MINNEAPOLIS – Orioles outfielder Austin Hays is now going to start in the All-Star game for the American League next week in Seattle. Now Baltimore needs to get him back in their starting lineup and that should happen at Minnesota on Saturday afternoon.

Hays and Adolis Garcia of Texas were named starters today and will join Tampa Bay’s Randy Arozarena in the AL starting outfield due to injuries to Aaron Judge and Mike Trout.

“Hyder (manager Brandon Hyde) called me this morning to let me know,” Hays said this afternoon before the Orioles-Twins series opener at Target Field. “Lot of excitement. Just really excited to wear this team’s name on my chest out there and start the All-Star game.”

Hays already has gotten advice from teammate Cedric Mullins, who was a starter in the 2021 game due to an injury then also to Trout.

"He said there is a lot going on, just try to live in the moment. Lot of moving parts. It moves really fast and there is a lot of stuff scheduled. Just try to enjoy every second and go with the flow like everything will happen will really quickly. Try to enjoy each moment as much as you can,” said Hays.

MINNEAPOLIS – After a remarkable night in New York - and a 14-1 blowout win over the Yankees - the Orioles' suddenly resurgent offense is in for a real test this weekend. The O's open a series against the Minnesota Twins, a new hot team that leads MLB in team ERA. 

The Orioles went 15-for-26 at-bat last night in the first four innings and led 13-0 in the Bronx. By that point of the game, Gunnar Henderson and Ryan O'Hearn had already combined for nine RBIs. Henderson was 4-for-4 with two homers, three runs and five RBIs.

There have been three rookies to record 4+ hits and 5+ RBIs in a road game against the Yankees since RBIs became an official stat in 1920 – Don Wheeler in 1949, Maikel Franco in 2015 and yesterday.

The Orioles set season highs in runs and hits. The previous tops was 13 runs and 17 hits and they had 20 last night. 

Heading into Wednesday's game at Yankee Stadium, the Orioles had lost six of seven games. But now they have back-to-back wins by 6-3 and 14-1.

The Washington Nationals recalled right-handed pitcher Joan Adon from Triple-A Rochester and optioned left-handed pitcher Joe La Sorsa to Triple-A Rochester on Friday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement.

Adon, 24, joins the Nationals for the first time this season after beginning the season with Triple-A Rochester. In his last six outings for the Red Wings, Adon went 1–2 with a 3.44 ERA (13 ER/34.0 IP) with 27 strikeouts and 14 walks. He worked at least 5.0 innings in each of those starts, including four 6.0-inning performances. In all, Adon went 2–5 with a 4.81 ERA (41 ER/76.2 IP) with 67 strikeouts and 35 walks in 15 starts in Triple-A this season.

Adon made his first Opening Day roster in 2022 and recorded his first career win on April 19 vs. Arizona (6.1 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 5 SO). Adon finished the 2022 Triple-A season strong, going 2–0 with a 2.84 ERA and a .205 opponents’ average in his final five starts after Sept. 1.

La Sorsa, 25, was 0–0 with a 18.00 ERA in five games with the Nationals in 2023.

A Nationals pitching staff that was overtaxed the last few days will have a fresh arm for the final series of the first half: Joan Adon.

Adon was recalled from Triple-A this afternoon, giving the Nats someone who could churn out a good number of innings if needed out of the bullpen against the Rangers. Left-hander Joe La Sorsa was optioned to Rochester to clear a roster spot.

The events of the last two days made some kind of move inevitable. La Sorsa threw 51 pitches in two innings of relief Wednesday night, making him unavailable to return until at least Saturday. Jordan Weems threw 27 pitches that night, then returned to throw 28 on Thursday, likely knocking him out a few days as well.

The 1-hour, 43-minute rain delay in the second inning Thursday really threw a wrench into plans, with starter MacKenzie Gore unable to continue after throwing only 17 pitches. Manager Davey Martinez wound up using six relievers to cover the remaining 8 2/3 innings necessary in a 10-inning loss to Cincinnati.

Hence the decision to promote Adon, who was scheduled to start for Rochester on Thursday night but was instead informed he was to report to D.C. The 24-year-old right-hander has made 15 starts at Triple-A this season, going 2-5 with a 4.81 ERA and 1.578 WHIP.

The Nationals had no luck against the Reds this week, dropping four straight to the surprise leaders of the National League Central. Will they fare any better this weekend against the Rangers, the surprise leaders of the American League West?

Texas has enjoyed its resurgence not as much through a rebuilding farm system like Cincinnati, but through a spending spree in recent years that included Marcus Semien, Corey Seager, Nathan Eovaldi and Jacob deGrom. That last addition hasn’t worked out, but the others have done well, especially Seager, owner of a 1.040 OPS. Having said that, the Rangers enter this series on a bit of a downswing, having dropped nine of their last 13 games.

The Nationals need to play better all around this weekend. It begins tonight with Trevor Williams, who continues to give his team a chance, even if the right-hander doesn’t exactly dominate on the mound. Williams probably needs to provide some length tonight, given the fact Davey Martinez had to burn up his whole bullpen after Thursday’s second-inning rain delay.

The lineup gets another crack at an opposing left-hander, in this case, Cody Bradford. The 25-year-old makes only his seventh career appearance tonight, having tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief four days ago against the Astros. Davey Martinez will not have Jeimer Candelario, who sits after getting hit by a pitch on his right knee Thursday. He will, however, have CJ Abrams batting leadoff for the first time this season, with Lane Thomas second. More on that notable change to come ...

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. TEXAS RANGERS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Chance of storms, 83 degrees, wind 5 mph left field to right field

Austin Hays vowed to play again before the All-Star break, a bruised left hip keeping him out of the lineup since Sunday.

The day he learned that he’d been selected to his first All-Star team.

Hays is on the bench again tonight, marked absent hours after he found out that he’s starting for the American League.

Baseball life is full of surprises for Hays, who said yesterday that the good news about his selection was “kind of short-lived” following his collision with Twins first baseman Donovan Solano. A knee to the hip bringing pain after his euphoria. The roller coaster that he didn’t want to ride.

He’s taking batting practice and working out, as he did yesterday in New York, and starting Tuesday night at T-Mobile Park due to injuries to Aaron Judge and Mike Trout.

NEW YORK – The crowd at Yankee Stadium had lost its last ounce of patience long before the 12^th batter stepped to the plate in the top of the third inning. Angry at Luis Severino. Outraged by the sloppy play. Reduced to cheering a ground ball, sarcasm the only weapon of retaliation.

The Orioles threw an offensive party tonight in someone else’s house. Gunnar Henderson played host.

Henderson collected four hits in four innings, including a pair of home runs. Ryan O’Hearn had a double and two-run single in the third. Twenty of the first 30 batters reached base.

Manager Brandon Hyde wanted a breather. He got a laugher.

Staggering after two games of the series, the Orioles came out swinging tonight and coasted to a 14-1 victory. They pounded out 20 hits. Kyle Bradish was working on a one-hit shutout through the fifth and no one seemed to notice.

There was a certain admirable quality to what the Nationals bullpen did Thursday afternoon. After a 1-hour, 43-minute rain delay forced MacKenzie Gore’s start to end after only 1 1/3 innings and 17 pitches, Davey Martinez had to ask six relievers to churn out a combined 8 2/3 innings in a game that wasn’t decided until the 10th.

Of course, the bullpen’s performance would’ve been appreciated even more had Kyle Finnegan not surrendered the game-tying run in the eighth and Hunter Harvey surrendered the game-winning runs in the 10th.

But given the circumstances, and what was asked of them, Martinez couldn’t get too down on the group as a whole.

The key figure in the proceedings was Mason Thompson, who was summoned to take over when the rain delay ended, thrust into a jam in the top of the second. The right-hander proceeded to induce an inning-ending, 6-2-3 double play, then returned to pitch the third and fourth innings, ultimately allowing one run to the Reds.

“It starts with the first guy and wondering how far he can go,” Martinez said. “Mason did a great job. You’re hoping for an inning and two-thirds, and he gave us more than that. So that set the tone. Then the rest of the guys just followed suit. I thought they did really well.”

As soon as the skies opened in the top of the second at Nationals Park, this was guaranteed to be an unconventional day at the yard.

The grounds crew would need to put in extra work to get the field playable once the storm passed. Bullpens would need to be asked to work overtime, with starters burned up. Benches would be emptied, players would switch positions, designated hitters would be forfeited.

In the end, the path may have been different, but the result was not. The Nationals lost yet another home game, this time by a count of 5-4 in 10 innings to a Reds team that just completed a four-game sweep in impressive fashion.

Nick Senzel’s two-run homer off Hunter Harvey on the first pitch of the 10th was the deciding blow, though it was Senzel’s defensive efforts in the bottom of the ninth that made it possible in the first place.

With a chance to win it in regulation, the Nats got a one-out double from Riley Adams and then thought for a moment they got at least a walk-off double (if not a homer) from CJ Abrams. But Senzel’s leaping catch at the wall in right denied the home team a chance for a rare celebration, and ultimately sent the game into extras.

NEW YORK – Austin Hays is participating in full baseball activities today and is confident that he’ll return to the Orioles’ lineup this weekend in Minnesota.

Hays hasn’t played since bruising his left hip Sunday against the Twins at Camden Yards.

“I’m feeling a lot better today,” he said. “I’m going to go out there for BP and try to go through some throwing from the outfield, take some swings, and see where we’re at. But as far as just moving around and doing day to day stuff, it feels a lot better. A lot of that bad soreness that I had has pushed out of there.”

The day began with Hays learning about his All-Star selection and progressed to a collision with Twins first baseman Donovan Solano in the second inning, leading to removal before the top of the fourth.

Third baseman José Miranda’s throw led Solano into the basepath and Hays turned at the last instant to lessen the impact. He probably made it worse, but his instincts took over.

NEW YORK – The latest prospect-packed Orioles lineup tonight includes Colton Cowser in left field again, with Gunnar Henderson leading off and playing shortstop, and Jordan Westburg at second base.

Manager Brandon Hyde put Ramón Urías at third base and Aaron Hicks in center field.

Cedric Mullins is the designated hitter.

Austin Hays stays on the bench.

Kyle Bradish has registered a 3.58 ERA and 1.205 WHIP in 15 starts. He’s held opponents to six runs in his last four starts covering 25 innings.

Joey Meneses had a little extra bounce in his step this morning, certainly more than you’d expect from a player facing the quick turnaround from a three-hour game the previous night to a 1:05 p.m. first pitch today.

The reason for Meneses’ good mood: He’s playing first base for the Nationals in today’s series finale against the Reds.

This has become a rare event. Meneses, who has served as the Nats’ designated hitter 74 times in the team’s first 86 games, is playing only his sixth game in the field this afternoon. It’s the first time he’s played first base since April at Citi Field in New York.

“He’s excited about it,” manager Davey Martinez said. “He takes ground balls every day. He gets a chance to go out there today and play the field. He’s up for it.”

With left-hander Brandon Williamson starting for the Reds, Martinez decided to give both Dominic Smith and Luis García the day off and go with a more right-handed-heavy lineup. That includes Ildemaro Vargas at second base and Keibert Ruiz as DH.

The Nationals, plain and simple, have not played good baseball this week. It’s not just the fact they’ve lost three straight to the Reds, it’s the way they’ve looked in losing those three games. Sloppy defense. Bad pitching. An inability to deliver at the plate with runners in scoring position. It’s been ugly.

One win in today’s series finale won’t change all that, but it sure wouldn’t hurt. Success would start with MacKenzie Gore, who needs a bounceback performance of his own after giving up seven runs in only 2 2/3 innings his last outing at Philadelphia. The lefty would love to go into the All-Star break on a better note, not to mention an ERA lower than the 4.48 mark he brings into today’s start.

The Nats face another unfamiliar pitcher today in Cincinnati’s Brandon Williamson, who makes his 10th career start. The 25-year-old left-hander enters with a 5.56 ERA, but he did hold the Padres to two runs over five innings in his last appearance.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. CINCINNATI REDS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Chance of storms, 89 degrees, wind 6 mph right field to left field

NATIONALS
RF Lane Thomas
3B Jeimer Candelario
1B Joey Meneses
LF Stone Garrett
DH Keibert Ruiz
2B Ildemaro Vargas
C Riley Adams
SS CJ Abrams
CF Alex Call

For all the trouble they had when the Reds were at bat Wednesday night, the Nationals might actually have given themselves a chance to win the game had they simply converted some golden scoring opportunities in their first two innings at the plate.

Instead, another failure to pounce on a struggling opposing starter set the tone for what became a 9-2 rout rather than a competitive ballgame.

Seven of the Nationals’ first nine batters actually reached base against Cincinnati starter Graham Ashcraft, who entered with a 6.66 ERA. Only one of those seven (Lane Thomas) would score, and he only did so via wild pitch.

Thomas opened the bottom of the first with a walk, the 30th time he has reached base in the 61 games he has led off the first inning. Luis Garcia followed with a single, but Jeimer Candelario grounded into a killer double play that moved Thomas to third but left the Nats with two outs. Even so, they still proceeded to load the bases when Joey Meneses walked and Dominic Smith was hit by a pitch.

Ashcraft’s wild pitch scored Thomas and moved everybody else up one base, but Keibert Ruiz then grounded out to end that rally with only the one run across the plate.

Whether it was a display of gamesmanship meant to rattle a talented rookie or genuine concern about the device Elly De La Cruz had wrapped around the knob of his bat, Davey Martinez and the Nationals’ actions in the top of the second this evening didn’t produce anything close to a desired result for the home team.

Not only was De La Cruz ultimately allowed to use the device, he used it while launching a gargantuan home run to right-center and then immediately pointed at it before circling the bases, the defining moment of the Nats’ ugly, 9-2 loss to the Reds on a long, muggy night of unsightly baseball on South Capitol Street.

De La Cruz, the sport’s top-rated prospect one month ago and now the face of Cincinnati’s sudden resurgence to the top of the National League Central division, had his way with the Nationals for the second straight day.

The Nats? They lost their third straight to open this four-game series, not to mention their 13th loss in their last 14 home games despite having gone 6-3 on the road in between all that.

"We can't give teams those extra outs," Martinez said after watching his team commit two errors and allow four stolen bases. "Every time we do that, it comes back and bites us."

The Nationals’ continued search for a productive center fielder while Victor Robles is on the injured list landed on a familiar face today: The club recalled Alex Call from Triple-A Rochester and designated struggling Derek Hill for assignment.

Call rejoins the Nats only three weeks after he was demoted because of his own struggles, plus Robles’ initial return from a back injury. When Robles had to go back on the 10-day IL with a recurrence of the injury, Hill was given the promotion over Call.

Hill never found offensive success in D.C. Though he had a robust .914 OPS at Triple-A, the 27-year-old outfielder batted just .170 with one extra-base hit, three walks, 11 strikeouts and a .411 OPS in 13 big league games. He finally recorded his first RBI in his 48th plate appearance during Tuesday’s 8-4 loss to the Reds.

“When you’re not seeing the results, you start pressing a little bit,” manager Davey Martinez said. “We talked to him about shortening his swing a little bit, and it felt like he was getting long. We worked with him, and just nothing came out of it.”

Having already played for the Tigers in parts of the previous three seasons, Hill was out of options and couldn’t be demoted without first being exposed to waivers. Hence today’s move to designate him for assignment. If he goes unclaimed, he could wind up back in Rochester.

CJ Abrams came up to bat four times during Tuesday’s game at Nationals Park, and he was legitimately pleased with both the process and the results of three of those plate appearances.

There was a third-inning double to right. There was a fifth-inning double to left. And there was a ninth-inning leadoff walk.

The common theme with those plate appearances? Abrams swung at pitches in the zone and took those outside the zone. He took two pitches off the plate and then doubled on a changeup right over the heart of the zone in the third. He took three straight pitches, two of them called balls, before driving a sinker at the knees the other way for a double in the fifth. And he took five straight pitches in the ninth, the first of them called a strike, the others all called balls.

“I was swinging more at my pitch today,” he said. “Swinging at good pitches I can handle. I was seeing in the zone, going fastball the other way, pulling the changeup and reacting.”

The ninth-inning walk, in particular, pleased Abrams’ manager.

Jordan Westburg is on the bench tonight, as the Orioles begin a three-game series against the Twins at Camden Yards. Gunnar Henderson is the shortstop, Ramón Urías is the third baseman and Adam Frazier is the second baseman.

Westburg and Brian Roberts (2001) are the only Orioles middle infielders to record at least five hits in their first three career games, according to STATS.

Adley Rutschman is serving as the designated hitter tonight, with Anthony Bemboom behind the plate.

Ryan O’Hearn remains in the cleanup spot.

Dean Kremer is 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA in his last three starts after allowing six earned runs in five innings in Milwaukee on June 7. Kremer has received 20 runs over those three starts and is averaging 6.24 per nine innings this season, the fifth-highest total among American League qualifiers.

(Baltimore) - June 30 - The Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) today announced the addition of three individuals – Brad Brach, Mike Devereaux and Jason La Canfora – to join an already talented group of broadcasters to enhance the on-air endgame experience for fans and bring familiar voices to the broadcast as the Orioles make a push for the postseason.

Brach will be joining the booth for a select number of games as a second analyst alongside Ben McDonald or Jim Palmer. He enjoyed an 11-year MLB career from 2011-21 with six teams, including the Orioles from 2014-18. He was an All-Star in 2016 while going 27-15 with 32 saves and a 2.99 ERA (109 ER/327.2 IP) in 288 games with the O’s, including helping the team win the American League East in 2014 and earn a postseason berth in 2016. He retired from playing following the 2022 season.

Devereaux has been added for a select number of games and will also join the booth as a second analyst. Seven of his 12 MLB seasons from 1989-1994 and 1996 were spent in Baltimore. Outside of Orioles Legend and Baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, Jr., nobody played more games with the O’s during that time than Devereaux, who was inducted into the Orioles Hall of Fame in 2021. He helped the team to a playoff appearance in 1996. 

La Canfora joins as a game broadcast contributor and to O’s Xtra Pre/Post Game Shows. The Baltimorean has previous on-air experience with NFL Network (NFL Gameday and Thursday night football, CBS, and the Washington Post. He currently hosts Inside Access on 105.7 WJZ-FM. 

The Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) is a regional sports network and multimedia platform that televises every available game of both the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals, pre- and postgame shows, and NCAA Division I men’s and women’s sports, totaling more than 500 live events annually.  The network is available in a seven-state region, from Harrisburg, Pa., to Charlotte, N.C., on 25 cable and fiber optic providers, and is televised nationally via satellite provider DirecTV. MASN’s digital home - https://www.masnsports.com/ - features news and sports content and offers in-market streaming of both O’s and Nats games.  MASN has won more than 100 Emmy and Addy awards for broadcast and marketing excellence.

We are now only nine days from the 2023 Draft, one that not only features some of the best top-tier talent the sport has seen in a long time, but one that also sees the Nationals with one of the top picks for the first time in a long time.

The Nats don’t own the No. 1 pick like they did in 2009 and 2010, but if there’s ever a year to be satisfied with not owning the No. 1 pick, this is it. As many as five players are viewed by experts as No. 1 talents: LSU outfielder Dylan Crews, LSU right-hander Paul Skenes, Florida outfielder Wyatt Langford and high school outfielders Walker Jenkins and Max Clark.

Because they pick second, the Nationals are at the mercy of the Pirates, who have their choice of the entire field. Most experts believe Pittsburgh will take one of the two LSU stars who just won the Men’s College World Series, but there remain valid rumblings they could prefer Langford or one of the high schoolers because of the money they’d save and be able to apply to later-round picks.

The Nats have been widely connected to both Skenes and Crews, with maybe an outside chance they take Langford instead. There’s little buzz about them drafting a high school player with this pick.

So in all likelihood, general manager Mike Rizzo, longtime vice president of scouting Kris Kline and their team of evaluators are going to be selecting someone who played in last weekend’s much ballyhooed national championship series in Omaha. All possess elite skills, all are experienced and all are expected to reach the major leagues in short order.