The Orioles made their latest concession with a young player prior to today's game in Minnesota, optioning starter Dean Kremer to focus again on his development. They returned outfielder Austin Hays to the injured list. They kept Ryan Mountcastle out of the lineup with a bruised hand and carried a two-man bench. The goal was to end a losing streak that grew to eight games, but the importance of the big picture trumped everything. And the pains sharpen during the process. No one promised...

The Orioles need a win today to both avoid being swept in this three-game series in Minnesota and also to end an eight-game losing streak. The O's eight-game streak is their longest since they also dropped eight in a row Aug. 12-19, 2019. The club has not lost nine straight games since they lost 10 in a row from June 12-21, 2019. The Orioles have been outscored 69-37 (minus-32 run differential) in this stretch, while posting a 9.00 ERA and batting .254. The O's are 2-15 since May 7. They have...

Left-hander Keegan Akin is replacing Dean Kremer in the Orioles rotation, which gives him Sunday afternoon's start against the White Sox in Chicago. Akin allowed two runs last night in three relief innings. He has a 6.10 ERA and 1.258 WHIP in four appearances over 10 1/3 innings, with only one walk and 10 strikeouts. Akin hasn't started for the Orioles since Sept. 27, 2020 in Toronto, when he surrendered four runs in three innings. Manager Brandon Hyde explained today's decision to option...

Outfielder Austin Hays has gone on the injured list for a second time with a hamstring injury and the Orioles recalled Ryan McKenna from Triple-A Norfolk as they close out their series in Minnesota. Hays injured his right hamstring during the third game of the season in Boston. He experienced tightness in the left one following Sunday's game in D.C. Hays is batting .252/.319/.455 with six doubles, two triples, five home runs and 15 RBIs in 32 games. The Orioles optioned pitcher Dean Kremer to...

The only real offensive highlight of Tuesday night's 2-1 loss at Nationals Park was Josh Bell's bottom-of-the-ninth homer. A homer that was a long time coming for the switch-hitting slugger, because it came from the right side of the plate. Though he has been breaking out of his season-long funk as a left-handed batter over the last two weeks, Bell hadn't shown much as a right-handed batter yet. The switch-hitter entered Tuesday's game just 2-for-25 on the season when batting righty against...

He is a young hitter the Orioles are trying to be patient with. Some games they see the good and the bad for Ryan Mountcastle on the same night, sometimes even within the same plate appearance. On Saturday night at Washington, Mountcastle smoked a Jon Lester cutter for a first-inning grand slam. But he chased a curveball to strike out in the fifth. Monday night at Minnesota, he worked a nine-pitch at-bat and then singled to center on a slider. But the next two times up he expanded the zone and...

John Means didn't leave the bullpen many innings to cover Monday night in Minnesota. He worked through the seventh, trailing only because of two solo home runs and an offense that short-circuited with men in scoring position. The game never carried into the bottom of the ninth. The bullpen was responsible only for the eighth, unexpectedly given a lead and coughing up six runs in a demoralizing 8-3 loss. Manager Brandon Hyde wasn't going to use his most effective reliever, left-hander Paul...

The topic probably didn't come up tonight during assistant pitching coach Darren Holmes' visit to the mound in the second inning, but Dean Kremer's lengthy stay on it threatened to get a beleaguered bullpen busy. Wheels in motion with the possibility of having them come off again. Kremer surrendered two runs, and a walk following his conversation with Holmes loaded the bases with one out. The pitch count was skyrocketing, reaching 54 by the time he made it back to the dugout. Two wild...

These Nationals have teased us before. They've had moments over the last two months when they appear to have figured things out, especially at the plate, only to fail to sustain any sense of positive momentum. So even though they looked much better over the weekend while sweeping the Orioles, the Nats were in no way guaranteed of showing up at the park tonight and picking up where they left off. And they most certainly did not. Barely making a peep at the plate against a Reds pitching staff...

Orioles outfielder Austin Hays is testing his sore left hamstring and performing conditioning drills this afternoon at Target Field while retaining his day-to-day status. Hays is out of the lineup for the second consecutive night. "His hamstring's feeling a little bit better," manager Brandon Hyde said in his Zoom call. "Hopefully he'll be available off the bench tonight, but we'll see." The bullpen is a real sore spot and Hyde is keeping the closer role flexible rather than committing...