Good friends Finnegan and Bourque keep Braves off board for win
Good friends Finnegan and Bourque keep Braves off board for win
Byron Kerr
Nationals
Nationals relievers Kyle Finnegan and James Bourque managed to keep the prolific Braves offense off the board in extra innings in an 8-7, 12-inning win Friday night at Nats Park. Finnegan pitched two scoreless frames while Bourque earned his first major league win with a shutout 12th as the Nats prevented the Braves from coming back from a 5-0 deficit to win for the second night in a row. Finnegan walked the tightrope for two innings and managed to prevent the Braves from scoring a run even...
McKenna soaks it up during taxi squad experience
McKenna soaks it up during taxi squad experience
Steve Melewski
Orioles
When young outfielder Ryan McKenna joined the Orioles as a taxi squad player in New York this week, he was a step closer to playing in his first big league game. As he looked around the clubhouse, not only was he reunited with former minor league teammates but he saw them thriving and leading the Orioles to wins. He was the Orioles' fifth pick in round four of the 2015 draft out of St. Thomas Aquinas High School in New Hampshire. The Orioles' first two picks in that draft were DJ Stewart and...
After disastrous ninth, Nats find a way to win in 12th (updated)
After disastrous ninth, Nats find a way to win in 12th (updated)
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
They already played this game Thursday night. Seriously, tonight's contest on South Capitol Street felt like a perfect carbon copy of the one that preceded it, the Nationals jumping out to an early five-run lead, their starter fading in the middle innings, their bullpen asked to hang on for dear life the rest of the way. It didn't work out in the series opener against the Braves. It did work this time. But only after a ghastly blown save in the top of the ninth forced a game-winning rally in...
Crowded outfield a pleasant problem for Orioles in 2021
Crowded outfield a pleasant problem for Orioles in 2021
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
The Orioles don't know whether their spring training complex in Sarasota will be open and stay that way for spring training 2021. The world could throw them another curve, if it ever straightens out. Playing on the assumption that the team will reconvene at the Ed Smith Stadium complex, manager Brandon Hyde can resume a task that's likely to have been started in the offseason. How to make an excess of outfielders fit on an active roster. He won't work alone, of course. Executive vice...
Early defensive breakdowns doom O's in 10-1 loss (updated)
Early defensive breakdowns doom O's in 10-1 loss (updated)
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
The losses are easier for Orioles manager Brandon Hyde to stomach when his team is playing crisp baseball. When the mental and physical mistakes are removed from the equation. They were front and center tonight in the first inning in the second game of the doubleheader. The Orioles weren't charged with an error, but fielding data is influenced by other factors. So are outcomes. The Yankees responded to the latest DJ Stewart homer with four runs in the bottom of the first, chasing rookie Keegan...
Rough night at the office: O's outscored 16-1 in twinbill
Rough night at the office: O's outscored 16-1 in twinbill
Steve Melewski
Orioles
Since the New York Mets' Michael Conforto made that incredible catch with the bases loaded against the Orioles in the sixth on Wednesday night, it seems not a lot has gone right for the club. Tonight, they got blanked in the first game by the New York Yankees, and then the Baltimore defense came unglued in the last of the first in the nightcap. The Orioles came up very flat twice tonight as they lost a doubleheader to the Yankees to start an important four-game series. The O's lost 6-0 and...
Cobb surrenders three early home runs in 6-0 loss in opener
Cobb surrenders three early home runs in 6-0 loss in opener
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
The Orioles headed to the ballpark this afternoon looking up at the Yankees, who were 1 1/2 games ahead of them for the last playoff spot in the American League. They glanced back and saw the Tigers, who trailed them by a half-game. A tight squeeze for a team that wasn't supposed to be anywhere near the race. The temptation to check the standings in the second week of September provides a strong dose of perspective, no matter how it turns out for the Orioles. They aren't sitting in the bottom...
For Hernández, difficult journey to majors was worth it
For Hernández, difficult journey to majors was worth it
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
Baseball clubs sign 29-year-old Cuban defectors with the intention of playing them in the major leagues as soon as possible. The Nationals, though, knew they weren't getting a sure thing when they signed Yadiel Hernández four years ago for the relatively benign sum of $200,000. The Nats liked the outfielder's left-handed swing and hoped he might make it someday. But they weren't touting him to be an immediate contributor the way other Cuban players who received millions of dollars were...
Doolittle to injured list with strained oblique, likely down for season
Doolittle to injured list with strained oblique, likely down for season
Byron Kerr
Nationals
The Nationals have placed left-handed pitcher Sean Doolittle on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain and have called up left-hander Ben Braymer from the alternate training site. Doolittle appeared to injure his oblique on a pitch to Nick Markakis in the top of the ninth of Thursday night's 7-6 loss to the Braves and left the game. Manager Davey Martinez said Doolittle is seeing the doctor this afternoon and he expects to have a complete update after tonight's contest. With a...
Game 43 lineups: Nats vs. Braves
Game 43 lineups: Nats vs. Braves
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
After a difficult night at the ballpark, the Nationals return for the second game of this four-game weekend series against the Braves, hoping for better results this time. As always, they'll have to find a way to keep Ronald Acuña Jr. and Freddie Freeman in the yard. The good news: Erick Fedde managed to keep Freeman in the yard last week when he faced him in Atlanta. The bad news: Acuña led off the game with a homer off him, the first of three homers Fedde surrendered in 3 2/3...