BOSTON – Cedric Mullins won’t be moving down the lineup anytime soon against right-handed pitching.

Albert Suárez might not leave the rotation against anyone.

Mullins homered in his first two at-bats tonight to power the Orioles to a 5-3 victory over the Red Sox before an announced crowd of 30,898 at Fenway Park. One came cheaply, the other earned. They both counted.

Suárez allowed one run in six innings, and the Orioles improved to 83-63 with a chance to win the series Wednesday night before flying to Detroit. The Yankees lost and are only a half-game ahead in the division race.

Mullins’ multi-homer game was the fifth of his career and first since June 19, 2021 against the Blue Jays. The previous four happened in his 30/30 season.

Now 1 1/2 games out in the American League East, the Orioles (82-63) play the second game of their three-game series in Boston tonight. It's also the second game of a six-game road trip that later moves on to Detroit.

The Orioles have lost four of five games and are 8-10 their past 18 games. They are 24-25 since the All-Star break and 29-32 since July 1.

The Orioles did not lose any of their first eight AL East series this year, going 6-0-2 in those series and 19-7 in those games. Now they are 2-3-1 their past six series, heading into this one and are 10-11 in their past 21 division games.

The Baltimore offense has scored one, two, one, zero and three runs during the past five games, and their seven runs in this span is last in the major leagues. They have 28 hits in those games for a .178 batting average and .539 OPS. They are 3-for-31 with runners in scoring position in this stretch.

The Orioles are 7-4 against the Red Sox and Baltimore has clinched the season series for a second straight year after going 7-6 in 2023. This marks the first time the O's have won the season series with the Sox in back-to-back years since doing so in four straight from 2012-15. One more win would guarantee a winning percentage of at least .600 against the Red Sox for the 15th time in team history and the first since 2012 (.722, 13-5). The Birds swept a three-game series in Boston from April 9-11, the 14th road series sweep of at least three games against the Red Sox by the Orioles club history and the first since April 2-4, 2021 (three games).

BOSTON – Jordan Westburg did some throwing in the outfield this afternoon, moved to the dirt and began taking ground balls at third base and at second. He made throws across the infield and flipped the ball as if starting a double play.

The Orioles can’t wait to get the real thing from Westburg, who’s on the injured list since fracturing his right hand on July 31.

“I’m happy with how it’s progressing,” he said later while standing at his locker. “Past couple days I feel like I’ve turned a little bit of a corner strength-wise. I’m able to grip some weights more and like really grasp down. It’s something I was having a problem with just putting pressure on that pinky side. But past couple days it’s felt good so I’m encouraged by that.”

And somehow not overly discouraged by the interruption to his season.

“It’s frustrating that I have a broken hand and I’m missing time, but it’s also an occupational hazard,” he said. “It’s been the way that I’ve described it. We know what we signed up for playing baseball. We know the dangers and the possibilities of injury involved with this game. It’s certainly not a contact sport like football, but when somebody’s throwing really hard and you’re in the box and you don’t have a lot of time to get out of the way, that stuff can happen.

BOSTON – Coby Mayo is starting at third base tonight at Fenway Park and Jackson Holliday returns to the lineup at second base.

Cedric Mullins is batting second again.

James McCann is catching, with Adley Rutschman serving as designated hitter.

Albert Suárez needs to bounce back from his last start, when he allowed six runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings against the White Sox. He surrendered three home runs to tie his career high, and Chicago snapped a 12-game losing streak.

Suárez shut out the Red Sox over six innings on Aug. 18.

BOSTON – Cedric Mullins broke hard on Jarren Duran’s line drive to right-center field, went into full extension on his dive and made a remarkable catch. Anthony Santander raised his fist after Mullins crashed to the ground. Cade Povich raised his cap in appreciation.

Three pitches later, Mullins raced back to the center field warning track, slowed and watched Rob Refsnyder’s ball land in the seats for a two-run homer after Rafael Devers singled.

The third pitch thrown to Tyler O’Neill was 110.1 mph off the bat and launched at 41 degrees to clear the left field wall. The Red Sox went back-to-back against Povich in his 13^th major league start and first at Fenway Park, which can be downright cruel to left-handed pitchers. A higher level of experience isn’t always a shield.

The Orioles grabbed a quick lead, let go almost as fast and began an important series in Boston with a 12-3 loss before an announced crowd of 30,600.

Santander drove in all three runs, the last on his 40^th home run, launched against Josh Winckowski leading off the seventh inning. He’s the eighth Orioles player to reach that mark, the first since Mark Trumbo in 2016, and it’s the ninth occurrence. Chris Davis did it twice. Santander also is the first switch-hitter in the majors with 40 since Carlos Beltran and Lance Berkman in 2006.

In their search for more runs, which they obviously hope lead to more wins, the Orioles are in Boston tonight. They play a three-game series at Fenway Park to begin their penultimate road trip of the season.

They play there remembering that they swept a series at Boston in mid-April, scoring 23 runs on 31 hits. In that set, they were 15-for-37 (.405) with runners in scoring position.

But over their past four games, the Orioles scored one, two, one and zero runs. They lost 2-0 to the Rays on Sunday to lose that series and suffer their sixth shutout. The Orioles have 22 hits in the past four games, batting .179 with a .502 OPS as they went 1-for-20 with runners in scoring position.

At 82-62 (.569), the Orioles have the second-best record in the American League and fifth-best in the majors. They begin play tonight a half-game out of first place in the AL East with 18 games remaining in the regular season.

The Orioles ended the year going 9-4 versus the Rays and the are 29-17 in division games.

BOSTON – While the Orioles are getting closer to reinstating some pitching from the injured list, first baseman Ryan Mountcastle’s status remains cloaked in uncertainty.

Mountcastle is out with a sprained left wrist and hasn’t played since Aug. 22. The last update didn’t have him hitting in the cage and doing full baseball activities.

Manager Brandon Hyde’s optimism in getting back Mountcastle for the final playoff push also is murky.

“I don’t know, I don’t know,” he said this afternoon. “I want to say it’s optimistic, but I’m not really sure. I think he’s gonna come back by the end of the regular season, I just don’t know when.”

The offense must get hot without him.

BOSTON – Major League Baseball announced today that catcher James McCann is the Orioles’ nominee for the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award, which is presented annually to the player who “best represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.”

The Orioles will recognize McCann in a special on-field ceremony on Saturday, Sept. 21.

The following comes from the club’s press release:

“Since joining the Orioles prior to the 2023 season, McCann has emerged as a cornerstone of community support in Baltimore, earning him a nomination for the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award. His unwavering dedication to community service is a family affair, with McCann, his wife Jessica, and their twin boys actively contributing to their communities year-round. The McCann family donated 50 pairs of shoes to Church of the City’s Wrap Around Closet in Nashville, Tenn. supporting children in foster care.

“Earlier this season, the Orioles announced their adoption of Harlem Park Elementary Middle School, aiming to foster a lasting relationship and support students from pre-k all the way through their entry into the workforce. McCann eagerly embraced this partnership, actively engaging with Harlem Park students and staff at Friday home game batting practices, proudly donning a Harlem Park-branded t-shirt. His involvement extended to the classroom as well, where he visited PE classes to teach baseball skills and inspire students to pursue their dreams with perseverance. To further support Harlem Park, McCann and Jessica provided Harlem Park students with essential items such as backpacks, clothing, and shoes for the new school year, underscoring their dedication to fostering the growth and success of Baltimore’s youth.

The Orioles have had a homestand with two kinds of ugly losses and two well-pitched, well-played wins. Tonight they play Game 3 of a four-game series with Boston and Game 5 of their six-game homestand.

The Orioles (72-51) are 2-2 on the homestand, but had fallen one game behind the New York Yankees (73-50) for the AL East lead through Friday. Boston (64-57) is in third place, eight games back of the division leaders.

The Orioles are now 1/2 game back of New York after thier 4-0 loss to Detroit this afternoon as they were held to four hits in falling to 73-51. The O's can tie for first with a win tonight.

The Orioles beat the Red Sox 5-1 Thursday to open this series, as Zach Eflin and four relievers teamed on a seven-hitter with 10 strikeouts. But the O’s staff allowed 14 hits and four homers in last night’s 12-10 loss.

Boston hit four doubles, and added those four homers and scored two or more runs in four different innings. It was the third-most runs the Orioles have allowed in a game this season. They lost 19-8 at Oakland July 6 and 14-11 at Houston June 21.

Birdland is wishing and hoping that the Orioles can get on a strong roll the rest of this season. With last night's 5-1 win over Boston, they are 72-50 and now it's a 40-game sprint to the finish to win the American League East.

Looking for their first seasons with back-to-back AL East championships since 1973 and 1974, the defending division champion Orioles are now tied once again at the top with the Yankees who did not play last night.

If the division winner were determined only by division games, the Orioles would be in great shape.

They are well ahead of New York in those standings. Here is how the standings would look this morning if we counted only AL East games this season.

.675 - Orioles (27-13)

The Nationals will open next season at home against a familiar foe.

Major League Baseball unveiled its 2025 schedule this afternoon, with the Nats hosting the Phillies on Opening Day, which falls on March 27. This will be the third time they’ve faced Philadelphia to open a season, though the first time since 2010.

After the three-game series against their division rivals, the Nationals go north of the border for a quick trip to face the Blue Jays in Toronto before coming right back home for six games against the Diamondbacks and Dodgers.

The Nats will embark on a pair of three-city trips, one of them crisscrossing the country, the other taking them to the three big league ballparks in Southern California. They make the unconventional Miami-Pittsburgh-Colorado trip from April 11-20, then have the more manageable Los Angeles-San Diego-Anaheim trio from June 20-29.

There are no three-series homestands on the schedule.

BOSTON – Eddie Rosario had a forgettable April. In fact, he’s had forgettable Aprils throughout his 10-year career.

In 19 games last month, the 32-year-old outfielder slashed .053/.115/.070 with a .185 OPS, no home runs and no RBIs. He had one double as his lone extra-base hit. Even his three games in March were better: 273/.250/.636 with an .886 OPS, one homer and three RBIs.

That left him with a career slash line of .205/.248/.369 with a .617 OPS in March/April, by far his worst months of the year.

But when the calendar flipped to May, so did his production at the plate.

Rosario is now slashing .417/.533/.958 with a 1.492 OPS in nine games in May, which is over 1.300 points higher than his OPS in April.

BOSTON – Today felt like it was going to be a weird day at Fenway Park. The Nationals and Red Sox had played two quick, nondescript games to start this three-game series. Plus, it was Mother’s Day.

Something a little more interesting had to happen, right?

Well, something more interesting definitely happened and then some as the Nats fell to the Red Sox 3-2 in the series finale in front of 29,250 fans.

"We made some mistakes," manager Davey Martinez said after the game. "A dropped fly ball, ran into some outs on the bases and it cost us. It might have cost us the game, you don't know that. But when you make those kinds of mistakes, it's definitely gonna hamper the way you finish the game.

The wackiness started from the get-go.

BOSTON – After running out the same lineup for the first two games against the Red Sox, Davey Martinez mixed it up for Sunday’s finale at Fenway Park.

Jacob Young and Trey Lipscomb are getting rare days off today. Victor Robles returns to center field with Jesse Winker in left and Eddie Rosario in right, while Ildemaro Vargas takes over at third base and Nick Senzel serves as the designated hitter. And Riley Adams is giving Keibert Ruiz some rest for just the fourth game since returning from the injured list with a case of influenza.

“Jacob has been playing. He's just been beat up a little bit, so I want to give him a day,” Martinez said during his pregame media session. “Give Lipscomb a day and get Vargas in there. For me, it's about keeping all these guys engaged and keeping them fresh. Riley's in there today, Senzel's back in the day. But these young guys are playing really well. I gotta make sure I take care of them and that they're fresh. Here we go today. Try to go 1-0 today.”

Neither Young nor Lipscomb made the Opening Day roster out of spring training. But both were early call-ups and have been getting the majority of the playing time in their respective positions. Young has played in 30 of the Nats’ first 38 games, starting 27 of them. Lipscomb has played in 29 games, starting all but one of them.

Young is fourth in the National League with 12 stolen bases and started his career a perfect 25-for-25 in stolen base attempts, which is tied for the fourth-longest streak to start a major league career. He is also one of three current major league players to have at least a .275 average, 20 runs and 10 stolen bases (Trea Turner and Bobby Witt Jr.).

BOSTON – Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there! I hope each and every one of you gets to enjoy your special day. I want to give a special shoutout to my own mom, Darlene, back at home and to all the mothers in my life.

This Mother’s Day will be extra special for the Nationals if they can beat the Red Sox and leave Fenway Park with a series win.

Jake Irvin gave them one of the best starts of his career yesterday, but that wasn’t enough in a 4-2 loss. MacKenzie Gore will look to replicate Irvin’s efforts with a better final result.

Gore boasts a 2-3 record, 3.44 ERA, 1.471 WHIP and 11.1 strikeouts-per-nine-innings rate over his seven starts to date. The southpaw was roughed up for six runs in just three innings Sunday against the Blue Jays. But the lineup bailed him out in what would be a wild back-and-forth finish, ending in a Nats victory. Today he’ll try to get out to a good start like Irvin and Patrick Corbin have done this weekend.

Brayan Bello returns from the injured list to make his sixth start of the year. The right-hander went down with right lat tightness on April 24 (retroactive to April 21). He is 3-1 with a 3.04 ERA and 1.050 WHIP over his first five starts. His last start came on April 19, when he pitched six shutout innings with seven strikeouts against the Pirates.

BOSTON – Mother’s Day across baseball is always special. The players and coaches wear special pink-trimmed hats, jerseys and gear. Teams often put out videos of players wishing their moms and wives a happy Mother’s Day. Even mascots get to celebrate with their moms.

But this Mother’s Day is extra special for Joey Meneses thanks to a message from his mom, Lupita Ramirez, on Friday.

The Nationals are playing their first series at Fenway Park since 2020. Before the opener on Friday, many of the young players took a tour of the historic ballpark, including the iconic Green Monster.

Meneses was one of them. Despite playing in the Red Sox’s minor league system in 2021, the 31-year-old had never played at Fenway before this weekend.

Friday also just happened to be Mother’s Day back in his home country of Mexico. So when he was done with the tour, Meneses sent a video of the Green Monster to his mom, whose reply manifested what would happen Saturday in the second inning.

BOSTON – The Nationals returned to Fenway Park on Saturday afternoon in search of a series win over the Red Sox. A victory today would lock up their second series win in their last three and third in their last five. Plus, it would put them two games over .500 for the first time since June 30, 2021.

But despite Jake Irvin pitching one of the best starts of his career, a late Red Sox rally buried the Nats in a 4-2 loss.

Robert Garcia entered the eighth inning of a 2-2 game looking to keep the game tied. Pinch-hitter Rob Refsnyder hit a one-out infield single that dribbled up the third base line and never went foul. Garcia got pinch-hitter Romy Gonzalez to hit a ground ball to CJ Abrams, but the young shortstop tried to turn the double play by himself and threw the ball into the Red Sox dugout.

With Gonzalez on second, the Nats intentionally walked the right-handed Tyler O’Neill to bring up the lefty Rafael Devers, who proceeded to end a seven-pitch battle with a two-run double to left to send the 30,995 fans in Boston into a frenzy.

“Tried to throw a slider first pitch and see if I can get him to swing. It wasn't a great one, it moved away," Garcia said after the game. "I fell down 2-0, which was fine. I got right back in the count, evened it out 2-2. I threw a high fastball and he looked very uncomfortable. Surprised, kind of taken aback about, probably, the velo and the way it was thrown. So I figured that we're gonna go there. Because that's my best pitch. Fastball has been my best pitch, we're going right after him in that situation. I didn't execute my location and he beat my best pitch today.”

BOSTON – Davey Martinez managed his bullpen to perfection in last night’s 5-1 win over the Red Sox.

In a 3-1 game at the seventh-inning stretch and facing the Nos. 2-4 hitters in Boston’s lineup, the Nationals manager made the decision to go with Hunter Harvey in that moment instead of saving him for his usual spot in the eighth.

Harvey issued a leadoff walk to Rob Refsnyder, but quickly erased the baserunner with a double play ball from Tyler O’Neill. Then he got Rafael Devers, perhaps the Red Sox’s most feared hitter, to strike out on a curveball in the dirt.

That left Dylan Floro for the eighth to potentially pass the ball to closer Kyle Finnegan in the ninth. Floro retired the side in short order with three groundouts on 10 pitches.

“It's nice to have some veteran guys that understand how to pitch in high-leverage situations, especially in the back end of the bullpen,” Martinez said before Saturday’s game at Fenway Park. “Dylan fits that mold. Jacob (Barnes) fits that mold as well. But it was nice to know that, hey, the top of their lineup is tough. We could use Harvey in that moment. And then I like Floro in the middle to the bottom of that lineup. So we did it that way yesterday. Floro has been throwing the ball really well. We talked a lot about how he missed some spring training. But now he's got his feet underneath him, he's throwing the ball well.”

BOSTON – The Nationals pulled off a win last night with Patrick Corbin on the mound, thanks to five strong innings from the veteran lefty. The offense also staked him to an early lead and then provided two insurance runs in the ninth inning.

Now with a victory already in hand, they turn to two of their better starters for the remainder of the series: Jake Irvin and MacKenzie Gore.

Irvin takes the ball this afternoon with a 2-3 record, 3.72 ERA and 1.190 WHIP. The right-hander was charged with four unearned runs in his last start against the Blue Jays. He’s given up two earned runs or fewer in four of his last five outings. If you take out his rough start against the Dodgers (six runs in 4 ⅔ innings), Irvin has a 2.65 ERA over his six other starts.

Cooper Criswell takes the mound for the Red Sox. Although he has made major league appearances in each of the last three seasons, the 27-year-old still holds his rookie status. The right-hander has pitched well over his first five appearances (four starts) this season, going 2-1 with a 1.74 ERA and 1.065 WHIP. He hasn’t given up more than two runs in any of his appearances, but he hasn’t pitched more than five innings either.

If the Nats offense can jump on him early again, that should set them up for more success, especially with Kyle Finnegan not pitching last night. 

BOSTON – It had been 25 days since his last game with the Nationals. And it had been three days and two games since he had been activated off the injured list. But on Friday night, Victor Robles finally made his return to a big league game.

And what a triumphant return it was.

Robles landed on the IL on April 4 with a left hamstring strain, another frustrating injury sidelining the soon-to-be 27-year-old outfielder who is trying to find a place in this organization’s future. He ended up missing 29 games, the most by any injured Nats player this year, not including the three on the 60-day IL.

Although he was reinstated Tuesday afternoon, he didn’t play in either game against the Orioles. And then Thursday’s off-day prolonged his return even more.

But finally Robles saw his name written on the lineup card yesterday inside the visiting clubhouse at Fenway Park, batting ninth and playing right field instead of his usual position in center field. It didn’t matter. He was finally playing.