Wrapping up a 10-8 win

WASHINGTON - The Orioles moved within a game of first place in the American League East tonight following their 10-8 win over the Nationals and losses by the Red Sox and Blue Jays.

Another roster move is coming as the Orioles rotate fresh arms into the bullpen. They may send down Parker Bridwell after he retired the side in order in the eighth, but surrendered a grand slam to Daniel Murphy in the ninth. He threw 35 pitches and wouldn't be available on Thursday.

"We've got Ubaldo (Jimenez) pitching tomorrow and we probably have to make a pitching move tonight to make sure we're covered," said manager Buck Showalter. "Not because he's pitching. It's one of the advantages of having an optional bullpen. We've got to keep our late game arms healthy and available and that's why we're going to keep moving in and out."

Triple-A Norfolk won in 13 innings and outfielder L.J. Hoes took the mound in the final inning to earn the victory. Are there any fresh arms left?

"I saw that," Showalter said. "I was checking who pitched before we decide who. I want to check and see how L.J. did first. If he's breathing and can throw some left-handed, too, maybe we'll find he's ambidextrous. These challenging times call for things that aren't necessarily aesthetically pleasing to look at."

Joe Gunkel remains a candidate despite not being on the 40-man roster. Odrisamer Despaigne threw four scoreless and hitless innings tonight and he's not eligible anyway because he hasn't been down the minimum 10 days. Same with Tyler Wilson. Oliver Drake pitched yesterday. Jason Garcia started today for Double-A Bowie and Logan Ondrusek pitched yesterday. T.J. McFarland may not be ready to come off the disabled list, though the Orioles considered him last night.

The Orioles hung on tonight to win their third in a row over the Nats, with Zach Britton getting Ryan Zimmerman to ground into a double play after allowing his first earned run since April 30. He set a major league record with 43 consecutive appearances without an earned run.

"I wasn't even thinking about it," he said. "I was just thinking about needing to make some good pitches. I was getting frustrated, but it happens. A bad outing. I've had plenty. You've just got to execute pitches there.

"They're a good hitting team and right off the bat I just didn't make any good pitches. I just need to keep the ball down and I wasn't able to. I got fortunate even on the double play ball. It wasn't crisp, but I got fortunate right there.

"You're thinking, 'Hey, let's get out of this inning and get a win.' Those losses right there when the team's able to get back from such a big deficit, those are devastating. When you're out there, you're just trying to make a good pitch and get out of the inning. I knew we had an out, so find a way. Fortunately, we got the win."

Britton wasn't in a reflective mood over the streak ending.

"Not really," he said. "You can't get caught up in it, because tomorrow you could be in the game again. You've got to do well. Those things can get out of control easily when you start dwelling on them and thinking that the season's over. We've got a long way to go."

The bottom of the ninth felt as though it lasted forever. Britton wasn't supposed to pitch, but a seven-run lead began to dissolve.

"Well, you've got to be ready, right?" he said. "I think that's the biggest thing. I was a little bit caught off guard, but I felt pretty good once I got in the game. Just everything that happened, the home run by Murphy, get going.

"I just really didn't make good pitches tonight, really, all the way through. I think I threw maybe one good pitch and that was about it."

I've got a lot more postgame quotes to share. Here's a sampling, with more coming in the morning:

Showalter on Machado, who had four hits, including his 29th home run:
"You know what's funny about him? He'll go a day or so and it's almost like he thinks he forgot how to hit or something. But he works at it. He's got a lot of pride. He doesn't like to fail and that's one of the reasons why he's been so consistent this year."

Machado on the tense ninth inning:
"We know it's going to be a battle. They're a great team over there and they're not just going to give up. We knew that. It's just a matter of the time. They haven't been swinging the bat like they have been, and we've finally clicked a little bit. We've got to keep playing baseball like we've been playing, and we can never take it for granted. They're a great team over there, so you have to play till the last out's made."

Machado on getting four runs off Tanner Roark in the first:
"He's good. He's one of the big guys. We kind of took advantage of his mistakes. He had a rough couple innings that he normally never does that. He doesn't really hit many guys and he throws a lot of strikes, so we took advantage of the situation and we just got lucky on that one."

Machado on whether the games now are more important:
"It's always been important since Day One. It's just getting to a point that we're just getting closer to our goal. We've got to strap it on, keep playing as a team. We have it there at arm's length. We've got to go out there every day, try to win, try to battle, try to out-hit the other team, try to out-pitch the other team. We're in a good spot. I know we like the guys that we have on our team right now, and we're just going to have to keep fighting as one."

Machado on beating the Nationals three in a row:
"From now on, it's playoff baseball. Every team that we're going to play from now on, they're trying to compete. They're trying to win a World Series and they're trying to win games. It's going to be tough. We're going to be facing some great teams and we just have to keep grinding it out, honestly. We can't really do much if our hitters are not there or if our pitchers are not there. We just have to pick each other up and honestly just battle.

"It's up for grabs. Every game from now on it's going to be a tough one to play and we're going to be facing some good teams, so we just have to try to beat everybody."

Matt Wieters on the ninth inning:
"You always want to try to add on, especially with a good offense that they have. Ultimately, we would have loved to keep Zach out of the game, so every run's important, but getting a win is the most important thing."

Wieters on whether he was worried in the ninth:
"We play this game for 162 days, so if you're going to worry, you're in the wrong sport. We would have liked to get into the ninth inning a little bit smoother, but at the end of the day, getting a win is most important."

Wieters on Wade Miley, who earned his first win with the Orioles:
"He mixed. I think early I thought he had the fastball command that he wanted to. Early in the game, he made some good pitches with his fastball, but he went to a backup plan of being able to mix in his off-speed stuff, which was big for him."

Miley on getting his first win:
"It feels good, no doubt, but at the same time we just have to keep moving forward and keep building on that. Obviously, I wasn't as sharp as I wanted to be, but it was something to build on. And you've got five days and do it again."

Miley on Machado:
"He's probably the best third baseman in the game, offensively and defensively. He's pretty incredible."

Miley on winning without Chris Tillman:
"It's huge. We need to hold it down until obviously he gets back healthy. It's a big run. September's coming up, obviously the playoff race, and we want to keep it right where we're at and keep winning ballgames. It's in our hands right now."