Stevenson's September surge is hard to ignore
Stevenson's September surge is hard to ignore
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
There is no month on the baseball calendar more misleading than September. It happens every year: Somebody puts up big numbers during the season's final month, convinces everyone he's going to pick up where he left off the following spring and then never duplicates the feat. So take these stats with a healthy grain of salt, because it's probably foolish to assume they will carry over into 2021. Here goes: Andrew Stevenson is batting .351 with a .415 on-base percentage and 1.117 OPS that...
A look at Mike Elias' season-ending presser and other notes
A look at Mike Elias' season-ending presser and other notes
Steve Melewski
Orioles
On the next to last day of the 2020 season, Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias talked at length about this year and what lies ahead for the Orioles. It was another Zoom interview, but we didn't really zoom through it. He was asked a lot of questions and there was a lot to absorb and wrap our heads around. No news was really made, nor were there any proclamations. Elias didn't commit to having an instructional league in the weeks ahead, but it sure sounds like the...
Means finishes strong in Orioles' 5-2 loss (updated)
Means finishes strong in Orioles' 5-2 loss (updated)
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
The penultimate game of the 2020 season found John Means on the mound again for the Orioles and Randal Grichuk out of the Blue Jays' lineup. Means hasn't caught a lot of breaks this summer. Give him that one. Then again, maybe he didn't need it the way he's been pitching down the stretch. Coming off a 12-strikeout gem last weekend in Baltimore, Means kept the Blue Jays hitless tonight until Cavan Biggio homered with two outs in the sixth. Grichuk entered the game in the top half of the...
Lots of positive developments in losing 2020 season
Lots of positive developments in losing 2020 season
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
The time for reflection begins today. The Orioles are playing their final game of a wacky season. Some would call it "truncated." Everyone would agree that it's so far from the norm that proper evaluations are complicated. A passing grade is earned by the promotions and successes of outfielder/first baseman Ryan Mountcastle - in that order - and pitchers Keegan Akin, Dean Kremer and Bruce Zimmermann. The rookies should comprise three-fifths of the rotation in spring training 2021, but...
Sánchez leads Nats to twinbill sweep in final start (updated)
Sánchez leads Nats to twinbill sweep in final start (updated)
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
Aníbal Sánchez will forever be linked with the Nationals' 2019 title, not simply for his pitching performance but for the role he played in bringing the joy out of his teammates during a championship season that was as much a product of clubhouse chemistry as it was pure talent. Given the unprecedented circumstances of the 2020 season, it was tough for Sánchez and Co. to have the kind of fun they did a year ago. And as he and his team struggled through the first large chunk of the...
Pandemic playoffs present new challenges
Pandemic playoffs present new challenges
Mel Antonen
Orioles
The baseball postseason starts Sept. 29, and after a bizarre season defined by the coronavirus, there will be nothing normal about October baseball. First of all, there will be 16 teams instead of 10, more than half of Major League Baseball's 30 teams. The wild-card round, usually a dramatic one-game playoff, has moved to a three-game format with all three games played in the ballparks of the top-seeded three division winners in each league. After that, all games will be at a neutral...
Elias conducts season-ending review on final weekend
Elias conducts season-ending review on final weekend
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
The standings can't be ignored, no matter how much Orioles executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias is comforted and encouraged by prospect performance and the work done at the alternate camp site. How he judges a season includes production on the field. "It's very difficult for me to label any season a success where we have a losing record and don't make the playoffs," he said in today's Zoom conference call. "But I see enough positive things where we can a feel good that...
Game 59 lineups: Nats vs. Mets
Game 59 lineups: Nats vs. Mets
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
The Nationals are about to complete their sixth doubleheader of the season. That's a lot of twinbills in a normal year, let alone a 60-game season. And they've done just fine on these long days of baseball. They entered today with one sweep and four splits. And after taking the opener from the Mets 4-3, they have a shot at another sweep and at worst another split. All things considered, that's not bad. Aníbal Sánchez makes his final start of the season, and potentially his final start...
Scherzer hangs tough for six innings to finish strong, Nats win 4-3
Scherzer hangs tough for six innings to finish strong, Nats win 4-3
Byron Kerr
Nationals
Josh Harrison broke a 3-3 deadlock with a drive to right field and the Nationals came back from an early deficit to upend the Mets 4-3 in the first seven-inning game of a Saturday doubleheader at Nats Park. In the bottom of the sixth, Harrison went after reliever Edwin Díaz's first pitch and laced it past Mets first baseman Pete Alonso into right field to score Brock Holt from third. Yan Gomes, making sure the ball fell before breaking for second, got forced out, but the Nationals had...
O's game blog: John Means faces Toronto
O's game blog: John Means faces Toronto
Steve Melewski
Orioles
The Orioles return to Buffalo's Sahlen Field tonight for the next-to-last game of the 2020 season. It's the second of their three-game series with the Toronto Blue Jays, who beat the Orioles 10-5 last night. Toronto led that game 10-0 in the fifth inning and losing pitcher Jorge López allowed eight runs in two-plus innings. The Orioles scored the game's final five runs. Ramón Urías, Cedric Mullins and José Iglesias all hit solo homers. The O's have hit three homers in a game 11...