Nats' fighting effort is worth watching
Nats' fighting effort is worth watching
Bobby Blanco
Nationals
I had someone ask me the other day, "How do you keep watching the Nationals when they're losing so many games?" Aside from it being my job, my answer was easy: They're always in it. You've heard manager Davey Martinez say it time and time again: "The boys are battling." Well, what does that mean exactly, aside from the obvious definition of playing hard? "Yeah, I mean, it's something that I preach every day with these guys that they're never really out of it," Martinez said during...
Orioles no-hit Jays for six innings and lose 11-2 (updated)
Orioles no-hit Jays for six innings and lose 11-2 (updated)
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
The starts will keep coming to Orioles left-hander Keegan Akin. What he does with them is up to him. The Orioles can only provide the opportunities, sit back and hope that he flourishes. Just as they did while making Cedric Mullins their everyday center fielder. Akin issued a leadoff walk to George Springer tonight in the second game of the doubleheader, retired 15 batters in a row and turned in six hitless innings, and Mullins belted his 29th home run. But the Orioles still couldn't achieve...
Nats pitching collapses in loss to Pirates (updated)
Nats pitching collapses in loss to Pirates (updated)
Bobby Blanco
Nationals
It's no secret: The Nationals pitching staff is the team's biggest liability at this point in the season. It seems like no lead is safe and every deficit could continue to grow. That was certainly the case during tonight's 10-7 loss to the Pirates, the Nats' third straight defeat, second in Pittsburgh. Optimists would say entering the bottom of the fifth inning with a 5-2 lead would have been a good path toward victory. Realists would say that a three-run lead wouldn't be enough. The...
Orioles lose lead in seventh and drop Game 1 11-10 (updated)
Orioles lose lead in seventh and drop Game 1 11-10 (updated)
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
Dean Kremer was handed the ball today and given no promises. Lots of run support, but no promises. The 29th man for a September doubleheader knows his way back to the minors. But there are no rules against him staying, just that someone must be optioned after the nightcap. Kremer's first start with the Orioles in more than two months lasted four innings and included more strikes, but also three home runs among six extra-base hits and leads that shrank or disappeared. The Orioles wouldn't let...
Martinez remembers baseball's return after Sept. 11 attacks
Martinez remembers baseball's return after Sept. 11 attacks
Bobby Blanco
Nationals
It's a tough day for all Americans today. The 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., brings a lot of emotions to all who remember that tragic day for our nation. Like many of us, Nationals manager Davey Martinez remembers exactly where he was and what he was doing on that fateful morning. "Yeah, you know, it was a day no one will ever forget, obviously," Martinez said while getting visibly emotional...
Game 142 lineups: Nats at Pirates
Game 142 lineups: Nats at Pirates
Bobby Blanco
Nationals
This weekend series between the Nationals and Pirates continues to be filled with reunions and signs of the changing times between these two franchises. Josh Bell homered in his return to Pittsburgh last night. Today, he'll get the chance to face Wil Crowe, the pitcher the Nats sent to the Pirates in order to acquire the first baseman last winter. A second-round pick by the Nationals in 2017, Crowe is 3-7 with a 5.94 ERA in 22 appearances (21 starts) this year for the Bucs. The former top...
O's game blog: Kremer, Akin start in doubleheader
O's game blog: Kremer, Akin start in doubleheader
Steve Melewski
Orioles
As the Orioles (46-94) get set to play a straight doubleheader today with a pair of seven-inning games versus Toronto, there are a few interesting notes to review from Friday's 6-3 win. That victory snapped Toronto's eight-game win streak. As this series began the Blue Jays were winners of 11 of 12 and 14 of 19 games. They were coming off a four-game series sweep in the Bronx, where they outscored the Yankees 25-8. They were 27-14 in the last 41 games. The Orioles now have won three of four,...
Orioles and Blue Jays Game 1 lineups (updated)
Orioles and Blue Jays Game 1 lineups (updated)
Roch Kubatko
Orioles
The Orioles are sending rookies Keegan Akin and Dean Kremer to the mound for today's doubleheader against the Blue Jays at Camden Yards. Kremer is starting the opener. Kremer has been recalled from Triple-A Norfolk as the 29th man, rejoining a team he hasn't pitched for since June 24 in Buffalo, where he allowed six runs and walked five batters in one-third of an inning. In his previous start, he held the Jays to two runs and three hits with six strikeouts in six innings at Camden Yards....
Bell has long since overcome awful start to season
Bell has long since overcome awful start to season
Mark Zuckerman
Nationals
Try as he might to ignore it at the time, Josh Bell couldn't avoid knowing his stat line on May 13, the low point of a 2021 season that was shaping up to be a disaster. The big slugger, in his first season with the Nationals, was batting .133 with three homers, 10 RBIs, a .198 on-base percentage, .289 slugging percentage and .487 OPS that ranked among the lowest in the majors. And this was with the season nearly one-quarter complete. So imagine what Bell thinks these days when he sees his...
O's Matt Blood on Grayson Rodriguez and Kyle Stowers
O's Matt Blood on Grayson Rodriguez and Kyle Stowers
Steve Melewski
Orioles
We will get to see Double-A Bowie right-hander Grayson Rodriguez, baseball's No. 1-ranked pitching prospect, make at least one more start in the 2021 season. Limited to three innings on Thursday at Harrisburg, Rodriguez will pitch next week, likely on Wednesday, when Bowie hosts Altoona in the final week of the regular season for the Double-A Northeast. Should Bowie advance to the playoffs the following week - when there will be one playoff series involving the top two teams in the league -...