O's game blog: Spenser Watkins faces the Rays at the Yard
O's game blog: Spenser Watkins faces the Rays at the Yard
Steve Melewski
Orioles
The Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays were tied 5-5 in the eighth inning last night. Both clubs loaded the bases with no outs. The Rays turned their rally into five runs while the Orioles scored just once as Tampa Bay won 10-6 in the series opener. The Orioles have allowed 13, 10 and 10 runs in losing their past three games by a combined 33-10 score. The Orioles (38-70) are two-thirds of the way into their season with 54 games to go, which projects to a final record of 57-105. They have struggled...
Game 111 lineups: Nats at Braves
Game 111 lineups: Nats at Braves
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
The Nationals aren't playing winning baseball right now, not anything close to winning baseball. They enter tonight's game in Atlanta having dropped five in a row and 23 of 32 overall. So the focus, of course, turns to individual performances, especially those who figure into the club's long-term plans. So tonight we get an opportunity to watch one of the key building blocks again: Josiah Gray. The 23-year-old right-hander, one of the key prospects acquired from the Dodgers for Max Scherzer...
Orioles and Rays lineups
Orioles and Rays lineups
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
Ryan Mountcastle is out of the Orioles lineup tonight after undergoing an evaluation last night for a concussion. Mountcastle was removed from last night's game after two innings. He took a hard tag from Wander Franco on the side of his head in the first on a failed stolen base attempt. Trey Mancini is starting at first base and Anthony Santander is the designated hitter. Maikel Franco is starting at third base and the Orioles are going with a double play combination of Jorge Mateo at second...
Orioles recall Mattson and DFA Greene
Orioles recall Mattson and DFA Greene
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
The bullpen is changing again for the Orioles, who announced this afternoon that they recalled Isaac Mattson from Triple-A Norfolk and that Conner Greene would be designated for assignment. They also reinstated left-hander Ryan Hartman from the injured list at Triple-A Norfolk after he completed the intake process. Hartman goes on the 40-man roster, with Greene's removal opening a spot. Mattson, acquired from the Angels in the Dylan Bundy trade with the Angels in December 2019, made his major...
Defensive gaffes by young players irk Martinez
Defensive gaffes by young players irk Martinez
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
The Nationals lost Friday night's game 8-4 in Atlanta for any number of reasons, but two defensive miscues certainly played a significant role in the final outcome. Miscues by a couple of young players getting an extended look in the big leagues for the first time. Miscues that led to long conversations with the manager at the end of the night. "Unfortunately, it's going to be a learning process going through this for the next six, seven weeks," manager Davey Martinez said afterward in his...
A debut worthy of a backflip, plus remembering Mo Gaba
A debut worthy of a backflip, plus remembering Mo Gaba
Steve Melewski
Orioles
When he made his way to a major league mound on Wednesday night at New York, right-hander Dusten Knight gave up two runs in the last of the eighth inning. But the bigger story is the long odds he beat to get that far. He made his major league debut at age 30. He was drafted in round 28 in 2013 by the San Francisco Giants out of Texas-Pan American, and there were only 851 players drafted ahead of him. Along the way, in addition to throwing in 223 minor league games, he pitched in Mexico. In 2019...
Rays inflict painful loss on Orioles (updated)
Rays inflict painful loss on Orioles (updated)
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
Ryan Mountcastle was thrown out trying to steal second base tonight, absorbed a hard tag to the side of his head and left the game in the top of the third. Trey Mancini fouled a ball off his crotch in the fifth, dropped face-down in the dirt and didn't move for several seconds. The Orioles were trying to win a game while in full survival mode, with Nelson Cruz doling out more punishment. Mancini lined his second double of the night on the next pitch and scored on Jorge Mateo's triple to...
Soto-less Nationals drop fifth straight (updated)
Soto-less Nationals drop fifth straight (updated)
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
Take a Nationals lineup already depleted by the trades of Trea Turner, Yan Gomes, Josh Harrison and Kyle Schwarber, then remove Juan Soto from the equation, and what do you get? Well, you get this: The Nats were held to five hits (two of them in the ninth inning with the game already out of reach) by the Braves during an 8-4 loss tonight at Truist Park. Already having a tough go of things one week after selling off just about every prominent veteran on their roster at the trade deadline, the...
Hartman working hard to make name for himself
Hartman working hard to make name for himself
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
Type the name in an internet search and a professional hockey winger appears, a former first-round draft pick who plays for the Minnesota Wild. If you want the Ryan Hartman who's a pitcher in the Orioles organization, the word "baseball" is required to distinguish the two. Otherwise, he's buried beneath the National Hockey League results. "I actually messaged him this off-season," said the Orioles' Hartman, claimed off waivers last week from the Astros and optioned to Triple-A...
Soto not in Nats lineup after tweaking knee Thursday
Soto not in Nats lineup after tweaking knee Thursday
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
Davey Martinez arrived in the visitors' Zoom press conference room in Atlanta shortly before 5 p.m. today and immediately was asked about Juan Soto's status for the Nationals' series opener against the Braves. Martinez, while insisting he's not significantly concerned about his star slugger's right knee, made it clear he was hesitant to put him in tonight's lineup. "I'm at 50-50 right now, I really am," Martinez said. "Unless he comes in and says he's feels great, we might do...