As the Orioles offense has continued to struggle - they are 0-17 when scoring two runs or fewer after Friday's loss at Washington - it's also been a little tougher for center fielder Cedric Mullins at the top of the order. Opponents can see he was hitting well to begin the year, but not many others were and he became a focal point in their game plan in facing the Orioles. If some other hitters get going, it will help Mullins and, of course, the entire lineup. "Yeah, and a day off too,"...

It was an enjoyable Friday night at Nationals Park, where the home team saw Stephen Strasburg pitch 5 1/3 scoreless innings in his return from the injured list, Josh Bell go 3-for-5 and make a key play in the field, and a season-high crowd of 14,369 cheer the Nats on to victory over the Orioles. Whether they can actually use that as a springboard to a winning streak is up to them. Jon Lester starts this afternoon's game on South Capitol Street, and after a rough outing in his return to Wrigley...

Freddy Galvis moves up to second in the order this afternoon as the Orioles continue their series against the Nationals in D.C. Austin Hays is on the bench today. Ryan Mountcastle gets the set in left field with no designated hitter. Pat Valaika is the second baseman. Cedric Mullins is hitless in his last three games, 2-for-19 in his last five and is now batting .292/.361/.480. He stays in the leadoff spot. Rookie Bruce Zimmermann is making his seventh start, earning the assignment with one run...

The Orioles are bumping one of their top pitching prospects to a higher level. Right-hander Kyle Bradish, part of the return from the Angels in the Dylan Bundy trade in December 2019, has been promoted from Double-A Bowie to Triple-A Norfolk. Bradish, 24, made three starts with the Baysox in his first season above Single-A and dominated with 13 2/3 scoreless innings, seven hits allowed, five walks and 26 strikeouts. Opponents batted .149 against him. MLBPipeline.com ranks Bradish as the No. 12...

Josh Bell's first responsibility when Trey Mancini ripped a ball into the right field corner in the top of the sixth Friday night was to make sure the Orioles slugger actually touched first base as he attempted to stretch his hit into a double. It's a small thing, and rarely does it come into play. But in just doing what he was supposed to do and staying back to keep an eye on Mancini rounding first, Bell actually was in perfect position to watch Juan Soto's throw from the right field corner...

As the Orioles began a three-game series and 10-game road trip on Friday night, their offense had another slow night. After being held to one run and two hits on Thursday afternoon, they got two runs on four hits last night and lost 4-2 to Washington. The Orioles continue to be, as Trey Mancini put it a few days ago, "out of synch." When they get some decent pitching, they don't back that up with some runs, like last night. And when they do get some offense, as they did recently in three...

The removal of Rio Ruiz from the Orioles organization, for however long while he's been designated for assignment, carries us back to the spring debate over whether there was a spot for him after the signing of free agent third baseman Maikel Franco. I assumed no, since they played the same position, Ruiz didn't profile as a utility player and he had minor league options. But there was the complication of fitting him on Triple-A Norfolk's roster, because the Orioles wanted Rylan Bannon to...

You want a return to normalcy? How about Stephen Strasburg on the mound posting a string of zeros, an opportunistic lineup finally delivering a string of clutch hits and (most importantly) a loud and enthusiastic crowd cheering the home team on a beautiful Friday night on South Capitol Street. The Nationals' 4-2 win over the Orioles tonight felt as normal as things have been around here for some time. With Strasburg returning from 5 1/2 weeks on the injured list with right shoulder...

The Orioles gambled today by leaving their tired bullpen intact and counting on Jorge López to provide some length. But they didn't necessarily bypass an obvious solution. The pitching staff at Triple-A Norfolk isn't loaded with 40-man options. Hard decisions are pending, with Hunter Harvey's return from the 60-day injured list, perhaps by early June, just one of them. Manager Brandon Hyde wasn't going to use a couple of his relievers tonight after an exhausting homestand. Finding a hot...

The Orioles resume interleague play tonight as they face their neighbors to the south. They play at Washington tonight in the first of three games this weekend at Nationals Park. It is the start of a 10-game road trip. The Nationals (17-23) are in the last in the National League East, 4 1/2 games behind the division-leading New York Mets. The Nats are coming off a series where they lost three of four to the Chicago Cubs. They have lost four of six games and are 7-10 in May. They are 9-10 at...