Coby Mayo is out of the lineup today for the fourth game in a row, as the Orioles continue their series against the Braves in Atlanta.

Mayo came off the bench for one at-bat Tuesday night in Texas. He has 11 hits and eight RBIs in his last 37.

Tyler O’Neill is in right field for the first time since going on the injured list and missing almost two months. He was the designated hitter last night.

Ramón Laureano is the DH and cleanup hitter. Gary Sánchez is catching.

Dean Kremer has lowered his ERA to 4.27 in 17 games (16 starts). He tossed seven scoreless innings against the Rays in his last outing, and opponents have managed only two runs in 17 2/3 in his last three starts. He hasn’t surrendered a home run in his last seven starts.

The mailbag didn’t make it any further than the first leg of the road trip. Given the rash of injuries, just be glad that it didn’t strain a muscle. Or get a rash.

The Orioles are playing the Braves in Atlanta and I’m sorting through the latest round of questions. You ask, I try to answer, and we have another sequel to the beloved 2008 original.

I don’t care about clarity, length, style or brevity, but I do care about Beavers, and young Dylan gets some attention today.

Also, my mailbag is an All-Star and your mailbag has its insurance coverage dropped by Allstate.  

What happened to Emmanuel Rivera?
Rivera cleared outright waivers again and accepted an assignment to Triple-A Norfolk. Again. Wash, rinse ... you know the drill.

ATLANTA – Nothing says Fourth of July quite like baseball. The home team even wore red white and blue. 

The home fans just went home blue, though, as the Orioles did their best USA impression to take down the guys wearing red, 3-2. Luckily, the Braves didn’t have to wear red coats in the Atlanta heat. 

The headliners of tonight’s contest, outside of the fireworks show, included the returning Jordan Westburg and Tyler O’Neill, who combined to reach base five times tonight. 

"Yeah, I think two of the three runs, right?" interim manager Tony Mansolino said after the game. "TO (O'Neill) led off the inning with a single then came around on the home run by Ced (Cedric Mullins) and then Westy with the big home run there to get us on the board."

Westburg’s return to the lineup started off on the right note with an infield single. Gunnar Henderson followed with a double down the line to put the O’s in business, but Ryan O’Hearn and Ramón Laureano couldn’t capitalize. 

ATLANTA – Two big bats are back for the O’s brigade. 

After scoring just two total runs in their last two games, notably against Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi, it’s an offense that could use a boost of momentum. Tonight in Atlanta, the Orioles are hoping to get it. 

For the first time in a week, Jordan Westburg gets the start at third base. Westburg had missed the last five games with an injury to his left index finger, the same injury that kept him out for a short stretch two weeks ago. 

“Obviously, we kind of had to sit on that for the week,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said before the game. “Is he at 100 percent? Probably not, but I think it’s probably close.”

Westburg could bring some new habits upon returning, too. 

The Orioles have made the following roster moves:

• RHP Matt Bowman has cleared outright waivers and accepted an assignment to Triple-A Norfolk.
• INF Emmanuel Rivera has cleared outright waivers and accepted an assignment to Triple-A Norfolk.

The Orioles have made the following roster move:

• Reinstated OF Tyler O’Neill (left shoulder impingement) from the 10-day Injured List.

Tyler O’Neill was reinstated from the injured list earlier today, giving the Orioles their projected starting outfield with Cedric Mullins and Colton Cowser.

O’Neill has appeared in only 24 games this season due to neck inflammation and a left shoulder impingement. His last at-bat in the majors was May 15.

During his absence, O’Neill remained stuck in 1-for-23 and 2-for-38 slumps. His last home run was hit April 13.

The Orioles optioned Dylan Carlson after Wednesday's game in Texas in anticipation of O'Neill's return.

O’Neill is expected to be in the lineup tonight, as the Orioles begin a three-game series against the Braves in Atlanta.

Things were a little different around here the last time Lucas Giolito started a game at Nationals Park.

On Aug. 28, 2016, the Nationals were 20 games over .500, well on their way to a division title under new manager Dusty Baker. Trea Turner was the leadoff-hitting center fielder. Daniel Murphy hit third and owned a .994 OPS. Oliver Pérez, Koda Glover and Matt Belisle came out of the bullpen in relief.

Giolito, of course, was one of the top pitching prospects in baseball at that time, viewed internally as the next great member of a rotation that already featured Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Gio González.

And then a few months later, he was gone, one of three pitching prospects dealt to the White Sox in exchange for outfielder Adam Eaton, a trade that sent shockwaves through the Winter Meetings at National Harbor and revealed that perhaps the Nats didn’t view Giolito quite as favorably as everyone assumed they did.

We can debate the merits of that trade for eternity. Giolito and Reynaldo López certainly went on to have some success elsewhere, even if it took a while to materialize. Eaton played an important role on a Nationals team that won the World Series in 2019. Maybe it all worked out in the end.

For the second straight season, Trevor Williams is going on the injured list with an arm issue. And the veteran right-hander didn’t sound overly optimistic about his latest ailment.

The Nationals placed Williams on the 15-day IL with a right elbow sprain, the most significant of a series of transactions the club made this morning prior to its Fourth of July matinee against the Red Sox. The team also activated catcher Keibert Ruiz off the 7-day concussion IL, optioned Drew Millas to Triple-A Rochester and recalled reliever Ryan Loutos only one day after sending him down.

The Williams injury revelation comes two days after the 33-year-old labored through the worst of his 17 starts this season, one in which he threw 54 pitches in a six-run top of the first against the Tigers and then returned to toss two more innings before manager Davey Martinez pulled him in the first game of a day-night doubleheader.

Williams said his arm didn’t respond as it normally does after a start, so he notified club officials about it Thursday and underwent an MRI. He suggested the team is still waiting to fully decipher the results of that test before determining a course of action, but the right-hander concedes he’s going to miss some time.

“It’s hard to pinpoint exactly,” he said. “It could be a mechanical deficiency. It could be a grip thing. Who knows? The unfortunate part is that the MRI showed I’m not going to be able to start this weekend. We’ll see what happens and what the next steps will be.”

It’s the Fourth of July in our nation’s capital, and that means the return of one of the great annual traditions around here: morning baseball! Every Independence Day since 2012 (except for 2020), the Nationals have taken the field at 11:05 a.m. for the only major league game played during that early window. They’ve gone 6-6 all-time in the morning game, including a dramatic 1-0 victory over the Mets last year.

This year’s opponents are the Red Sox, who also played here on July 4, 2018, and won the game 3-0 behind a combined shutout from Eduardo Rodriguez, Matt Barnes, Joe Kelly and Craig Kimbrel. Boston’s starter today: Lucas Giolito, the long-ago Nats prospect who finally makes his first career start at Nationals Park for the opposition after six appearances for the home team as a rookie in 2016. Finally healthy after missing the 2024 season following Tommy John surgery, the right-hander is 4-1 with a 3.99 ERA. He’s not striking out as many batters as in the past, but his velocity remains at pre-surgery levels (93.4 mph fastball).

Michael Soroka (who is Canadian) gets the honor of starting today for the Nationals. As rough as June was for the team, the right-hander enjoyed a strong month, delivering a 3.49 ERA with an 0.812 WHIP and impressive 36-to-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

The Nationals announced a flurry of roster moves this morning: Trevor Williams was placed on the 15-day injured list with a sprained right elbow (more on that coming shortly), with Ryan Loutos recalled from Triple-A Rochester only one day after he was sent down. And Keibert Ruiz was activated off the 7-day concussion IL and will start behind the plate today, with Drew Millas optioned to Rochester.

BOSTON RED SOX at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 11:05 a.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv, MLB Network (outside D.C. market)
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 81 degrees, wind 7 mph in from left field

Tony Mansolino delivered the news Wednesday afternoon, first on the lineup posted and then in his daily dugout media session. The interim manager was given the freedom to write in Gary Sánchez’s name. Among another flurry of Orioles roster moves, an activity that qualifies as cardio on this team, they wouldn’t need a sixth catcher this season.

Not yet, anyway. It would be dumb to think that only five players will wear the tools of ignorance.

The Orioles broke camp with the expected pairing of Sánchez and Adley Rutschman. The competitions didn’t spill behind the plate. Only an injury would disrupt the duo.

And then, it happened. Again and again.

Sánchez went on the IL April 29 with right wrist inflammation. Maverick Handley was involved in a home plate collision June 22 in New York and remains on the concussion list. Handley was recalled because Rutschman strained his oblique the previous day during batting practice.

The Orioles have made the following roster move:

• Optioned OF Dylan Carlson to Triple-A Norfolk after yesterday’s game.

Washington Nationals outfielder James Wood has been selected to participate in the 2025 T-Mobile Home Run Derby taking place on Monday, July 14, at Truist Park in Atlanta. Wood will be the third different Nationals player (2005-pres.) to participate in the Home Run Derby, joining Juan Soto (2022) and Bryce Harper (2013 and 2018). 

Wood, 22, is hitting .283 with 19 doubles, 22 home runs, 65 RBI, 56 walks and 55 runs scored in 86 games this season. Entering play on Thursday, he ranks first in OPS (.934), home runs (22) and RBI (65), second in both slugging percentage (.547) and walks (56) and third in on-base percentage (.387) among all National League outfielders.

Wood ranks second in Major League Baseball with 12 home runs hit harder than 110 MPH behind only Shohei Ohtani (13), and he leads Major League Baseball with four home runs that travelled longer than 445 feet ahead of Aaron Judge (3). Additionally, he paces MLB with 52 batted balls hit harder than 108 MPH ahead of Aaron Judge (51).

Combined with his nine home runs in 2024, Wood’s 31 career home runs tied for the most in Nationals history (2005-pres.) through a player's first 162 games with Bryce Harper (31) and ahead of Juan Soto (31).

ARLINGTON, Texas – Another check on the trade interest generated by the Orioles still finds teams targeting their bullpen and All-Star first baseman Ryan O’Hearn. Nothing has changed or should be deemed as surprising.

Any club in the market for relievers is keeping tabs on Seranthony Domínguez, Gregory Soto and Andrew Kittredge. The $9 million option on Kittredge’s contract could be a deterrent in some organizations or bring appeal due to the controllability.

I had one scout suggest that the cost might be too rich for his team’s ownership, but that certainly won’t be true with others.

I’ve also heard Keegan Akin’s name come up with a few teams. He’s got another year of arbitration eligibility and can be used in long relief and as an opener.

Akin surrendered a game-tying three-run homer to Adolis García in the 10^th inning Monday night and went on the 15-day injured list yesterday with shoulder inflammation. He’s allowed four earned runs and five total with nine hits in his last four appearances covering 4 1/3 innings and has raised his ERA from 2.67 to 3.32.

The outcome of Wednesday afternoon’s game had long since been decided by the time Andry Lara took the mound in the top of the seventh. The Nationals were well on their way to an 11-2 loss to the Tigers, a result that felt preordained the moment Trevor Williams was roughed up for six innings during a torturous top of the first.

None of that, of course, mattered to Lara. When the lanky right-hander trotted in from the bullpen, the score of the game was insignificant. The fact he was pitching in a major league game was.

“It’s incredible,” he said, via interpreter Mauricio Ortiz. “It’s something I’ve dreamed about since I was a kid, me and my family. I just don’t have any words.”

Lara’s major league debut, in which he tossed three scoreless innings and struck out four, was probably the lone bright spot of Wednesday’s lopsided loss. But it helped keep the rest of the Nats bullpen fresh heading into the nightcap of the doubleheader, and it gave Lara a long-awaited opportunity to face big league hitters.

Six years after the Nationals signed him out of Venezuela for $1.25 million, with a rocky path in front of him, Lara finally made his debut. The 22-year-old actually had been called up for the team’s Easter Sunday doubleheader in Colorado, but neither game presented the right situation for him to pitch, so he returned to Triple-A Rochester afterward.

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Orioles made another series of roster moves today and celebrated Ryan O’Hearn’s election to the All-Star Game. They addressed their latest injury and dodged a more serious one. And they hoped that, at some point in the 2025 season, they might jump off the wave that lifts and dumps them.  

They had another splashdown tonight at Globe Life Field.

Marcus Semien hit a three-run homer off Tomoyuki Sugano in the third inning, and the lead grew, along with the right-hander’s slump, in a 6-0 loss to the Rangers.

Ezequiel Duran’s two-run single in the fourth and Corey Seager’s leadoff homer in the fifth pushed Sugano further into the deep end, and the Orioles couldn’t rescue him. They need to find some answers.

The impressive beginning to Sugano’s major league career has given way to a stretch of 22 earned runs (23 total) and 40 hits allowed over 22 1/3 innings in five outings. His ERA is 4.44.

Their ace had labored through 5 1/3 innings of 111-pitch ball. Their lineup had gone dead silent since an early rally against the opposing starter. And their bullpen had turned a slim lead into a slim deficit, giving the crowd of 16,0965 at Nationals Park reason to believe the nightcap of today’s doubleheader against the Tigers was going down an all-too-familiar path.

And then Detroit manager A.J. Hinch turned to the usually reliable Tommy Kahnle for the bottom of the eighth, and the top half of the Nats lineup sprang back to life with one of its most impressive rallies of the season.

Scoring five runs before making an out in the eighth, then adding another after that, the Nationals took a 9-4 lead and then handed over the ninth to Kyle Finnegan, who closed out a most impressive, come-from-behind victory over one of the best teams in the majors.

That ninth inning, by the way, including a leaping catch at the wall by Jacob Young, who appeared to rob Riley Greene of a homer.

"I think we all had the same reaction, which was: Holy smokes!" designated hitter Josh Bell said. "I just held my finger up pointing. I think everybody did for about 15 seconds. Probably the best catch that I've seen in person."

ARLINGTON, Texas – The voting is done. The results are in. And Ryan O’Hearn will get less time to rest at the All-Star break.

He couldn’t be happier.

O’Hearn finished first at designated hitter for the American League by receiving 78 percent of the votes, placing ahead of the Yankees’ Ben Rice. He won the Phase 1 balloting to reach the two-man final and held his ground.  

Second baseball Jackson Holliday finished behind the Tigers’ Gleyber Torres but still can make the team as a backup.

Pitchers and reserves, totaling 23 for each league, are determined through a combination of “Player Ballot” choices and selections coming from the commissioner’s office. The rest of the rosters will be announced Sunday at 5 p.m. on ESPN.

As ugly as the opener of today’s doubleheader was, there are some saving graces from the Nationals’ perspective. They’ve now got their ace taking the mound in the nightcap. And thanks to six innings of relief from Jackson Rutledge, Eduardo Salazar and especially Andry Lara after Trevor Williams was knocked out early, they’ve got all of their top bullpen arms fresh and available in search of a win this evening.

All eyes will be on MacKenzie Gore to do his usual thing, and to do it against a tough Tigers lineup that leads the American League in runs scored. Gore, of course, has never been one to back down from a challenge, and he’s coming off an outstanding start in San Diego that nevertheless resulted in a 1-0 loss (his eighth of the season despite his 3.09 ERA).

So the Nationals will need to provide some run support for their No. 1 guy tonight. They face Jack Flaherty, the enigmatic 29-year-old who at times during his career has looked like a true frontline starter and at other times has looked lost. It’s been a rough season for him so far, as evidenced by his 5-9 record and 4.80 ERA. Flaherty’s biggest issue: He has surrendered 16 homers in 84 1/3 innings, seventh-most in the AL. The Nats need to hit the ball in the air against him tonight.

DETROIT TIGERS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 85 degrees, wind 5 mph right field to left field

TIGERS
DH Justyn-Henry Malloy
2B Gleyber Torres
LF Jahmai Jones
1B Spencer Torkelson
CF Matt Vierling
RF Wenceel Perez
C Dillon Dingler
SS Javy Báez
3B Zach McKinstry

The Nationals didn’t need a gem out of Trevor Williams today. They needed length. And, ideally, a minimal amount of damage sustained to keep the opener of today’s day-night doubleheader against the Tigers within reach.

Eight batters into the game, the second half of that preferred equation had already been thrown out the window. But Davey Martinez had no choice but to try and at least get length out of his No. 5 starter, which explains why Williams was still on the mound in the top of the first throwing his 54th pitch of the most laborious inning of his life.

And why Williams retook the mound for the top of the second and top of the third before Martinez finally decided enough was enough. When he needed length from his starter, he got three innings, 86 pitches and a massive hole en route to an 11-2 thrashing that set a decidedly negative tone to this long day and night of baseball on South Capitol Street.

The Nats could not have drawn up a worse script for this unexpected matinee, the result of Tuesday night’s rainout. They’ll try to lick their wounds, regroup and split the doubleheader behind ace MacKenzie Gore later this evening.

"It's an unfortunate spot. I put us in a really big hole in the first game of a doubleheader," Williams said. "But I know the guys are going to come out in the second game ready to win."