O's game blog: Looking for two in a row against Rangers
O's game blog: Looking for two in a row against Rangers
Steve Melewski
Orioles
After pitching their second shutout of the last four games and fifth of the season on Thursday night, the Orioles resume their home series tonight with Texas. They host the Rangers for Game 2 of a four-game series and seven-game homestand. Thursday night, lefty Zac Lowther and three relievers teamed on a five-hitter with nine strikeouts. Lowther went the first five innings, allowing three singles with two walks and a career-best seven strikeouts. He threw 94 pitches, 58 for strikes, and two of...
Akin set for surgery, Krehbiel and Ciuffo join O's roster
Akin set for surgery, Krehbiel and Ciuffo join O's roster
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
Orioles rookie left-hander Keegan Akin won't pitch again this season. Akin was placed on the 10-day injured list this afternoon with a left adductor strain and is set to undergo a surgical procedure. The Orioles recalled reliever Joey Krehbiel from Triple-A Norfolk and purchased the contract of catcher Nick Ciuffo from the Tides. They optioned pitcher Mike Baumann following last night's game because the rookie reached his innings limit of 80 2/3 between the majors and minors. Krehbiel, signed...
Game 154 lineups: Nats at Reds (updated)
Game 154 lineups: Nats at Reds (updated)
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
What's this, a winning streak? By the Nationals? Why, yes, it is. Three in a row by manager Davey Martinez's bunch after Thursday night's 3-2 victory over the Reds in Cincinnati. It's the club's first three-game winning streak since Aug. 17-20. These guys haven't won four in a row since June 27-30, which brought them to their high point of the season at 40-38 thanks to Trea Turner's third career cycle. Things have gone just a little bit downhill since then, I suppose you could say. But...
Game 155 lineups: Nats at Reds
Game 155 lineups: Nats at Reds
Pete Kerzel
Nationals
October is a week away and right-hander Erick Fedde (7-8, 4.66 ERA) is still searching for consistency. Though he's won three out of four decisions since Aug. 17, he's got a 5.05 ERA over that span, allowing opponents to slash .274/.308/.527. But his strikeouts have ticked up: 42 over his past 35 2/3 innings. Fedde is 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA in two career starts against the Reds, who are trying to remain relevant in the National League wild card race. In one lifetime start at Great American Ball...
Is Rainey ready to take over closer's job from Finnegan?
Is Rainey ready to take over closer's job from Finnegan?
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
What should have been a nice and tidy, 3-0 victory for the Nationals in Cincinnati on Thursday night instead turned into a real nail biter. Handed that three-run lead for the bottom of the ninth, Kyle Finnegan proceeded to give up two quick runs and then let the winning run step to the plate with two outs. Finnegan would ultimately escape, striking out the Reds' Tyler Stephenson with a slider to wrap up a 3-2 win and record his 11th save, but it was hardly a straight and easy path to get...
Drew Rom's big year on farm, plus a take on Brandon Hyde
Drew Rom's big year on farm, plus a take on Brandon Hyde
Steve Melewski
Orioles
BOWIE - It was a week ago today, the last Friday of the regular season, and Double-A Bowie needed every win it could get to try and complete its playoff push. Young lefty Drew Rom took the mound against Altoona. And he threw five perfect innings with seven strikeouts. And on just 54 pitches. He was, indeed, rolling and dealing. It capped a strong finish to his regular season where Rom threw 14 scoreless innings over his last three starts for Bowie, allowing just five hits. He walked one and...
Soto's remarkable run continues in win over Reds (updated)
Soto's remarkable run continues in win over Reds (updated)
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
We've reached the point of absurdity with Juan Soto. It has become impossible to note anything the young Nationals star does without comparing him to the greatest hitters who have ever played this game. And it's not hyperbole. Soto legitimately deserves the comparison. Because you can't really compare him to anyone else currently hitting in 2021, not right now. Yes, Bryce Harper is having a phenomenal season for the Phillies and might still hang on to win the National League MVP. But Soto is...
Lowther and three relievers combine on shutout (updated)
Lowther and three relievers combine on shutout (updated)
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
The strikeouts kept coming from Zac Lowther. For five innings before his removal from the game. Leaving him four on a chilly night to sweat out whether he'd earn his first major league win. The Orioles manufactured a run in the fourth inning, Ryan Mountcastle hit his 31st homer in the fifth and Austin Hays clubbed his 22nd in the eighth, and the bullpen protected Lowther's lead in a 3-0 victory over the Rangers before an announced crowd of 6,328 at Camden Yards. Mountcastle took over the...
Santander hoping he's back in lineup tonight
Santander hoping he's back in lineup tonight
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
Asked yesterday how much he's looking forward to resting his legs after another physically taxing season, Orioles outfielder Anthony Santander smiled, raised his right pant leg to show the wrap on his calf and did the same with his left to reveal the wrap on his ankle and thigh. At least he could still stand and also display good humor and the confidence that his return to the lineup was imminent. Santander hasn't been in it for the past two games after injuring his left hamstring in the 10th...
Three years after trade, Romero joins Nats bullpen
Three years after trade, Romero joins Nats bullpen
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
Three years ago, a Nationals club stuck around the .500 mark made only one deal at the July 31 trade deadline, and it wasn't one anybody expected. They dealt veteran reliever Brandon Kintzler to the Cubs for a Single-A relief pitching prospect named Jhon Romero. The move seemed to have more to do with moving Kintzler and his salary than in acquiring someone who was likely to make an impact for them in the near future, but three years later the Nats called Romero up. And if he takes the mound...