Orioles pitchers allowed just three runs combined in both games of a doubleheader but managed to lose them both. The pitchers were real good, the hitters were really not. When Austin Hays singled in a run in the sixth inning of the second game last night, it allowed the Orioles to avoid a third straight shutout, something they last endured in 2015. But in the Miami series, O's batters are 10-for-77 (.130) with one run scored. They have just three extra-base hits (all doubles), have drawn only...

More changes came to the Orioles last night beyond their status as the road team inside their own ballpark. Can't wipe the weirdness slate clean. Rather than wait until later today, the Orioles further reduced their roster to 28 players by optioning outfielder DJ Stewart to the alternate camp site in Bowie. Coupled with pitcher John Means going on the bereavement list, the Orioles can stop tweaking the roster unless they want to swap out personnel before playing tonight's series finale...

Whatever concern the Nationals had about their veteran pitchers' ability to make it through the 2020 season healthy after a grueling 2019 that didn't end until they hoisted the Commissioner's Trophy on Oct. 30 seemed to vanish once it became clear the 2020 season wouldn't start until midsummer and would be severely reduced in length. What a perfect opportunity for Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, Patrick Corbin, Aníbal Sánchez, Sean Doolittle, Daniel Hudson and even former Astro Will...

After missing the first 13 days of the regular season, Juan Soto took the field for the first time in 2020 for a game that counted, going 2-for-4 with a double and RBI in the Nationals' 3-1 setback against the Mets at Nats Park Wednesday night. Despite the loss, Soto was happy to finally return and play after being away from the team due to a positive test result for COVID-19. "It feels good to be back, be with the team, try to have fun in the game and everything," Soto said during a...

The Orioles waited to bat in the top of the first inning in the second game of today's doubleheader while wearing their white jerseys and treated as outsiders. Walk-up music was played for the Marlins. Introductions were accompanied by images of the Miami players on the video board. If meals weren't prepackaged in the clubhouses, the spread surely would have included Joe's stone crabs. The crab shuffle should have been replaced by Don Johnson hiding a baseball in his white suit. The 2020...

So how did it turn so quickly on offense for the Orioles? Through Sunday they had just swept a three-game series from the Tampa Bay Rays. And while the offense was not putting up huge numbers, they were scoring just over five runs a game and were among the American League leaders in team OPS. But then the Miami Marlins came to town - a team that had not played in eight days - and the Orioles can't touch their pitching. Sure, the Marlins threw two young pitchers with good arms at them in Pablo...

The images were unusual and alarming. Max Scherzer, throwing at less than full velocity and with less than full extension. Looking uncomfortable as he walked off the mound at the end of a laborious top of the first. Talking with the training staff upon returning to the dugout as Erick Fedde began furiously warming up in the bullpen. The Nationals lost tonight's ballgame, 3-1 to the Mets. They can only hope they didn't also lose their ace to a significant injury, not that any injury is...

The Orioles had nine innings to score against Miami last night and could not. They had seven today in the first game of a doubleheader and could not score this time either. Miami's Brian Anderson hit a solo homer leading off the fourth off Alex Cobb as the Marlins blanked the Orioles 1-0. The O's have lost the first two games of this four-game series by 4-0 and 1-0 as they fall to 5-5 on the year, while Miami is 4-1. The eight day layoff has somehow helped the Marlins' pitching. The Orioles...

Alex Cobb was first out of the home dugout today, which later became the visiting dugout. Baseball in 2020 is funny that way. Cobb did a small hop before finding his stride, as every pitcher attempts to do during the game. There were a few stumbles in the early innings, which soon became middle innings due to the shortening under minor league rules. The four-pitch walk to Miami's Corey Dickerson in the first, his throwing error in the second after fielding Matt Joyce's roller near the first...

Max Scherzer threw 112 pitches in his last start, most by any major leaguer so far in 2020. Tonight, the Nationals ace threw only 27 pitches before departing with what appears to be a physical ailment. Scherzer was pulled after one laborious inning against the Mets, unexpectedly replaced by Erick Fedde in the top of the second. The Nationals didn't immediately announce a reason for Scherzer's departure, but he could be seen talking to a trainer in the dugout after his one inning of work....