Orioles reliever Keegan Akin was on an injury rehab assignment in the minors, like so many of his teammates this season, when he first heard about it.

Closer Félix Bautista informed the club in the seventh inning of a July 23 game in Cleveland that he couldn’t pitch. Interim manager Tony Mansolino heard someone slam the dugout phone and knew immediately that the call was troubling. Akin had the same feeling about 500 miles away in Allentown, Pa.

The only information shared by the club pertained to discomfort in the right shoulder that Mansolino described as “significant.” The Orioles didn’t downplay it, but tears in both the rotator cuff and labrum were jolting.

“I didn’t really have an idea, honestly,” Akin said. “It happened when I was on a rehab and I just heard that it wasn’t good, and from the explanation when it happened, they weren’t quite sure what it was. That’s why I think it took so long and a few extra doctor’s appointments to make sure. It’s one of those things, you’ve got to make sure what’s going on there. It’s a pretty serious injury.

“Definitely a little surprised there. It’s just unfortunate.”

Brandon Young couldn’t duplicate the drama.

Young was perfect for 7 2/3 innings in Houston, returned home tonight and allowed a hit and home run among his first four batters. The Astros didn’t let the rookie get on another roll.

Christian Walker’s two-run shot with two outs in the first inning was followed by Carlos Correa’s two-run single in the second. Houston scored three times in the third before Young retired a batter, and the Orioles stayed down in a 7-2 loss before an announced crowd of 18,061 at Camden Yards.

Young was charged with seven runs and nine hits in 5 1/3 innings and exited after covering first base to retire Jacob Melton on a ground ball to Coby Mayo leading off the sixth. Young came down hard on his left leg, began limping past the bag, and interim manager Tony Mansolino removed him and called for reliever Yaramil Hiraldo.

The club announced that Young had left hamstring discomfort. Depending on the severity of the injury, he could be the starter who steps aside for Kyle Bradish’s return next week.

One day after Orioles closer Félix Bautista underwent surgery to repair the rotator cuff and labrum in his right shoulder, catcher Adley Rutschman landed on the injured list again with a strained oblique and might not return in 2025.

The hits keep coming in the most negative manner.

Rutschman was scratched from Tuesday’s lineup in Boston with discomfort in his right side. He hadn’t played since Sunday in Houston.

This is the opposite side from Rutschman’s previous strain, which led to his first career stop on the injured list and cost him five weeks of the season.

Asked whether Rutschman could be out for the rest of the summer, interim manager Tony Mansolino replied, “Hard to speculate on that.”

Orioles catcher Adley Ruschman is on the injured list for the second time this season and in his career. 

Rutschman has a strained right oblique, which is the opposite side of his previous injury. He missed about five weeks the last time and is questionable to return next month. Interim manager Tony Mansolino said it's a "mild" strain.

Outfielder Daniel Johnson was activated from the taxi squad to replace Rutschman.

Mansolino said rookie Samuel Basallo will be the everyday catcher. The Orioles play eight games on this homestand and Basallo could catch five or six.

Infielder Jordan Westburg remains day-to-day with a sore right ankle. The discomfort has lessened, which brings optimism that he can avoid the IL. 

While the Nationals remain patient and cautious with Keibert Ruiz’s recovery from a concussion, they are starting to see better results from Riley Adams and Drew Millas as the backups get more consistent playing time.

Ruiz, who signed an eight-year, $50 million extension before the 2023 season, has been limited to 68 games this season while dealing with multiple concussions. The 27-year-old has been on the 7-day concussion injured list since July 8 and with 36 games remaining in the season, including today’s finale against the Mets, time is running out for him to return to the field.

Which means the Nats are getting an extensive look at Adams and Millas, albeit at the cost of the health of one of their teammates.

Both backup backstops have already or are on pace to play the most games in a single season in their short major league careers: Adams has already played 57 and Millas, although currently only at 16, is on track to surpass the 20 he played last year.

The overall numbers for Adams haven’t been strong. He’s slashing .198/.257/.356 with a .612 OPS, seven doubles, seven home runs, 17 RBIs, 13 walks and 74 strikeouts (5.7 K/BB rate). But as he’s played more consistently, he’s started to turn a corner and produce better results.

The Orioles return from their off-day to begin a four-game series against the Astros at Camden Yards, with questions lingering about a couple of players who weren’t available Tuesday night in Boston.

Infielder Jordan Westburg exited Monday’s game in the first inning with discomfort in his right ankle after stumbling as he rounded second base. He hadn’t received X-rays and the club intended to reevaluate him today.

Triple-A Norfolk infielder Vimael Machín is on the 24-hour medical taxi squad again, in case Westburg goes on the injured list for a second time. Machín has played in 105 games with the Tides and is batting .287/.346/.475 with 25 doubles, two triples, 15 home runs and 70 RBIs. He was 7-for-13 with three doubles over three games before going 0-for-5 on Sunday.

Machín, who’s hitting .297/.352/.505 against right-handers, also was on the medical taxi squad Aug. 6 in Philadelphia due to Tyler O’Neill’s right wrist soreness. He hasn’t played in the majors since 2022 with the Athletics.

The Orioles have 39 players on the 40-man roster. Three catchers are part of the 26-man active roster with Rutschman joined by Samuel Basallo and Alex Jackson.

Despite a blowout loss on Tuesday, the Nationals are now in position to take this series from the Mets, thanks to last night’s 5-4 win. If they can pull it off, the Nats would find themselves as winners of five of their last eight and seven of their last 12 heading into their road trip to Philadelphia and New York.

To do so, they will definitely need better starting pitching. Over their last three games, Nationals starters have completed just 13 innings while giving up 16 runs (15 earned), 19 hits and eight walks. It’s probably not a coincidence the Nats went 1-2 in those games.

Luckily, they have their ace on the mound to try to provide them with some length. MacKenzie Gore is 5-12 with a 4.04 ERA on the season, but he’s completed six innings in each of his last two starts, allowing only a combined two runs and striking out 17. He took a hard-luck no-decision in his only start against the Mets this season back in June, when he tossed six innings of two-run ball with six strikeouts and departed the game with a 4-2 lead, only to see his team lose 5-4 in 10 innings.

Sean Manaea will make just his eighth appearance (seventh start) after his year was delayed by a right oblique strain. Overall, the veteran southpaw is 1-1 with a 4.78 ERA, but he’s posted a 7.98 ERA and the Mets are 0-3 in his three August starts.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. NEW YORK METS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, DC 87.7 (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Cloudy, 73 degrees, wind 12 mph in from center field

By winning a third consecutive series against teams that appear to be playoff bound, the Orioles actually moved from 10 to 8 ½ games out of the final Wild Card spot going into their off-day. They passed the Twins and have only six teams ahead of them.

Only. A reminder that the task is daunting. Pray for a baseball miracle.

Anyone who says “stranger things have happened” should be challenged to start naming them.

The Orioles are 43-33 since toting that grotesque 16-34 record. They could spend the entire offseason stretching out hamstrings by kicking themselves for the slow start. They fell into a nearly impossible position but are being stubborn, winning six of their last seven games and moving eight below .500 for the first time since July 29.

They’re also living rent-free in the heads of fans who can’t believe that their teams are losing to the last-place Orioles. The venting on social media is intense, and it’s spreading to the national media. The Ringer’s Bill Simmons, with his 5.4 million followers on X, simply posted, “The Orioles can F off.”

The trade deadline is a date that looms large for any professional baseball player, whether you’re at the big league level or working your way through the minor leagues. 

Very few are truly safe from any kind of movement. 

Those feeling the least secure would include anyone in the Padres organization and rising arms in the system of a winning ballclub. 

Juaron Watts-Brown, a starting pitcher in the Blue Jays’ Double-A affiliate, found himself in the latter category as the calendar inched towards August. 

“We all thought it was a possibility,” Watts-Brown told me ahead of Double-A Chesapeake’s matchup with Richmond yesterday. “Me and a couple of other guys, a couple of other guys that got traded, there was talk of like, ‘the Blue Jays are doing well, they’re probably going to go get a few pieces and we could be part of those package trades.’

The Nationals signed Shinnosuke Ogasawara over the winter believing the 27-year-old left-hander – the first Japanese free agent signing in club history – could become a viable major league starter, or at worst provide ready-to-go rotation depth at Triple-A Rochester.

The plan never was to use him as a reliever. Certainly not as a late-inning, high-leverage arm.

Funny how plans change. Because over the course of the last two weeks, Ogasawara has found himself pitching in a most unexpected role. And thriving in it.

Wednesday night provided the most dramatic example yet. Handed the ball for the top of the seventh with the Nats leading the Mets by one run, Ogasawara proceeded to retire Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto and Starling Marte in order, preserving a 5-4 lead that wound up holding through the game’s final out.

“He’s on a mission,” interim manager Miguel Cairo said. “I love the passion, the energy. That’s what you’re looking for when you put someone on the mound.”

The Nationals put themselves in position to win tonight’s game against the Mets thanks to a much-needed and improved offensive approach against Kodai Senga and another solid start by Brad Lord, at least until it nearly fell apart on him in the top of the sixth.

All of which left Miguel Cairo – and then Henry Blanco once Cairo was ejected during that same inning – to try to piece together the final 11 outs of this game with a bullpen loaded with inexperienced arms.

And then one by one, those inexperienced arms performed like seasoned veterans, four relievers coming together to deliver 3 2/3 innings of scoreless ball to secure a hard-earned 5-4 victory over New York.

"Anytime you can win a one-run ballgame is huge," right fielder Dylan Crews said. "That's what makes great teams great. ... That's a huge win for us right there, and we couldn't have done it without the bullpen."

The unlikely quartet that got the job done against one of the more imposing lineups in the National League? Cole Henry, Shinnosuke Ogasawara, Clayton Beeter and Jose A. Ferrer. That may not be how anyone would’ve drawn things up as recently as a month ago, but it’s what the Nationals have right now, so it’s what they used to beat the Mets.

Eli Willits is ready to make his minor league debut.

The Nationals are transferring this year’s No. 1 draft pick to Single-A Fredericksburg and plan for him to debut Thursday night, a source familiar with the organization’s plan confirmed.

Since signing for $8.2 million last month, Willits has been working out at the team’s spring training complex in West Palm Beach. He arrived too late to play in the Rookie-level Florida Complex League but still got reps over the last few weeks in intrasquad games and unofficial games against other organizations that train in the vicinity.

The question all along was whether the Nationals would decide the 17-year-old shortstop was ready to play with an affiliate. They ultimately decided he is ready and will now get a brief window to watch him play against minor leaguers who in most cases are several years older than Willits.

The FredNats are home this week against Fayetteville, then embark on a six-game trip next week to Lynchburg before returning home for the season’s final week against Carolina. The Single-A Carolina League regular season ends Sept. 7, so at most Willits will play in 18 games between now and then.

The Orioles will again experience life without closer Félix Bautista.

Bautista underwent shoulder surgery yesterday to repair a torn rotator cuff and labrum. The club announced that Dr. Neal ElAttrache handled the procedure in Los Angeles and termed it "successful."

That last part is the only positive news. A season that's brought tremendous disappointment just delivered another devastating blow.

The initial prognosis on Bautista is a recovery period that will sideline him for at least the next 12 calendar months. A second full season is expected to proceed without him. He missed 2024 after recovering from ligament-reconstructive surgery in his right elbow.

Today's update wasn't unexpected but still hit hard. It's grossly unfair to the 2023 All-Star reliever and to the Orioles, who again must search for a closer during the offseason. They tried veteran Craig Kimbrel last year, offering a $12 million contract and releasing him in September with a 5.33 ERA over 57 appearances.

Last night’s game did not go well at all for the Nationals, on either side of the ball. On the mound, Jake Irvin got roughed up by the Mets for six runs (five of them coming in the top of the third). At the plate, the lineup was absolutely carved up by David Peterson for the umpteenth time. Put it all together, and you’ve got a completely lackluster, 8-1 loss.

What does tonight have in store? If nothing else, it will be interesting to see how Brad Lord fares in his 12th big league start, his second against the Mets. The rookie right-hander tossed only four innings that April night during a 2-0 loss. He’s fully built up for a longer workload tonight, provided he’s effective enough to warrant remaining in the game. The good news: He has been quite effective since rejoining the rotation, posting a 2.77 ERA and 1.154 WHIP in five starts.

At the plate, the Nationals simply have to put together better at-bats than they did last night against Peterson. The problem: They’ve had very little success in two previous cracks at Kodai Senga this season, including 5 2/3 innings of one-hit ball in June. Like Peterson, Senga can be really deceptive. The onus is on the Nats’ hitters to be patient and take what’s given to them, which means hitting the ball the other way if he keeps everything down and away.

NEW YORK METS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 82 degrees, wind 8 mph in from right field

METS
SS Francisco Lindor
RF Juan Soto
LF Brandon Nimmo
1B Pete Alonso
2B Jeff McNeil
DH Mark Vientos
3B Brett Baty
CF Cedric Mullins
C Luis Torrens

Most major league managers don’t participate in the nightly exchange of lineup cards prior to first pitch, preferring instead to hand off that assignment to various members of the coaching staff. When it came time for the traditional ritual Tuesday night at Nationals Park, both team’s skippers absolutely made sure they were the ones making their way toward home plate.

For the Nationals’ Miguel Cairo and the Mets’ Carlos Mendoza, this was no ordinary ballgame. This was history: The first time two Venezuelans managed against each other in a major league game. And when they greeted each other shortly before first pitch at 6:45 p.m. and posed for photos, it absolutely meant something to each man.

“I got chills,” Cairo said following the Nats’ 8-1 loss. “Because it was cool to see countrymen being managers in the big leagues at the same time playing together.”

There have been only four Venezuelan-born managers in big league history. Ozzie Guillén was the most well-known, the bombastic former shortstop managing the White Sox from 2004-11 and the Marlins in 2012. Al Pedrique took over the Diamondbacks during the 2004 season after Bob Brenly was fired but wasn’t retained that winter.

Cairo has now twice been promoted from bench coach to interim manager, first in 2022 with the White Sox after Tony La Russa went on medical leave, and of course this summer with Nationals after Davey Martinez was fired. Mendoza, meanwhile, was hired by the Mets last year and proceeded to lead them to the National League Championship Series.

BOSTON – The Orioles didn’t bring their smoke machines and disco lights to Fenway Park. The ballpark is so old, the equipment might have blown out the fuses or started a fire. But you could hear players through the walls celebrating after Monday night’s win.

Voices were loud. Veteran pitcher Trevor Rogers made a speech praising 21-year-old rookie catcher Samuel Basallo on his first major league game behind the plate. Basallo didn’t understand every word but appreciated the kindness, smiling through most of his postgame interview at his locker.

The words coming from the stereo last night were understood and not suited for a post-game television broadcast. The music had to be turned down, but you couldn’t kill the party.

This group is having fun again.

Coping with adversity is a big part of it, including the latest round of physical setbacks.

BOSTON – One of their best hitters limped to his locker this afternoon and back to the trainers’ room, leaving behind a walking boot for his injured right ankle. The two-time All-Star catcher was scratched from the lineup with discomfort in his right side.

The interim manager had two healthy players on his bench, both rookies with a combined 16 games of major league experience, and no idea who would close in a save situation - if the Orioles were able to create it.

“I feel like we’ve got a chance to go play a good game,” said Tony Mansolino, armed with a healthy supply of optimism.

What’s lacking is experienced and reliable late-inning relief, but Mansolino worked around it in a 4-3 11-inning victory over the Red Sox before an announced crowd of 37,435 at Fenway Park.

Samuel Basallo registered his fifth RBI in three games with a swinging bunt against Garrett Whitlock in the top of the 11th that scored automatic runner Jeremiah Jackson. Corbin Martin was summoned, Connor Wong laid down a sacrifice bunt, but automatic runner Nate Eaton held on a medium-range fly ball to Colton Cowser in left-center. The throw home was way off the mark. 

There are few surer things in baseball right now than David Peterson mowing down the Washington Nationals.

Stick the Mets left-hander on the mound against this particular lineup, and you probably know the results before he ever throws a pitch. Just let Peterson throw his tantalizing assortment of 90 mph sinkers, breaking balls and changeups and watch as the Nats continue to flail away, making precious little solid contact.

It’s happened before. It happened again tonight. And unless the Nationals’ position players actually do something to adjust, it’s pretty much guaranteed to happen again the next time they meet.

Tonight’s 8-1 loss might have stood out if not for the fact it was a near-repeat of Peterson’s last start against the Nats, when he tossed a six-hit shutout at Citi Field.

They didn’t score off him the time before that, either. All told, Peterson had thrown 25 consecutive scoreless innings against the Nationals before they finally broke through in the bottom of the eighth tonight. And the dominance isn’t confined to this current inexperienced lineup. During a career that began in 2020, Peterson has now faced the Nats a total of 14 times (11 of them starts). The Mets’ record in those games: 13-1.

BOSTON - Interim manager Tony Mansolino sat down in the dugout this afternoon for his daily media scrum and said, “Whatever you guys have got, I’m ready to go.”

Orioles injuries tend to be the main topic. Notepads are recommended. Memories can't be trusted. 

Infielder Jordan Westburg exited last night’s game in the first inning with discomfort in his right ankle and he’s out of tonight’s lineup. He’s avoided a second trip to the injured list and the Orioles will reevaluate his status after Wednesday’s break in the schedule.

“Came in sore today but not quite as sore as we thought he might be, which was a positive sign,” Mansolino said. “It’s hard to be overly optimistic until probably after the off-day, so I think we get to Thursday we’ll have a pretty good idea if we’re gonna kind of keep him day-to-day and keep him off the IL and what that kind of looks like. Doesn’t mean he’s gonna play Thursday, but if we’re able to just kind of suck it up four or five days and then play him.

“If Thursday he comes in and there’s not a lot of improvement, then we’re gonna have to consider the IL.”

Andrés Chaparro’s last stint with the Nationals didn’t include much playing time, to put it mildly. He appeared in only four games during three weeks on the big league roster in June.

This time around, there should be considerably more at-bats for the 26-year-old first baseman/designated hitter, who was recalled from Triple-A Rochester in a roster swap with infielder José Tena.

“He’s going to be playing against left-handed pitchers,” interim manager Miguel Cairo said. “I’m going to try to mix it up. It depends how he does. But we want to see him, and he should have an opportunity to show what he can do.”

Sure enough, Chaparro is in tonight’s lineup against Mets left-hander David Peterson, batting seventh and starting at first base, with Josh Bell back in the DH role after several starts at first base over the weekend.

The Nats saw glimpses of Chaparro’s production late last season, when he totaled 12 doubles and four homers in 33 games. But he went just 1-for-11 in his earlier stint this summer, stuck on the bench behind both Bell and Nathaniel Lowe.