Ryan Mountcastle didn’t play the past two days in Chicago because of a sore finger, but he’s batting leadoff tonight for the first time in his career.

Mountcastle is part of interim manager Tony Mansolino’s right-handed lineup against Yankees lefty Max Fried.

“Just trying to give Jackson (Holliday) a blow for today,” Mansolino said. “Like a lot of guys this time of year, they’re kind of nicked up in a lot of ways. Just felt like he needed to take the day. I think if you’re in the hunt, Jackson’s probably playing today.”

Holliday has reached base in all seven of his career games against the Yankees. David Newhan was the last Oriole to do it in 2004, per STATS. Brian Roberts (14) was the last to reach in at least eight games in a row from 2001-03.

Mansolino wants to give Mountcastle more playing time down the stretch, though Coby Mayo remains the primary first baseman.

Ryan Mountcastle is batting leadoff tonight for the first time in his career, in his 646^th major league game, as the Orioles begin a four-game series against the Yankees at Camden Yards.

Interim manager Tony Mansolino is using a right-handed heavy lineup against Yankees left-hander Max Fried.

Colton Cowser is on the bench again, with Jorge Mateo in center field. Luis Vázquez is the second baseman instead of Jackson Holliday.

Catcher Samuel Basallo is the only left-handed hitter.

Dylan Beavers also is sitting tonight. Jeremiah Jackson is in right field and Tyler O’Neill is in left.

Inside their clubhouse Wednesday evening, the Nationals packed up their bags and prepared to depart for New York. What they really were looking forward to, though, was the day off they’ve got in the Big Apple before opening a three-game series Friday against the Mets.

It’s their first day off in two weeks, since the Thursday they had in Chicago on Sept. 4. In between, they played 14 games in 13 days, winning six and losing eight, the quality of baseball seemingly getting worse as the days passed. To wit: After winning four of their first five during this stretch, they proceeded to lose seven of their next nine.

It was, to be sure, a grueling two weeks. And that would have applied no matter the time of year, but was especially true here in September of a season that was lost months ago.

These Nationals are limping to the finish line, that much seemed clear as they were suffering a four-game sweep at the hands of the Braves this week. A Braves team, by the way, that has nothing to play for itself at the end of an even more frustrating season for a perennial contender that is about to finish with a losing record for the first time in eight years.

Why, then, did Atlanta look so energized during this series while the Nats looked so flat?

CHICAGO – The Orioles are back home for a four-game series against the Yankees that begins tonight, followed by three against the Rays and a final trip to the Bronx. The light at the end of the tunnel isn’t another oncoming train. The season is almost done.

An entire day passed yesterday without a roster move, if you don’t count the Braves claiming reliever Carson Ragsdale on waivers. No one was hurt. No one was put on a plane with instructions to join the team.

Poor health has wrecked the Orioles’ hopes of a third consecutive playoff berth, but they aren’t leaning on that excuse.

It might not support their weight, and the crash could bring physical harm.

“It’s gonna be a huge part of (the story) in a lot of ways,” said interim manager Tony Mansolino. “We’re not gonna blame it all on injuries. I think that’s a little bit of a copout, it’s not very accountable from our perspective to do that. But yeah, it’s hard when all your players aren’t on the field at the same time.

As the bottom of the fifth came to a close at windy, gray Nationals Park late this afternoon, the home team finally had reason to feel encouraged for the first time in this four-games-in-48-hours series against the Braves. Brad Lord had tossed five scoreless innings to continue his September resurgence. The lineup had figured out Atlanta starter Hurston Waldrep at last, scoring three runs in rapid fire to take the lead and snap a 15-inning scoreless streak.

And then Miguel Cairo sent Lord back to the mound for the top of the sixth, a curious decision in the moment that only looked worse when the rookie right-hander gave up hits to two of the three batters he faced before getting pulled.

Not that the bullpen performed any better. Clayton Beeter really turned the top of the sixth into a mess, the Braves ultimately scoring four runs before tacking on two more against newly promoted reliever Sauryn Lao and three more off Shinnosuke Ogasawara to hand the Nats a thoroughly frustrating 9-4 loss that completed a miserable three days at the park.

When this series opened Monday evening, the Nationals trailed the Braves by four games at the bottom of the National League East standings, still with a shot at catching them for fourth place before season’s end. Four straight losses to Atlanta, however, dashed any hope of that and left the Nats at 62-91, matching their loss total from each of the previous two years with nine games still to be played.

"It's never easy to lose," rookie right fielder Dylan Crews said. "We want to win every single day, trust me. We want to go out there and win every single time we walk out onto that field. But we've got to fix some things. We've got to command the strike zone a lot better, from both sides. We do that, a lot of good things happen."

CHICAGO – With a Wild Card berth no longer a mathematical possibility, official elimination arriving late last night, the Orioles must set other goals over the last few weeks.

Perhaps they can finish in fourth place in the division. Maybe post a non-losing record along the way.

Sights are lowered for a team in the basement.

The Orioles completed their sweep of the White Sox this afternoon with a 3-1 victory before an announced crowd of 10,919 at Rate Field. They return home to play the Yankees and Rays and make their final trip with a weekend series in the Bronx.

That’s a wrap on 2025.

The Orioles have made the following roster move:

• RHP Carson Ragsdale claimed off waivers by the Atlanta Braves.

The Nationals will get a look at another newly acquired reliver before season’s end, calling up right-hander Sauryn Lao from Triple-A and optioning Orlando Ribalta to Rochester before today’s series finale against the Braves.

Lao was claimed off waivers from the Mariners on Sept. 3, a 26-year-old rookie who pitched in two major league games for Seattle earlier this season after spending the first nine years of his professional career in the Dodgers organization.

Lao (whose name is pronounced “SOW-rin low”) made three appearances for Rochester following his acquisition from Seattle, allowing one run over 5 2/3 innings, with five hits, two walks and two strikeouts. He primarily throws a four-seam fastball that averages 92 mph and a slider that averages 86 mph, utilizing those two pitches an equal number of times in his brief big league career.

“It’s a fresh arm that can help us,” interim manager Miguel Cairo said. “We got him on waivers, and they want to see him, and this is a chance for him to show what he’s got, and if he can help us.”

Lao didn’t exactly take a conventional path to get here. The Dominican native was originally signed by the Dodgers in 2016 as a corner infielder, converting to a pitcher only in 2023 after his hitting career stalled out at Single-A. He has found new life in the new role, going 8-5 with a 3.46 ERA and 1.251 WHIP in 99 minor league games, including 19 starts for the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate in Tacoma this season.

It was a miserable Tuesday at Nationals Park, in more ways than one. There was a day-night doubleheader. There was a two-hour rain delay before they could start the nightcap. There were extra innings in that nightcap. And, ultimately, the Nationals lost both games to the Braves, leaving them in danger of a four-game sweep if they lose today’s series finale as well.

But it’s a new day, so who knows what might transpire when these teams meet again at 4:05 p.m. (weather permitting, yet again)?

It’s Brad Lord on the mound for the Nats, looking to finish out his rookie season strong after a little blip recently. Lord gave up seven runs in back-to-back starts against the Yankees and Rays, which made his ERA spike from 3.84 to 4.34. But he was much better his last two times out against the Cubs and Pirates, allowing a total of four runs in 11 2/3 innings, which has brought his ERA down to 4.21. He faced the Braves three times this season, all in May, but all as a reliever. So they’ll be seeing a different version of the right-hander this afternoon.

Offensively, the Nationals desperately need to get something going at the plate early against Hurston Waldrep after getting worked by Spencer Strider, José Suarez and Chris Sale in the first three games of the series. Waldrep, 23, is making only his 10th career start, but his major league debut actually came last summer at Nationals Park. How did the home team do that afternoon? They scored seven runs in the fourth inning off Waldrep, with the big blow being a three-run homer by Keibert Ruiz (who, alas, is not playing today).

ATLANTA BRAVES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Chance of rain, 66 degrees, wind 10 mph in from center field

CHICAGO – The Orioles will go for their eighth sweep this afternoon as they wrap up their series against the White Sox.

Tyler Wells makes his third start after allowing three runs in 11 2/3 innings. He’s faced the White Sox twice in his career and surrendered five earned runs (six total) in 7 1/3 innings.

Jorge Mateo is in center field today and batting ninth. Jordan Westburg bats second and starts at third base.

Tyler O’Neill is the designated hitter. Jeremiah Jackson moves down to fifth in the order and is in right field.

Alex Jackson is catching. Samuel Basallo goes to the bench.

CHICAGO – Four relievers pitched last night for the Orioles before they could secure an 8-7 win over the White Sox. Left-hander José Castillo kept his jacket on and his seat on the bench.

Castillo would be the 69^th player to appear in a game with the Orioles this season. The Marlins set the record last year by using 70.

The Orioles are in a September race, but not the one they wanted.

The club record was 62 in 2021, but it didn’t stand a chance this year. Injuries and the trade deadline created a roster churn that’s still in motion.

The Orioles have used 39 different pitchers, including position players forced into emergency relief, the second-most in franchise history behind the 42 in 2021. Thirty-four position players have gotten into games, tied for first with the 1955 team.

CHICAGO – What seemed inevitable has become official. The numbers can’t be manipulated. Optimism can’t be manufactured.

The 2025 Orioles are eliminated from the playoff chase.

Tonight’s 8-7 victory over the White Sox at Rate Field won't prolong their bid for a miracle run at the final Wild Card. The Mariners and Astros won, and those teams held the Orioles' fate in their hands.

Finishing above .500 remains a possibility if the Orioles (71-80) win their last 11 games. Their most recent non-winning season was in 2021, when they lost 110.

They shocked the industry in ’22 by posting 83 victories and signaling an end to the rebuild, and they went 101-61 the following year to claim the division.

CHICAGO – The Orioles will get a second opinion on Albert Suárez’s right elbow after he underwent an MRI last night.

Suárez is done pitching in 2025 after the Orioles put him on the 15-day injured list yesterday with right elbow discomfort. He noticed it after throwing three innings Sunday in Toronto.

“I think in the next week we’ll have something official on him that we want to release,” said interim manager Tony Mansolino, “but we have to go through the proper channels and make sure that the treatment plan and everything is appropriate.”

The season has been a grind for Suárez, who made one appearance in March, also in Toronto, before going on the IL with a rotator cuff strain. He got into four games this month, allowing two runs in nine innings, before enduring another shutdown.

The bullpen has a new left-hander, José Castillo, a waiver claim from the Mariners who reported today.

CHICAGO – Jordan Westburg is ready to play again for the Orioles, who reinstated him from the 10-day injured list earlier today. He’s serving as the designated hitter for tonight’s game against the White Sox.

Westburg’s last appearance came on Aug. 18 in Boston. He’s been out with a right ankle sprain.

The injured list is back down to 10 players.

Infielder Emmanuel Rivera was designated for assignment to make room for Westburg. He’s hit .250/.291/.283 in 42 games.

The 40-man roster has 39 players.

CHICAGO – The White Sox announced last night’s attendance at 11,020, but the entire upper deck was empty and the lower bowl had rows and rows of unoccupied seats. Tickets sold don’t equal bodies in the ballpark. The Windy City isn’t keen on supporting a team that …

You can fill in the rest.

The mailbag carried the necessary weight to avoid tipping over. Time to sort through it.

This is the latest sequel to the beloved 2008 original. You ask and I answer. The sarcasm comes at no extra charge.

Also, my mailbag lays down squeeze bunts and your mailbag gets chased out of bakeries for squeezing bundts.

CHICAGO – Tony Mansolino was the Orioles third base coach and infield instructor last summer, not their interim manager, when Kyle Bradish tossed seven hitless innings in the White Sox’s home ballpark. The details are a bit fuzzy.

Rain delayed the start of the game for 1 hour and 40 minutes. Bradish matched his career high with 11 strikeouts and came out after 103 pitches. The first batter to face reliever Danny Coulombe ruined the drama by homering.

“How do I not remember this?” Mansolino asked this afternoon during his dugout media session.

“I hope he does it again tonight.”

Bradish walked the leadoff hitter, struck out the next two and surrendered back-to-back singles to give the White Sox an early lead. He wouldn’t chase history. The goal was much more simple. Just do the job well enough to give his team a chance to win.

The National League East standings suggest the Nationals aren’t much worse than the Braves, entering the night trailing their division foes by a mere four games in the battle to finish fourth at the end of a miserable season for both clubs.

The baseball that was on display tonight, though, offered up little evidence these two teams deserve to be lumped into the same category. This 11-3 loss felt far more like the lopsided losses the Nats routinely suffered at the hands of the playoff-bound Braves the previous four years.

At the plate, the Nationals were overwhelmed by a young flamethrower in an Atlanta jersey, in this case the resurgent Spencer Strider, who dominated over seven innings. On the mound, a Nats left-hander finishing out the string of a ragged season was battered around by experienced hitters, in this case Mitchell Parker taking the punishment.

It all made for a familiar, frustrating night on South Capitol Street, where the home team was overmatched in every way by the opposition, even if their respective positions in the standings suggest that shouldn’t have been the case.

"We didn't hit today," interim manager Miguel Cairo said. "They just hit better than us today. They were better. They beat us."

CHICAGO – Albert Suárez started yesterday in Toronto, allowed a run over three innings, threw 53 pitches and was lost for the rest of the month.

That’s also a wrap on his 2025 season.

Suárez went on the 15-day injured list this afternoon with right elbow discomfort and is scheduled to undergo an MRI tonight. He made one appearance this season, on March 28 at Rogers Centre, and missed about five months with a rotator cuff strain.

In four September appearances, Suárez allowed two runs and four hits over nine innings and won twice. Yesterday was his first start since Sept. 29, 2024.

“After the third inning right there, just kind of where he was at, it was kind of, see how he felt, and he said there’s a little bit of tightness in the forearm, so wisely pulled the plug in that situation with Big Al,” said interim manager Tony Mansolino.

Jarlin Susana had surgery last week to repair his right lat muscle, a procedure that could impact the top pitching prospect’s availability for Nationals spring training.

Susana, the organization’s third-rated prospect behind shortstop Eli Willits and fellow right-hander Travis Sykora, injured himself during an Aug. 30 start for Double-A Harrisburg, departing after allowing three runs on one hit, three walks and a hit-by-pitch in 1 2/3 innings. A subsequent MRI revealed a lat strain, the Nats announced Sept. 5, though they were still consulting with doctors to determine a course of action.

The final determination was that the strain was significant enough to require surgery, which was performed last week. The Nationals did not offer a timeline for his recovery, but pitchers who need lat surgery typically miss a considerable amount of time.

Mets left-hander AJ Minter had season-ending lat surgery in early May. Brewers right-hander JB Bukauskas has missed the entire season following lat surgery in late February.

According to Major League Baseball’s injury glossary, Grade 1 lat strains are considered mild and require only 2-3 weeks of recovery, Grade 2 strains are considered moderate and require a month of recovery and Game 3 strains are considered severe because the muscle ruptures, requiring surgery with a considerably longer recovery period.

CHICAGO – The Orioles made another flurry of roster moves this afternoon in Chicago.

Relievers Chayce McDermott and Yaramil Hiradlo were recalled from Triple-A Norfolk. Albert Suárez was placed on the 15-day injured list with right elbow discomfort, ending his season, and Carson Ragsdale was designated for assignment.

Ragsdale was optioned yesterday before the DFA.

The Orioles also claimed left-hander José Castillo on waivers from the Mariners, but he hasn’t reported.

Infielder Jordan Westburg is with the club and said he’s ready to go, but the Orioles didn’t announce a move with him.