John Means made his return to the Orioles and their rotation tonight and didn't immediately slip into his ace attire. A proper fit wasn't a reasonable expectation given the long layoff. The velocity was fine. The hard contact was not. And there was more of it than usual. Starting his first major league game since June 5, Means allowed two runs in the first inning, Randy Arozarena's solo homer in the third and Francisco Mejía's two-run shot in the fourth, and the Rays erupted again late...

If they're going to make their move over the next week and a half and convince their general manager he should buy at the trade deadline, the Nationals are going to have to win games on the shoulders of their stars. That's what Mike Rizzo said this afternoon in discussing how his roster, depleted by injuries, could still find a path to contention in a wide-open National League East. "The more your core guys get hurt, the more pressure is put on your star players," Rizzo said in a pregame...

Sometimes, a manager's plans for a player become more evident through actions rather than words. Brandon Hyde isn't proclaiming that Rule 5 selection Tyler Wells is the Orioles' unopposed and unchallenged closer. He doesn't put that much emphasis on the role during a rebuild, though he understands how crushing it is to lose a lead in the ninth inning - like what happened in Anaheim after Cedric Mullins, named to the All-Star team earlier in the day, homered in the top half. Wells has...

General manager Mike Rizzo spoke out forcefully against Starlin Castro and the recent domestic violence allegation made against the Nationals third baseman, accepting responsibility for signing him despite a previous allegation of sexual assault and saying he does not expect Castro to return to play for his team. "I am not planning on having Starlin Castro back," Rizzo said this afternoon outside the dugout at Nationals Park, taking questions from beat reporters for the first time since...

Left-hander Keegan Akin is starting Wednesday afternoon's series finale against the Rays at Tropicana Field, the last road game before the Orioles enjoy an off-day and then host the Nationals over the weekend. Akin is 0-5 with an 8.19 ERA and 1.800 WHIP in 13 games, including eight starts. He faced the Royals on Friday and allowed six runs and eight hits with three walks in three innings. Thomas Eshelman stays in the bullpen for long relief. The current rotation sets up as Akin, Jorge...

The Orioles reinstated John Means from the injured list and he's starting tonight, his first in the majors since June 5. Outfielder Ryan McKenna was optioned again to Triple-A Norfolk as the corresponding roster move, again leaving the Orioles with a three-man bench. McKenna is 13-for-72 (.181) in 46 games. Norfolk could use an extra outfielder with Yusniel Diaz still unable to play due to turf toe. And the Orioles like having the extra bullpen arm, especially while they handle Means carefully...

The Nationals couldn't have gotten their week off to a better start than they did Monday night, thrashing the Marlins 18-1 and getting seven scoreless innings out of Jon Lester. Tonight we find out if that was the start of something big, or just a one-night blip. It's probably too much to ask Paolo Espino to toss seven scoreless innings himself, but the journeyman right-hander has proven capable of pitching five strong frames more than once this year. And he's facing a Marlins lineup that...

BOWIE - For a pitcher with his background, track record and resume, it was surprising to see right-hander Blaine Knight struggle so badly at Single-A Frederick in the 2019 season. He went 1-12 with a 6.13 ERA. Earlier that year, he was rolling for Single-A Delmarva, going 3-0 with an ERA of 0.68 in five starts. But when the Orioles moved him up, things started heading downward for Knight. A year earlier, they had made him a third-round pick (No. 87 overall) in the 2018 draft and signed him to...

The Orioles have won three in a row five times this season but have never stretched the win streak to four. They will look to do that tonight at Tropicana Field in the second game of their series with Tampa Bay. Right-hander Spenser Watkins allowed one run over six innings last night as the Orioles beat the Rays 6-1 for their third in a row. O's pitchers have allowed just one run in the last 22 innings. They have a 1.67 ERA over the past three games as the team has outscored its opponents...

Given the losses his team has sustained elsewhere around the field, Nationals manager Davey Martinez has been toying with the idea of using Josh Bell in left field on occasion as a means of getting Ryan Zimmerman into the lineup alongside his usual first base platoon partner. But in order for that plan to work, not only does Bell have to prove he can handle the outfield for the first time since he was a rookie in Pittsburgh, but Zimmerman has to prove he can rediscover the swing that produced...