A mammoth milestone home run by Adam Dunn was upstaged by his simple single that helped Washington rally to beat Atlanta. Atlanta's Tommy Hanson extended his scoreless innings streak to 26 before Dunn's 300th career homer and the Washington Nationals rallied for four eighth-inning runs and a 5-3 victory over the Braves on Saturday.

Brooks Conrad made quite a first impression, keeping the Atlanta Braves' winning streak and pursuit of the NL East lead in tact. Conrad hit a pinch-hit, go-ahead three-run homer in the seventh inning and the Braves beat the Washington Nationals 9-8 on Friday night for their season-high fifth straight victory.

Rodrigo Lopez took a three-hitter into the seventh inning in his first outing in two years, helping the Philadelphia Phillies snap a six-game home losing streak with a 7-2 victory over the New York Mets on Friday night. Lopez (1-0) allowed two runs and six hits in 6 1-3 innings to earn his first win since beating the Phillies on July 7, 2007, when he played for Colorado.

Asked to explain Florida's baffling mastery of the Washington Nationals, Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez offered the simplest explanation. "We've been lucky," he said. Having Hanley Ramirez has helped a little bit, too. Ramirez extended his RBI streak to 10 games and scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as the Marlins won 5-3 Wednesday and remained unbeaten against the...

Hanley Ramirez and the Florida Marlins struck right before the weather ended the Washington Nationals' night. Ramirez homered and drove in four runs, and the Marlins erased a four-run deficit to beat Washington 7-5 Tuesday in a game that was called in the seventh inning because of rain. Ramirez's two-run single in the seventh put the Marlins ahead 6-5.

Ricky Nolasco gave Scott Olsen a ride to the ballpark on Monday afternoon, the friends and former teammates chatting and catching up. They'll have plenty to talk about next time. Nolasco retired the final 13 batters he faced, spoiling Olsen's stellar return from the disabled list and helping the Florida Marlins stay perfect against the Washington Nationals with a 4-2 victory Monday night.

Desperate for a victory against their neighbors to the north, the Washington Nationals got just what they needed from their most reliable pitcher and most productive slugger. John Lannan took a four-hitter into the eighth inning, Adam Dunn hit a colossal home run, and the Nationals defeated the Baltimore Orioles 5-3 on Sunday to avoid a three-game sweep.

Nolan Reimold took a swing, and the ball soared off his bat into the sky. The ball was too high for Reimold to follow its path, so he looked at Washington left fielder Josh Willingham to try to get a read on the distance. Willingham couldn't track it either; he threw his arms up in bewilderment as he waited for it to land.

Brad Bergesen struggled with the humidity and his command. His mechanics were spotty, his breaking ball ineffective. And yet, the rookie right-hander was still plenty good enough to beat the Washington Nationals. Bergesen allowed four hits in six innings to win his fourth straight decision, Melvin Mora had four RBIs, and the Baltimore Orioles used an eight-run sixth to cruise to an 11-1 victory...

Time "absolutely stood still" for John Smoltz as game time approached. He sped through his warmup faster than planned. His phone was overflowing with 71 text messages. Try as he might to downplay his Boston Red Sox debut -- a 9-3 loss to Washington on Thursday night -- there was no way he could avoid the magnitude of the moment.