age for youthful prospects and emerging talents. Adam Jones straight up for Erik 'Bum Arm' Bedard would have still been a success at this point. Even for pre and postgame sound bites, Jones is Bedard's equal, but for drastically different reasons.

Now, with the lowest expectations of any club in the MLB coming into this season, murmurs of distain for the skipper are surfacing, while the Orioles are four games better than last year.

They have a steady offense and dismal pitching. (I think it might be fun to have an open tryout to gain a spot in the rotation. A thousand dollars to attend the tryout, the money going toward a good charity or money to sign a Major League pitcher.) But to what has Trembley contributed to the success and failure of this team?

Personally, I don't think a manager makes a whole lot of difference. I watched Grady Little get the boot when he stuck with Pedro Martinez in 2003. Grady stuck with his guy and in effect stuck himself with all the blame. If Pedro gets the outs he needs, then Pedro gets the praise. When he serves it up to the Yankees, Grady gets gone.

Terry Francona inherited the same team with a slightly better rotation and a clubhouse of self proclaimed 'idiots' and won the World Series the next year. Did Francona make the difference?
Managers manage a game, mostly by putting players in positions in which they will best succeed. And if they don't, they feel the scorn.

Stat Boy is often angered by the fact that Trembley always manages by the book. Frederick is upset when the skipper pulls Randor Bierd (who had gotten two outs rather easily) for Alberto Castillo (who hits batters with amazing ease) for match-up purposes. No one yelled at Alberto Castillo.

Right now, Jim Hunter is 'wondering aloud' why Trembley is pulling Garret Olson. But when the Skipper does something unconventional, like walking Ken Griffey, Jr. and putting the winning run on second base to get to a batter who's hitting more than thirty points higher than the sure to be Hall of Famer, the same scorn is waiting in the weeds. Even when his decision ends up working out.

When asked about it, Trembley gave that stare out of the corner of his eyes, gave the scruff on his chin a few audible strokes, and claimed it was a 'no brainer.'

From putting the line-up card together, to using the bullpen, to selecting pinch-hitters, there are only so many decisions a manager can make that have an effect on the game. And after most of them, there is more often than not a chorus of 'Why' that erupts in the office. So what is a manager supposed to do? What is he supposed to not do?

I think managers of baseball clubs are no different than a lot of managers at offices around the country. They don't do the majority of the work; rather they have people who do the work for them. But they are often those who have demonstrated that they are capable of doing it, i.e. former players who manage.

When the work gets done well, they get praise. When the work isn't getting done, they are the ones who are held responsible, even when they are not responsible.

That is the burden of every manager from big leaguers to bus drivers.

So how much does the manager matter? Can a manager help a team win?

When the guy at the plate or on the mound is getting paid at least half a million a year to get a hit or an out, why do we yell at the manager when that player fails and applaud the player when he succeeds? How many wins is a manager worth a year? What makes a good manager, and does Dave Trembley qualify?--Let us know in the comment box below. Mahalo.

-Frenchy

McGahee had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee during training camp, but he returned to the practice fields yesterday. Head coach John Harbaugh did not go into great detail about McGahee's stutus for the season opener this Sunday against the Bengals, but did say that McGahee hopes to play.

"I wouldn't say he was 100 percent, just watching him run around out there," Harbaugh said of his Pro Bowl running back. "But he was out there, so we'll have to see how he progresses this week."

If McGahee cannot play on Sunday, rookie Ray Rice will get the start. Le'Ron McClain, the Ravens' 6-foot, 260 pound fullback, will also serve as the Ravens' backup halfback if McGahee has to miss the opener.

McAlister also was back with the team yesterday, after he had been sidelined during the preseason with a swollen right knee. Harbaugh was similarly guarded about the cornerback's status for this weekend's opener.

"All you can go by is what you see," Harbaugh said. "He practiced [yesterday] and did a nice job, so that's where we're at."

The Red Sox led 10-1 after four innings, banged out 20 hits and routed the Orioles 14-2 to claim the first two games in this series.

The O's are 0-5 on this road trip and have been outscored 55-22. The O's fall 12 games under .500 with their 10th loss in the last 11 games.

Dustin Pedroia knocked in five and David Ortiz four for the Sox, who have won 10 of their last 14 games and improved to 47-19 at home.

The 12-run margin made it the Orioles' most lopsided loss of the season. Boston's 20 hits tied an O's opponent high for the year and the 14 runs was one short of the season's worst mark.

The Red Sox concluded their scoring on Jed Lowrie's sac fly in the 8th. That put Boston ahead 14-1. Alex Cintron's RBI double in the 9th gave the O's their second run.

Boston broke the game with a 6-run 4th to lead 10-1. The inning featured a David Ortiz two-run double and Dustin Pedroia three-run homer. O's starter Radhames Liz allowed 9 runs in 3 1/3 innings. Lowrie added an RBI double in the 5th for an 11-1 lead. The Sox added two more in the 7th to lead 13-1.

The Orioles scored once in the fourth to trail, 4-1. Aubrey Huff led off with an infield hit and advanced to third on a Ramon Hernandez double. Huff scored on Kevin Millar's sac fly. The O's then stranded two runners in that inning.

The Red Sox used a bunt single and two walks to load the bases in the third. Then they unloaded them for a 3-0 lead. Ortiz scored a pair with a two-run double and Pedroia added a sac fly. With two outs, Mark Kotsay's double scored Ortiz to give Boston a 4-0 edge.

Balt 2-8-0
Bos 14-20-0

Postgame Notes
The O's have allowed in order - 14, 10, 10, 7 and 14 runs for a total of 55 in losing all five games on this trip........O's pitchers have also allowed 68 hits, 43 walks and 7 homers on this trip......The starters have pitched a total of 21 1/3 to an ERA of 14.35 on this trip.

Radhames Liz allowed nine runs in just 3 1/3 after not allowing a run the first two innings.....In two starts this year vs. Boston he has pitched a total of 5 2/3 frames, giving up 15 hits and 17 ER for an ERA of 27.00......The 20 hits allowed ties the most by an O's opponent this year as Texas had 20 on August 10th.....Texas scored an opponent season-high 15 runs that night as well.....O's pitching has retired the side in order just four times in five games on the trip.

Boston had six players with multi-hit games and three with multi-RBI nights.....The Sox have won 7 of 9, 10 of 14 and 17 of 25 games....Boston is 20-9 since August first.

Aubrey Huff went 1-2 tonight with an infield single and now has 11 hits his last 22 at bats and 19 hits his last 41 at bats.....Nick Markakis was 1-3 and is 7-14 his last four games.........Oscar Salazar made a start at third base and went 0-2 with two walks.....The O's fall to 6-11 vs. Boston and 17-27 since the All-Star game.

Winning pitcher Jon Lester is now 13-5, 3.37.....He is 3-0, 2.70 this year vs. the O's and in his career vs. Baltimore is 6-0, 2.81 in 8 starts.....On the MASN O's Xtra postgame show, Dave Trembley said Lance Cormier would start Wednesday afternoon at Fenway.

Steve Melewski's Live GameBlog

Aberdeen's Good Pitching
We found some good pitching in the O's system tonight - at Aberdeen. The IronBirds regular season is still going and, at home tonight, Aberdeen beat Brooklyn 5-1 as three pitchers combined on a four-hitter. Starter Cole McCurry, now 8-3, gave up just two hits over six. Ryan O'Shea pitched two and Brandon Cooney came on in the 9th. Tyler Kolody and Kraig Binick homered for the Birds. Those pitchers by the way combined for 11 strikeouts and just two walks.

More on the Pitching
On the five games of this trip the O's starters have pitched in order - 3, 4 1/3, 5, 5 2/3 and 3 1/3 innings. Through the sixth of tonight's game, O's opponents have scored at least one in 22 of 40 at bats. O's pitching has retired the side in order just four times on this trip. The O's have now allowed 7 or more runs on every game of this trip, 34 times on the season and 14 times since August first.

Horrible Pitching
Liz tonight: 3 1/3 IP, 9H, 9R-ER, 3BB, 2K.......75 pitches.

Liz's ERA is up to 7.91. In two starts this year vs. Boston, he has allowed 17ER in 5 2/3 innings. I'm not kidding. It would be hard to be much worse.

O's starters this road trip: 21 1/3IP, 39H, 34ER......ERA of 14.35.

What's left to be said.

Millar Note
His sac fly in the 4th plated the O's first run of the night and was his 71st RBI. That's the 4th highest total of his career and his most as an Oriole. It's his highest RBI total since he drove in 74 with the Red Sox in 2004.

Millar, Bost - 2005, 50 RBI
Millar, Balt - 2006, 64 RBI
Millar, Balt, 2007, 63 RBI

Terrible Call
This is what's wrong with baseball's replay system. They are going to use it on home runs call, what, once a month. And on the play at the plate just now where everyone can see Ramon Hernandez was safe, Jim Joyce's out call stands. It's a little embarrasing for Ramon he was thrown out at the plate on about a 4-hop throw by Ellsbury. Also, I didn't think you could block the plate, UNTIL YOU HAD THE BALL. I could be wrong but Varitek put a major block on that plate. Still, Ramon's hand got in there and the ump didn't see it. Replays did though.

AL Doubles Leaders (Through Monday)
46 - Brian Roberts, Bal
44 - Aubrey Huff, Bal
42 - Nick Markakis, Bal
42 - Dustin Pedroia, Bos

The O's trio is trying to become the first in the history of Major League Baseball to have 50 doubles in the same season. Only in ten years in the history of the game have their been three players with 50 or more on any team. All three O's could break the team record of 50 doubles co-held by Roberts in 2004 and Miguel Tejada in 2005.

Huff Honored
For the third time in his career, Aubrey Huff has been named the American League Player of the Week. He wins it for the period ending last Sunday. During that week he went 11-23 with 4 doubles, 2 homers and 7 RBI. It's the second time this year he has won this award, also July 6th. His first-ever AL honor was on August 1, 2005 with Tampa. Over his last ten games, Huff is 18-39 with 3 homers and 11 RBI. He has 7 multi-hit games in his last ten contests.

Play Ball
Tonight's game is underway in Boston. The O's will try to beat Jon Lester for the first time ever and stop their 4-game slide. Check back during tonight's game for the latest O's news and updates.

Trembley's Talk
Dave Trembley told reporters in Boston this afternoon that Jeremy Guthrie will not make his start on Wednesday in Boston due to a tired arm. He expects Guthrie to miss just one start and then start early in the Cleveland series that begins next Monday.

Trembley said beginning with his next outing Guthrie would likely start every six days and not every five.

"His shoulder is tired, his arm is tired," Trembley said. "There is no need for any MRI's or X-Rays or anything like that. It's kind of a like a dead arm period you see in spring training. There is a not a lot of zip on his pitches right now."

Guthrie has lost his last three starts and has allowed 12ER in 9 2/3 over his last two starts.

Trembley said he won't know his starter for Wednesday until he gets through tonight's game. But he did say it will not be a player called up from the minors.

Trembley said the rotation this weekend vs. Oakland will be in order - Chris Waters, Garrett Olson and Daniel Cabrera. That means Olson in the day game Saturday and Cabrera in the nightcap of that day-night twin bill.

Starting Lineups
Orioles
2B Brian Roberts
CF Adam Jones
RF Nick Markakis
DH Aubrey Huff
C Ramon Hernandez
1B Kevin Millar
3B Oscar Salazar
LF Lou Montanez
SS Juan Castro
P Radhames Liz

Red Sox
LF Jacoby Ellsbury
3B Jed Lowrie
DH David Ortiz
2B Dustin Pedroia
RF Mark Kotsay
C Jason Varitek
1B Jeff Bailey
SS Alex Cora
CF Coco Crisp
P Jon Lester

Game Preview
Orioles (63-74) at Boston (80-57)
The Orioles, who are winless on their current road trip, tonight look to break into that win column in the second game of their series in Boston. The O's have been outscored 41-20 and are 0-4 on this trip.

Monday night, Boston scored four in the 6th to take the lead and beat the Orioles, 7-4. Dustin Pedroia and Jed Lowrie had 2 RBI each for the Sox, who have won 6 of 8 and 16 of their last 24 games.

Boston is 5 games out in the AL East, behind Tampa, but is 3 games ahead of Minnesota and Chicago in the Wild Card race.

Winning pitcher Paul Byrd went 7 innings as Boston improved to 19-9 since August first and 46-19 at home on the season.

Kevin Millar, Juan Castro and Adam Jones hit solo homers for the Orioles, who fell to 20-38 in games vs. the AL East. Aubrey Huff had a double in four at bats and is 10-20 over his last five games.

Pitching Match-Up

RHP Radhames Liz (5-3, 6.95) tonight will make his 13th start of the season, his 6th on the road and his second this year vs. the Boston Red Sox.

Liz was with Triple-A Norfork from late July until August 22nd and in four starts with the Tides then, went 2-2, 2.67.

In two starts since rejoining the O's, Liz is 1-0, 4.50. In those outings vs. the White Sox and Yankees he has pitched 10 innings giving up 5 ER on 12 hits with 3 homers.

On the season the righty has pitched 57 innings, giving up 64 hits including 15 home runs. Right-handed batters hit .281 vs. Liz and lefties bat .297. The Orioles are 7-5 when he has started.

Liz pitches 1-25: .317 batting average
Liz pitches 26-50: .250 batting average

Liz, who has recorded just one quality start all year, is 2-1, 8.69 in five road starts. In four second-half starts, he is 2-1, 5.91

Liz vs. Boston:
2008: 0-1, 30.90, one start (July 12 pitches 2 1/3, 6H, 8R-ER, 3 HR's)
2007: 0-0, 6.00, one start
Career: 0-1, 16.88, two starts (5 1/3 IP, 10H, 10ER, 4 homers)

LHP Jon Lester (12-5, 3.41) tonight makes his 29th start of the season, his 14th at home and his 5th this season vs. Baltimore.

Lester, who has pitched two shutouts this year, most recently faced the Orioles on August 18th and got the win, allowing just one run and four hits over seven innings.

The 24-year-old pitched a no-hitter May 19th vs. Kansas City. He walked two and fanned nine in that game. On July 3rd, Lester pitched a 5-hit shutout vs. the Yankees, needing just 105 pitches with 8 strikeouts.

Lester pitched to an ERA of 4.34 in August. In 8 second-half starts he is 5-2, 3.48 after pitching to an ERA of 3.38 before the All-Star game.

Lefty batters hit just .220 off Lester while he gives up a batting average of .281 vs. right-handed batters. The Sox are 18-10 when he takes the mound.

In 13 home starts, Lester, who is 11th in the AL in ERA, is 7-1, 2.93.

Lester vs. the Orioles:
2008: 2-0, 2.88, four starts, 25 IP
2007: 2-0, 1.38, two starts
Career: 5-0, 2.93 in seven starts, 43 IP

Orioles Hitters - How They Fared in August
Castro: .213-0-11
Cintron: .263-0-0
Hernandez: .276-2-16
Huff: .345-8-26
Markakis: .355-3-23
Millar: .222-3-15
Montanez: .333-1-6
Mora: .418-8-32
Payton: .277-1-7
Quiroz: .080-0-1
Roberts: .345-2-17
Scott: .326-3-12

Flores had to be carted off the field in the top of the third after a collision at the plate with Chase Utley. With two out, Utley on third and Jason Werth on first, John Lannan threw to first to keep Werth close.

As Lannan threw over, Utley broke for home. Ronnie Belliard fired to the plate and Flores blocked the dish perfectly, preventing Utley from scoring. Utley dove head first into Flores, trying to jar the ball loose. Flores' ankle got twisted under him and he immediately rolled around in pain.

As for the game, Washington blew a chance to score on Cole Hamels in the second. Belliard singled and advanced to third on Elijah Dukes ground-rule double.

Flores came up next and hit a broken bat liner to center. Dukes thought it would fall in for a hit and took off for third. Center fielder Shane Victorino raced in, made the sliding catch and fired to second to double up Dukes.

Next batter, Alberto Gonzalez had a chance to get one run home, but grounded out to second to end the inning.

The Phillies got to Lannan in the third after he retired the first six batters he faced. Pedro Feliz led off with a single and two-outs later, scored on Jimmy Rollins' single.

Rollins advanced to second when the throw from left fielder Willie Harris went to the plate. Utley followed with an RBI single to make it 2-0. After Werth singled and with Ryan Howard batting, Utley was out at the plate on the collision with Flores.

Lannan was virtually lights out after the third, giving up one hit and walking two. It will go down as another quality start for the young lefty, but he took the loss, the 13th of the year. Lannan was replaced with Levale Speigner to start the seventh

Speigner, making his season debut with the Nationals didn't fare to well. He allowed back-to-back singles to Feliz and Carlos Ruiz. Hamels moved the runners over with a ground out to third.

Rollins drove in a run with a single to right, making it a 3-0 game. Next batter, Utley grounded to second. Rollins, instead of running hard to second, stopped and forced Hernandez to throw to first for the force out, allowing the fourth Philadelphia run to score. Rollins was then out on a 4-3-6-1 put out.

Washington couldn't get much going against Hamels after the second. They had a runner in scoring position with two-out in the fifth, but Hernandez lined out to end the inning.

The Nationals best chance against the lefty came in the eighth. Hamels gave up a one-out walk, to pinch-hitter Aaron Boone, and a single, to Hernandez. Hamels was lifted for lefty specialist J.C. Romero. Romero struck out Harris for the second out. Chad Durbin came in to face Zimmerman and got him to ground into the 6-4 force out.

One bright spot for the Nationals was reliever Michael Hinckley making his MLB debut. Hinckley tossed 1 2/3 innings of scoreless ball and struck out two batters.

Back-up catcher Wil Nieves, who replaced Flores, told Debbi Taylor how he felt seeing his teammate down with the injury.

Postgame Notes
After the game, the Nationals selected catcher Luke Montz from Triple-A Columbus.

Washington had its season-best 7-game win streak snapped. The 7-game run was the second longest winning streak since the franchise relocated to the District in 2005. The longest win streak in Washington Nationals (2005-present) history was a franchise record-tying 10-game run, June 2-12, 2005.

With his double in the second inning, Ryan Zimmerman has now hit safely in his last eight games. H.he is batting .419 (13-for-31) with two doubles, two homers and six RBI in that span.

John Lannan posted his 19th quality start, allowing two runs in 6 innings. Despite a 2.08 ERA (28 ER/121.0 IP) in those quality starts, he owns a 7-6 record.

Since returning from the DL on August 27th, Elijah Dukes is batting .333 (8-for-24) with eight runs, three doubles, two homers, five walks and six RBI in seven games.

Mike Hinckley made his MLB debut, striking out two in 1 2.3innings of work.

Clubhouse Audio: Mike Hinckley on his Major League debut

Final Linescore
Phillies 4-8-0
Nationals 0-6-0
WP-Hamels (12-8)
LP-Lannan (8-13)

Pete McElroy's Live Gameblog

Phillies scoring, 7th inning
Leading 2-0 entering the inning, Philadelphia got consecutive singles from Pedro Feliz and Carlos Ruiz off reliever Levale Speigner. Cole Hamels faked a bunt attempt, pulled the bat back and hit a one-hopper to Ryan Zimmerman at third. Zimmerman, playing in, fielded the ball and threw to first, from his knees, for the out, but both runners moved up a base.

Jimmy Rollins followed with a single to score Feliz and give the Phillies the 3-0 lead. Chase Utley came up and grounded to second. Ruiz scored as Anderson Hernandez threw to first for the out. Rollins got into a rundown to make sure the run crossed the plate. He did his job and the Phillies lead 4-0.

Lannan's solid outing
Lannan has settled down since the two-run third inning. He's allowed one base hit since then and walked two, stranding all three runners. Lannan has nine ground ball outs to four fly ball outs. He was lifted to start the seventh due to his pitch count. Unfortunately for Lannan, a lack of run support will cost him a chance for a win and possible give him his 13th loss of the season.
6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 4 K. 94 pitches, 58 strikes.

Flores injured
After Jason Werth's single put runners on the corners, Lannan threw to first to keep the runner close and Utley broke for home. Ronnie Belliard's throw beat Utley and he was out. Utley dove head first into Flores and Flores stayed down on the field and had be taken off on a cart.

From what I could see on replays, they were using bandaging on his left ankle. One of the Nationals coaches crossed his arms to indicate something was broken. Xray were negative and it's listed as an left ankle sprain.

Phillies scoring, 3rd inning
John Lannan had retired the side in order in the first and second innings. The third was a different story.

Pedro Feliz led off with a single and moved to third on a fielder's choice and a sac bunt. Jimmy Rollins singled to left to score Feliz and put the Phillies up 1-0. Willie Harris' throw from left field was on target, but Jesus Flores missed the one-hopper and Feliz slid home safe and Rollins moved to second on the throw. Chase Utley followed with an RBI single to score Rollins and the Nats trail 2-0.

Lannan thru 3 innings
Lannan retired the first six Phillies before allowing a lead-off single to Pedro Feliz. After a fielders choice and sac bunt, Lannan allowed three straight singles and the Phillies have a 2-0 lead. Only one of the nine outs is a fly ball out.
3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 2 K. 47 pitches

Nats base running mistake
The Nationals ran themselves out of a big inning against Cole Hamels in the second.

Ronnie Belliard reached base with an infield single and Elijah Dukes hit a ground-rule double to put runners on second and third with nobody out. Next batter Jesus Flores hit a broken bat liner to shallow center. Dukes took off for third, but Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino chased it down and made a sliding catch and fired to second to double up Dukes. Alberto Gonzalez came up next and grounded out to end the inning.

Starting Line-ups

Phillies
SS Jimmy Rollins
2B Chase Utley
RF Jason Werth
1B Ryan Howard
LF Pat Burrell
CF Shane Victorino
3B Pedro Feliz
C Carlos Ruiz
P Cole Hamels

Nationals
2B Anderson Hernandez
LF Willie Harris
3B Ryan Zimmerman
CF Lastings Milledge
1B Ronnie Belliard
RF Elijah Dukes
C Jesus Flores
2B Alberto Gonzalez
P John Lannan

Game Preview
Philadelphia (75-63) at Nationals (53-85)
Washington found another way to keep their winning streak alive: getting clutch hits with runners in scoring position.

Yesterday, they went 4-9 with RISP and drove in five of the six runs. During their seven-game streak, the Nationals are hitting .361 (26-72) with runners on second or third.

With the win on Monday, the Nationals improved to 5-8 against the Phillies. During one stretch, Philadelphia won seven straight, but Washington has won the last two. Tim Redding, who picked up the win on Monday by tossing 5 2/3 innings of three-run ball, has three of the five wins against the Phillies this season. Saul Rivera has the other two.

Ryan Zimmerman's 2-run homer, in the fourth, extended his hitting streak to seven games. He's hitting .444 with two homers and six RBI over that span.

Tonight, John Lannan aims for his third consecutive victory. The Phillies send staff ace Cole Hamles to the bump as they look to get back to winning ways.

Pitching Match-Up

LHP John Lannan (8-12, 3.92), who has won his last two starts, had one of the worst outings of his career against the Phillies on July 31st.

Lannan gave up eight runs, six earned, on nine hits, three walks, a hit batter and a wild pitch in the Nationals 8-4 loss. The game wasn't as close as the score indicates. Philadelphia led 3-1 after two innings, 5-2 after four and 8-2 at the end of the sixth.

The young lefty gave up a lead-off home run to Jason Werth in the second. The next two batters reached base and an RBI groundout from Jimmy Rollins and an error by Ryan Zimmerman put Washington in a 3-0 hole.

After the Nationals made it a 3-2 game, Philadelphia got a 2-run homer from Rollins to make it 5-2 in the fourth. The Phillies chased Lannan with four consecutive hits, five including the one Charlie Manning surrendered in the sixth; three runners came around to score to make it 8-2.

In his career vs. Philadelphia, two starts, Lannan is 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA. He's allowed 10 earned runs in 10 innings.

Lannan, who had been hurt by a lack of run support most of the season, finally got a taste of what it's like to pitch with a big lead. Against the Dodgers last Thursday at Nationals Park, he gave up a 2-run homer to Manny Ramirez in the first, but the Nationals scored five in the bottom of the inning and cruised to the 11-2 victory.

Lannan, who has struggled at home this year, is making his 12th start at Nationals Park. He's 3-7 with a 5.93 ERA compared to a 5-5, 2.71 ERA on the road.

LHP Cole Hamels (11-8, 3.13) is undefeated in his last four starts. He's 2-0 with a 1.86 ERA. The two games he didn't win, he left with the lead, but the bullpen couldn't hold it and blew the game.

The ace of the Phillies staff is making his third start against the Nationals this season and he's dominated them in both games so far; but he doesn't have a win to show for his efforts.

In his most recent start against Washington on May 20th, Hamels tossed seven scoreless innings of four hit ball at Nationals Park. He struck out a season-high 11 batters, but Jason Bergmann matched him pitch for pitch. The Phillies scored a run in the ninth off Jon Rauch to win 1-0.

In his other start vs. the Nationals on April 2nd Hamels gave up one run on five hits in eight innings, but lost a 1-0 decision when Ryan Zimmerman took him deep in the sixth.

If there has been one Achilles heel for Hamels it's his propensity to give up the long ball. So far this year, he's allowed 24 round trippers in 195 2/3 innings. Last season, he served up 25 gopher balls in 183 1/3 and in 2006, 19 in 132 1/3 innings.

Hamels, who is making his 14th start on the road, is 5-2 with a 3.24 ERA outside of Philadelphia. In his career against Washington, he is 4-3 with a 2.25 ERA in 11 career starts.

Hurricane Gustav hit the Gulf Coast today, and Oriole pitcher Lance Cormier had a reason to keep an eye on the news. Cormier is a Louisiana native, and his parents, grandparents and sister still live in LaFayette, LA.

He excused himself from our discussion in the clubhouse to call home around 3:30 p.m. Luckily, everybody was okay after deciding a few days ago to stay put and ride out the storm.

It was interesting to hear Cormier downplay the threat of a hurricane. He said growing up in Louisiana, it was just part of life. His mentality is completely foreign to those of us who grew up in the mid-Atlantic region where natural disasters are extremely rare.

Cormier's teammates listened in the clubhouse as he told stories of sitting in his family's garage as a child during a major hurricane. He described how loud the wind and rain sounded as the house was pounded by the elements. It must have been frightening for a child to experience.

Listening to Lance, we were all reminded of how insignificant baseball can be when part of our country is dealing with disaster. My thoughts and prayers turn to those beginning the cleanup on the Gulf Coast today.

With Troy Smith and Kyle Boller still sidelined, the Ravens were also in need of a backup quarterback for the immediate future. ESPN.com is reporting that Baltimore filled that void today by signing Joey Harrington, who was released this weekend by the Falcons.

The Ravens were hoping to have Smith or Boller start the season at quarterback so they could ease Flacco into the job, but Smith's tonsil infection and Boller's shoulder injury have limited their playing time the past couple weeks.

The situation is a bit bizarre, and even Flacco didn't see things working out the way they have.

"[It happened] faster than I expected," Flacco said, "but this is what I wanted all along. Things happen funny. I've gotten my opportunity. It's up to me to go out there and play, and it's up to our offense."

Flacco was left standing as the only legitimate option late in the preseason. He played all of the Ravens' third preseason game, and almost two quarters last Thursday against the Falcons. The rookie went 35-for-67 for 284 yards and a TD in the preseason, and head coach John Harbaugh seemed pleased with his progress each time out.

"You couldn't envision this scenario," Harbaugh said. "It wasn't what we planned. We didn't plan on him taking this many reps, or really any one quarterback taking this many reps throughout the preseason, probably. But he's certainly benefited from it. And you can see the improvement from the first game to the fourth game."

Smith was back with the team today after spending part of last week in the hospital with a tonsil infection, but he will not practice for a while as he tries to get his strength back.

"I'm feelng a little better," Smith said, "but the process hasn't been easy because you work so hard to achieve certain things, and then something comes that you don't have any control over. You've just got to battle through it."

With Boller still out as well, the Ravens were left with little insurance behind Flacco heading into the regular season opener. Baltimore brought in Harrington, Chris Simms (cut by the Buccaneers this weekend), and Todd Bouman (released by the Jaguars) to audition for Harbaugh and the coaching staff today.

Apparently Harrington has won that battle, and the Lions' first-round pick in the 2002 NFL Draft will back up the Ravens' first selection this year.

With due respect to all of those who are trying so hard to find a way to help, I applaud your efforts.

I have been around here and other places for a long time, and I've seen all the changes that have occurred in this game. God only knows that because of my stubborness, I have had to learn things the hard way, but I'm thankful to Him for allowing me to play so long in this game that there is little that I haven't experienced to this point.