O's game blog: Matt Harvey and Bruce Zimmermann face the Mariners
O's game blog: Matt Harvey and Bruce Zimmermann face the Mariners
Steve Melewski
Orioles
After picking up their first win on this homestand in the second game of the doubleheader Tuesday night, the Orioles (5-6) host Seattle (6-5) today in another doubleheader. After last night's rainout the clubs will play their second doubleheader in three days. Seattle won the twinbill opener 4-3 in eight innings Tuesday before the Orioles took the nightcap 7-6. The Birds rallied from a 4-0 deficit to take the second game, but not before they lost a 6-4 lead in the last inning. No. 9 hitter Sam...
Hyde on Mancini's day off, Ruiz's slump and more (game postponed)
Hyde on Mancini's day off, Ruiz's slump and more (game postponed)
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
For the first time in a young 2021 season, Orioles first baseman Trey Mancini will begin a game sitting on the bench. Mancini is getting a break tonight as the Orioles attempt to resume their series against the Mariners with rain returning to the forecast. Maikel Franco is playing first base rather than starting across the infield. Manager Brandon Hyde used Mancini as the designated hitter in one game. Otherwise, the 2019 Most Valuable Oriole has been on the field and struggling to find his...
Ryan Mountcastle hopes his bat is starting to heat up
Ryan Mountcastle hopes his bat is starting to heat up
Steve Melewski
Orioles
After batting .333/.386/.492/.878 during a 2020 season that ended with his eighth-place finish in the American League Rookie of the Year voting, Ryan Mountcastle started slowly at the plate this season. He was 2-for-16 after the first four games and batting .167 after six. But he went 3-for-6 with a pair of doubles in Tuesday's doubleheader. He's now 6-for-20 (.300) during a five-game hitting streak with three doubles, a homer and three RBIs. "Just trying to keep my head clear at the plate...
Nats ride Ross' zeros, Zimmerman's homer to victory (updated)
Nats ride Ross' zeros, Zimmerman's homer to victory (updated)
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
Nine games into a season that already has featured a roller coaster of emotional highs and lows, the Nationals have plenty of questions that still need answering, particularly within a rotation that was built to carry this team. Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin did not look good during this just-completed road trip. Jon Lester is still trying to build his arm back up after landing on the COVID-19-related injured list. Here, though, is one starter nobody in a Nats uniform needs to be worried...
Orioles and Mariners lineups
Orioles and Mariners lineups
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
Trey Mancini is out of the Orioles lineup tonight, with Maikel Franco, the team leader with 12 RBIs, playing first base. Rio Ruiz is starting at third base. Ryan Mountcastle stays in the sixth slot as the designated hitter. DJ Stewart is in left field. Chance Sisco is catching and Ramón Urías, the hero in the second game of yesterday's doubleheader with his walk-off single, is playing second base. Cedric Mullins has hit safely in a career-long 15 straight games dating back to last...
Nats go with Turner-Soto combo atop lineup for first time in 2021
Nats go with Turner-Soto combo atop lineup for first time in 2021
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
Davey Martinez has mentioned more than once his interest in batting Juan Soto second at times, and his interest in batting Victor Robles ninth at times. For today's series finale in St. Louis, the Nationals manager decided to try out both in those spots. With an early-afternoon matchup against Cardinals veteran Adam Wainwright, Martinez wanted to get his two best hitters as many at-bats as possible and give them a chance to get on the board early. So it's Trea Turner leading off with Soto...
Game 9 lineups: Nats at Cardinals
Game 9 lineups: Nats at Cardinals
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
As bad as things went Tuesday night in St. Louis, the Nationals still woke up this morning with a chance to win the series and come home with a 3-6 record in spite of everything that's happened to this team. Maybe it's grasping at straws, but it feels like a win today would go a long way toward boosting everybody's mood. To pull it off, the Nats will need another solid start from Joe Ross, who tossed five scoreless innings against the Dodgers in his season debut. Ross should be good to build...
Harrison glad to be active, glad to be an everyday player
Harrison glad to be active, glad to be an everyday player
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
Josh Harrison had been through this before. Sort of. Upon signing with the Nationals shortly after opening day in 2020, the veteran utility man had to wait several days for his intake screening test - a test he says initially was lost - to be processed before he could actually join his new team. "I had to stay in my room a few extra days 'cause my test got lost," he said during a Zoom session with reporters Tuesday. "So I've been in this situation before, not as long as this one was. But I...
Maikel Franco's big swing helped O's get their offense going
Maikel Franco's big swing helped O's get their offense going
Steve Melewski
Orioles
It may have been the biggest hit of the night for the Orioles and maybe one of their biggest of the 2021 season so far. They had lost Game 1 to Seattle 4-3 in eight innings and they were trailing Game 2 by a 4-0 score when third baseman Maikel Franco batted in the last of the third. The bases were loaded and there were two outs. A loss in the nightcap and the Orioles would have a five-game losing streak and would fall to 1-7 since the opening weekend at Boston. But they got back in the game...
Questions about Strasburg abound in blowout loss (updated)
Questions about Strasburg abound in blowout loss (updated)
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
The red flags appeared to be there right from the get-go. Stephen Strasburg's first pitch of the night was a 91 mph fastball. There were more of them throughout a first inning that saw one ball leave the yard, then plenty more in the tortured innings that followed. Strasburg clearly didn't seem to feel right. That seemed obvious based on the numbers - eight runs allowed, five batters walked, three homers surrendered, two or three miles per hour reduced on all of his pitches - but also on what...