DJ Stewart remains in the cleanup spot today, serving as the designated hitter for the series finale against the Royals in Kansas City. Austin Hays is in right field and Ryan McKenna in left, with Trey Mancini the first baseman. No Ryan Mountcastle or Anthony Santander. Domingo Leyba gets the start at second base and Kelvin Gutierrez is at third. Austin Wynns is catching. Shortstop Ramón Urías has six multi-hit games in his last nine, going 12-for-34 (.353) after being 5-for-36 (.139) in...

It happened a split second after Kyle Finnegan struck out Wil Myers to end the top of the sixth. As the Nationals started to make their way off the field at the conclusion of a frustrating half-inning that saw their 5-4 deficit to the Padres balloon into an 8-4 deficit, the shots could clearly be heard. There were maybe five or six of them in rapid succession, emanating from our left as we looked down from the press box high above Nationals Park. We looked at each other, asked "Did you hear...

It could be a quiet trade deadline this year in Birdland. Some players that might have attracted at least modest interest, such as shortstop Freddy Galvis and third baseman Maikel Franco, have gotten hurt, while right-hander Matt Harvey has an ERA of 7.70. The Orioles would certainly find interest if they wanted to trade a talent with a lot of team control remaining, like Cedric Mullins, Ryan Mountcastle, John Means or Austin Hays. But aren't they players they should be building around for the...

The Nationals' game against the Padres tonight came to an abrupt halt after a shooting took place outside Nationals Park following the top of the sixth inning. Moments after Kyle Finnegan struck out Wil Myers to end the half-inning around 9:30 p.m., with the Padres leading 8-4, a series of approximately five or six gunshots could be heard emanating from behind the third base stands. Within a minute or so, a group of fans could be seen racing along the main concourse toward the center field...

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told the media prior to the break that DJ Stewart would get more chances to play, that their conversation included instructions to keep his head up. A crowded outfield wouldn't push Stewart out the door or too far down the bench. "It's a long season left," Hyde said, "and he's going to get plenty of at-bats here in the second half." In the lineup for only the third time this month, Stewart singled twice and had an RBI and two runs scored by the third inning....

Stephen Strasburg's return from a neck injury has been slowed after the right-hander felt discomfort after facing live hitters last week prior to the Nationals' game in San Francisco. Strasburg made it through his July 9 simulated game against teammates at Oracle Park without any significant issues, manager Davey Martinez said, but the problem in his neck cropped up after the fact. "After talking to him, the conversation was it just didn't feel right," Martinez said today during his...

Without an official clock to check, I'm guessing that a week to 10 days have passed since someone asked Orioles manager Brandon Hyde whether Keegan Akin would be more effective and valuable as a bulk reliever. A week to 10 days since Hyde had to execute the tricky maneuver of pointing out the obvious without being condescending. Akin would be a big help to the Orioles in a bullpen role based on his ability to consume innings and perhaps avoid going through a lineup more than once. But there's...

The Orioles signed outfielder Colton Cowser, their first-round selection in the draft out of Sam Houston State. Cowser received a $4.9 million bonus. The slot value with the fifth pick is $6,180,700. Cowser was in the Baltimore area for his physical, with an announcement of his signing expected over the weekend. He joins infielder Connor Norby, the second-rounder out of East Carolina University, as Orioles draft selections under contract in the last two days. With Cowser and Norby signing...

The Baltimore Orioles today announced that they have signed their first selection, fifth overall, of the 2021 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, OF Colton Cowser, from Sam Houston State University (TX). Cowser, 21, was named the Southland Conference Player of the Year during his junior season in 2021, becoming the second player in Sam Houston history to earn the honor. He earned All-SLC First Team, SLC All-Defensive Team, and SLC All-Tournament team honors, leading Sam Houston to...

You couldn't have drawn up a worse script for the first day coming out of the All-Star break from the Nationals' perspective that what transpired before and during Friday night's 24-8 loss to the Padres. So on some level, you have to be confident tonight has to be better, right? First and foremost, though, the Nats desperately need a quality start after Erick Fedde retired only four batters on Friday. That task falls on Patrick Corbin, who simply needs to be better in the second half than he...