Joseph hits another home run (O's win 7-3)

WASHINGTON - Orioles catcher Caleb Joseph has homered in back-to-back starts. In a related story, Joseph is the team's hottest hitter. Joseph jumped on a 91 mph fastball from Nationals starter Tanner Roark leading off the top of the third inning to tie the score 1-1. Joseph went 2-for-3 with a double and home run Saturday night against the Mariners at Camden Yards. Jayson Werth's sacrifice fly gave Washington a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the third. Denard Span led off with a double and moved to third on Anthony Rendon's single. Span has reached base in 30 consecutive games, tying him with Alfonso Soriano for second place on the Nats' all-time list. Ryan Zimmerman holds the record with 43 games in 2008. The Orioles fell behind 1-0 in the bottom of the second on Wilson Ramos' two-out homer off Kevin Gausman, who tried to blow a 95 mph fastball past him. Gausman has allowed three home runs in 58 innings. The Orioles are 51-24 when they hit a home run. However, they're also 19-38 when the opponent scores first. In case you missed my update in the last blog entry, reliever Jim Johnson has agreed to terms with a mystery team today. It's not the Orioles, according to sources. Oh well. I can only speculate that he received a major league deal. Otherwise, why choose another team? Update: The Nats scored again in the bottom of the fourth to increase their lead to 3-1, but Nick Markakis countered with a solo home run with two outs in the top of the fifth. Markakis has 10 homers this season and two in the past two games. He's now tied with Brady Anderson for fourth place in franchise history with nine seasons of 20-plus doubles and 10-plus home runs. Cal Ripken Jr. holds the record with 17 seasons, followed by Eddie Murray with 12 and Brooks Robinson with 11. Update II: Consecutive doubles by J.J. Hardy, his third hit, and Ryan Flaherty tied the game 3-3 in the seventh. Joseph laid down a sacrifice bunt, and pinch-hitter Delmon Young followed with an RBI single to give the Orioles a 4-3 lead. Young was batting for Gausman, who allowed three runs and eight hits in six innings, with two walks, three strikeouts and a home run. He threw 107 pitches, 60 for strikes. That's three straight quality starts for Gausman. Young is 9-for-17 with a double, home run and four RBIs as a pinch-hitter. Nick Markakis singled off reliever Ross Detwiler and Manny Machado singled off Craig Stammen to load the bases with one out. Jones followed with a single to increase the lead to 5-3. Nelson Cruz grounded into a double play to end the inning. This is the second time that the Orioles scored more than four runs since an 8-4 win over Oakland on July 19. Brad Brach has replaced Gausman. Tonight's attendance: 42,181. That's a sellout, and a lot of them are cheering for the Orioles. Update III: Joseph singled in the eighth to drive in two more runs and give the Orioles a 7-3 lead. Joseph is 11-for-30 (.366) in his last nine games. J.J. Hardy has four hits tonight, a season high and his highest total since June 6th, 2013. The Orioles have 10 hits in the last two innings. Update IV: Game over. The Orioles defeat the Nationals 7-3 and now head to Toronto for a big three-game set. Brach retired all six batters he faced. He's allowed three runs in his last 24 innings in 14 appearances. The Orioles are 63-48 overall and 21-9 since June 30. They lead the Blue Jays by four games in the American League East.