The pregame news for the Orioles wasn’t any better today than how they started out against the Angels.

Ryan O’Hearn was scratched from the lineup with left ankle soreness after homering last night and tying Cedric Mullins for the team lead. The Orioles returned outfielder Tyler O’Neill from his rehab assignment with Triple-A Norfolk because of recurring shoulder soreness. He received an injection in his AC joint and is shut down for about a week.

Tomoyuki Sugano walked the first batter he faced and Mike Trout hit the upper half of the left field foul pole with a sinker that missed the heart of the plate but not his bat. Keegan Akin surrendered a tie-breaking home run to Luis Rengifo leading off the sixth. The day seemed like it would be trashed.

Fortunately for the Orioles, tones can be set but also smashed.

Mullins and Gary Sánchez hit back-to-back home runs off left-hander Tyler Anderson in the bottom of the sixth and the Orioles hung on for a 6-5 win before an announced crowd of 26,313 at Camden Yards.

Friday night was about as miserable as it gets for the Nationals. They fell into a big hole early, then sat through a long rain delay, then tried to mount a furious late rally, only to come up short and suffer an 11-9 loss to the Marlins that ended around 12:30 a.m. And now, only 12 1/2 hours later, they’re right back out there for the second game of the series, with a rare 1:05 p.m. Saturday start (the result of the originally scheduled 4:05 p.m. game getting bumped up to account for all the traffic that will be pouring into the city later this evening for the military parade).

Suffice it to say, the Nats need today to go much better than Friday night did, in every possible way. They need a better pitching performance from Trevor Williams than they got from Mitchell Parker. They need early offense against Cade Gibson and the rest of the Marlins relievers who will be cobbling together a bullpen game today. They need more of a lockdown relief performance than they got Friday night, when Jackson Rutledge and Jose A. Ferrer combined to give up five runs. And they need the weather to cooperate, because there’s an increasing chance of more rain as the day and evening progress. Is it too much to ask for all of those things to come together in glorious harmony?

The Nationals made a roster move this morning involving their bullpen: Andrew Chafin has been placed on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to June 11) with a right hamstring strain and have recalled right-hander Ryan Loutos from Triple-A Rochester. Loutos, who was just claimed off waivers from the Dodgers, has five games of big league experience with Los Angeles and St. Louis. He made only one appearance for Rochester before his call-up, allowing a run on two hits in one inning of relief Thursday.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. MIAMI MARLINS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Chance of rain, 81 degrees, wind 4 mph in from left field

MARLINS
RF Jesús Sánchez
C Agustín Ramírez
DH Liam Hicks
SS Otto Lopez
LF Kyle Stowers
1B Eric Wagaman
CF Dane Myers
3B Connor Norby
2B Javier Sanoja

Tyler Wells walked into the Orioles’ clubhouse this afternoon dripping with sweat, the effects of a 25-pitch bullpen session in the Camden Yards heat.

He still managed to look happy.

Wells has made encouraging progress from his ligament-reconstructive elbow surgery last June. He mixed in his changeup today and will incorporate breaking balls next week. He doesn’t know when he’ll be cleared to face hitters.

“Everything’s feeling good,” he said. “Elbow feels good, shoulder feels good, body’s feeling good. So I feel like I’m in a really good spot right now with feels, location, and everything like that.”

Wells is experiencing a process unlike anything else in his life, with responsibilities as a new father woven into his rehab. He’s undergone elbow surgery in the past, before the Orioles chose him in the Rule 5 draft, but this one isn't an exact duplicate.

Gary Sánchez has returned to the Orioles. He was reinstated from the 10-day injured list this afternoon, with catcher Maverick Handley optioned to Triple-A Norfolk as the anticipated counter move.

Sánchez went on an injury rehab assignment after getting rid of the inflammation his right wrist. He was rested yesterday.

Handley is 3-for-40, but he’s helped to lower the staff ERA to 4.93. He caught the combined shutout last night, which began with Charlie Morton’s 10 strikeouts in five innings.

Morton has a 2.97 ERA in eight games with Handley behind the plate. He provided an example last night of his connection to the kid.

“The other day he came in, ‘What time’s your ‘pen?’” Morton recalled. “I told him. He was like, ‘Would you mind if I came out and played catch with you?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, dude. Absolutely. I love that.’ I think it just shows his desire and willingness to develop and develop a rapport and just kind of throwing himself in the mix. Because you don’t really have many guys who are catching who are like, ‘Hey man, I’ll come catch a ‘pen.’ But I think he has a desire to get better. He has a desire to just work on his game, and whether that’s a physical thing, a mental, emotional thing, I think that’s why he and I are working well together.

The Orioles have made the following roster moves:

• Reinstated C Gary Sánchez (right wrist inflammation) from the 10-day Injured List.
• Optioned C Maverick Handley to Triple-A Norfolk.

One of the best defensive plays Andrew Chafin has made in some time wound up sending the veteran reliever to the injured list.

The Nationals placed Chafin on the 15-day IL this morning with a right hamstring strain, an injury he sustained six days ago while doing the splits to make a play in the field. Ryan Loutos, a right-hander acquired only four days ago from the Dodgers, was recalled from Triple-A Rochester to take Chafin’s place in the bullpen.

Chafin didn’t initially show any ill effects when he sprinted to cover first on Corey Seager’s grounder to the right side in the top of the ninth Sunday against the Rangers, then stretched to the point he was doing the splits to snag CJ Abrams’ return throw on the 3-6-1 double play. But the left-hander did not pitch in any of the Nats’ last four games and was unavailable during Friday night’s 11-9 loss to the Marlins.

Chafin was going through a jogging drill in the outfield prior to today’s game, so the injury is not severe enough to prevent him from moderate physical activity right now.

The Nationals summoned Loutos from Rochester late Friday afternoon, then placed Chafin on the IL this morning. They were allowed to backdate the transaction only three days, to June 11, which was still three days after he suffered the injury. The soonest he could return would be June 26, but the team will be cautious with his recovery, not wanting to risk rushing him back and potentially making it worse.

The Washington Nationals recalled right-handed pitcher Ryan Loutos from Triple-A Rochester and placed left-handed pitcher Andrew Chafin on the 15-day Injured List (retroactive to June 11) with a right hamstring strain on Saturday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement.

Loutos, 26, was claimed off waivers from Los Angeles Dodgers and optioned to Triple-A Rochester on June 10. He has posted a 2.75 ERA (6 ER/19.2 IP) with 16 strikeouts and six in 16 Triple-A games this season. He made one appearance with Triple-A Rochester allowing one earned run on two hits with one strikeout in 1.0 innings of work on June 12.

Chafin, 34, pitched to a 3.18 ERA (4 ER/11.1 IP) with 14 strikeouts and 11 walks in 16 games this season.

The Orioles had a late start last night due to the threat of rain, with the actual precipitation lighter than anticipated before the downpour in the fifth inning.

The injury talk started much earlier, and it was heavier than expected.

Let’s take a stroll through yesterday’s updates and try not to roll an ankle.

Grayson Rodriguez

The “sluggish” start on March 5 in Fort Myers turned into an elbow/triceps issue, which turned into a lat issue that kept the projected No. 2 starter from pitching this season.

If this wasn’t rock bottom for the Nationals, it sure felt like it. Mitchell Parker already had dug his team into a six-run hole with an abbreviated start that left many in the crowd booing with disapproval. Then came the 2-hour, 14-minute rain delay. Then once play resumed and the prospect of post-midnight baseball loomed, Jackson Rutledge gave up two more runs to a Marlins team that was piling on a Nats club stuck in a downward spiral with little hope of escape.

And then as Friday night was turning into Saturday morning, the home team decided to finally get its act together. If only it had been enough.

Despite a spirited rally that included seven runs scored between the seventh and eighth innings, the Nationals still ultimately fell short during an 11-9 loss to Miami, their sixth straight.

Unable to overcome Parker’s early struggles on the mound and then some shaky bullpen work later, the Nats fell to the Marlins for the third time in four head-to-head matchups this season, kicking off a critical homestand against two of the National League’s bottom-feeders with the kind of loss that will only leave all affected parties feeling worse than they already did.

"We're a good team. I think there's just a lot of ups and downs in baseball," said James Wood, who did his part tonight with three hits and four RBIs. "We know we're a good team. We know we're capable of being an elite offense. When stretches like that happen, you can't really panic over them."

Charlie Morton had to wait out a rain delay tonight that lasted more than an hour before throwing his first pitch. The grounds crew sprinted to the tarp and stood shoulder-to-shoulder behind it after the top of the fourth inning, cutting through the finish line of the hot dog race.

Morton was the one on a roll.

The only way to slow him was to drench him.

Morton tossed five scoreless innings and tied his season high with 10 strikeouts before umpires halted play with one out in the bottom of the fifth following Ramón Urías’ single. The 69-minute break forced interim manager Tony Mansolino into a pitching change, with Yennier Cano entering in the sixth.

The bullpen backed up Morton with four scoreless frames, and a couple of solo home runs led the Orioles to a 2-0 win over the Angels before an announced crowd of 20,204 at Camden Yards.

Grayson Rodriguez said today that he will throw his first bullpen session next week since experiencing a setback in the middle of April in recovering from a strained lat muscle.

Rodriguez, speaking to the local media for the first time since early March in Fort Myers, also expressed confidence that he’ll pitch after the All-Star break.

“Throwing every day,” Rodriguez said of his flat ground sessions. “Right now feeling good.”

Asked about returning in 2025, Rodriguez said he doesn’t have an exact week or specific timeline, “but I’m definitely gonna pitch this year.”

Rodriguez is on the 60-day injured list. He experienced discomfort in his elbow/triceps area in camp, which robbed him of the normal velocity in his final appearance against the Twins, but he said today that he’s rehabbing only from the lat strain – his third including the summer of 2022 with Triple-A Norfolk.

Robert Hassell III arrived in the big leagues with a bang, going 2-for-5 with two runs and a stolen base in his first career game, going 3-for-5 with his first homer a week later, then delivering another pair of two-hit games shortly after that.

It’s been a struggle since for the Nationals rookie, though, who is finding out what most every other hitter in major league history has been forced to figure out along the way: Pitchers are going to make adjustments and figure out how to exploit your weaknesses.

“He’s young. He’s up here and trying to figure things out,” manager Davey Martinez said. “They’ve made some adjustments after the first week. He’s got to start making adjustments now on the pitchers.”

The 23-year-old outfielder arrived May 22 to significant fanfare, given his success at Triple-A Rochester and his longstanding reputation as top hitting prospect who was part of the Nationals’ massive package from the Padres in the Juan Soto trade. And nine games in, Hassell was living up to the billing, batting .270 (10-for-37) with six RBIs and a number of quality at-bats that suggested a mature hitting approach for someone so inexperienced. Things have taken a downturn since. Over his last nine games, Hassell is batting just .172 (5-for-29) with one RBI, 11 strikeouts and a .379 OPS.

The biggest concern? The rookie is swinging at everything, both inside and outside the zone. He has yet to draw a walk in 66 major league plate appearances.

It was not a good trip to New York, to say the least, for the Nationals. They weren’t just swept by the Mets. They seemed to reach new lows in terms of their offensive slump, going 22 innings without scoring a run between the top of the fifth Tuesday and the top of the ninth Thursday. Not good.

The Mets, to their credit, are one of the best teams in baseball, with the best pitching staff in baseball. Now comes a seven-game homestand against two of the worst teams in baseball, each possessing one of the worst pitching staffs in baseball. If the Nats can’t win a bunch of games against the Marlins and Rockies … well, that’s not going to be a pleasant conversation one week from today.

Miami is up first, a team that has lost eight of its last 10 games, including a three-game sweep at the hands of (wait for it) the Rockies. Edward Cabrera has been OK (2-2, 3.99 ERA, 1.470 WHIP), and he already pitched well against the Nationals once this season (two runs over 5 2/3 innings). The lineup needs to try to jump on the right-hander early and create some positive momentum for a change.

Mitchell Parker opposed Cabrera on that April 11 game in Miami and likewise pitched OK (four runs, three earned in six innings). All four runs came in the bottom of the fifth, which is counter to Parker’s usual narrative of struggling in the first inning before settling down. We’ll see if he can get his evening off to a positive start as well and help put his team in position to win what feels like a must-win game.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. MIAMI MARLINS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Chance of storms, 80 degrees, wind 10 mph right field to left field

The passion for baseball that flows through Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino rises in temperature and fluidity as he delves into a particular topic.

Bring up one of the infielders that he’s instructed, and listeners won’t get the short answer.

Mansolino is writing out the lineups after replacing Brandon Hyde and he hasn’t let Ramón Urías vanish from them. Jordan Westburg was reinstated from the injured list on Tuesday, but they were paired again last night, with Urías making another start at third base.

Urías belted a two-run homer Wednesday and made a couple of impressive plays in the field. He had eight hits in 26 at-bats this month before going 0-for-3 last night against Tarik Skubal.

During yesterday’s pregame media session, Mansolino wondered whether his audience knew “Ramón’s story.” The retelling brought him tremendous joy.

Interim manager Tony Mansolino reminded the media again this afternoon that the Orioles have beaten tough pitchers in the past. They didn’t fear Tarik Skubal. They weren’t cowering in corners of the clubhouse. Start the game and get after it.

They created some traffic in the first two innings tonight, drawing only the eighth walk off Skubal this season. But his roll was coming, and the Orioles couldn’t do much about it.

Dean Kremer surrendered two home runs in the fourth inning to give Skubal plenty of room to operate in the Tigers’ 4-1 victory before an announced crowd of 18,800 at Camden Yards. Last year’s unanimous choice for the American League’s Cy Young tossed seven shutout innings, and the Orioles lost back-to-back series after a six-game winning streak.

The Angels are next for the Orioles (27-40), who managed three hits off Skubal. He struck out Coby Mayo to end the seventh, pounded his fist in his glove and accepted cheers from Tigers fans behind the visiting dugout.

Tonight marked Skubal’s sixth scoreless outing. He blanked the Orioles for six innings on April 27 in Detroit. His ERA is down to 1.99.

The Orioles might not wait until next week’s road trip to reinstate Gary Sánchez from the 10-day injured list.

Sánchez batted twice this afternoon in his rehab assignment with Triple-A Norfolk and is 8-for-22 with a double and three home runs in seven games. He’s recovered from his right wrist inflammation.

Interim manager Tony Mansolino offered only a small percent a few days ago that Sánchez would rejoin the Orioles during the homestand. They have a weekend series against the Angels before heading to Tampa and New York.

“I told you the other day it was a small chance. I think the chance went up quite a bit because he hit the points that we needed and we’ll probably see him here at some point sooner than later,” Mansolino said today.

Sánchez is 3-for-30 in 12 games after signing an $8.5 million contract. Maverick Handley likely would return to Norfolk if Sánchez is reinstated.

The Orioles have made the following roster move:

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

Cal Ripken Jr. stood on sacred baseball ground this morning, at home plate in the exact spot where it was planted at the old Memorial Stadium on 33^rd Street. Ripken began his major league career in this neighborhood and he returned today, the site of the first Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation Youth Development Park, for the announcement of a partnership that’s creating the Ripken Foundation – Nike RBI Initiative.

This partnership strives to support instructional baseball and softball leagues at 30 organizations across 14 states, with the goal of expanding access to the sport for youth around the country.  

Players from the James Mosher Baseball youth league sat in a line in front of Ripken at The Harry & Jeanette Family Center Y at Stadium Place as he talked about the program and promised to offer them tips during the instructional period that followed.  

“It kind of gives us a chance to look into why we started the Foundation, and it was really to capture dad’s spirit,” Ripken said later in a media scrum.

“He had a really coaching spirit, helping minor league guys get to the big leagues, and he also went out and did different clinics in different areas to expose kids to baseball and the values of sports. So now when we kind of think about him, I think about him like as a teacher, because a coach does a whole lot more than just teach you how to play. Kind of helps with your confidence, kind of puts you in the right direction, and sometimes there’s issues that, if you have a good, trusting relationship with your coach, they start asking you questions. And that’s really the magic that happens through the relationship through sports, and hopefully that’s what we’re capturing with kids.”

Beginning today, the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) has expanded its MASN+ Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) streaming option to include MLB.TV as an additional platform. Fans can now purchase MASN+ directly through MLB.TV, which now allows in-market fans to stream all regular season Orioles and Nationals games LIVE or on demand with no blackouts (subject to national exclusivities). 

Fans can subscribe to MASN+ on MLB.TV for $64.99 for the remainder of the 2025 regular season by visiting MLB.TV or via the MLB app. A recurring monthly subscription is also available for $19.99 per month. Additionally, fans will be able to purchase a bundled subscription that includes both MASN+ and MLB.TV; this option allows fans to stream all out-of-market MLB games, MLB Network 24/7 (US only), select live MiLB games, MLB Big Inning, and live audio for all MLB Clubs.

Existing MASN+ season pass subscribers will receive a special invitation to be able to utilize the MLB.TV platform for the remainder of the 2025 season.

MASN+ can still be purchased directly on MASN’s website at masnsports.com or via the MASN app available on iOS and Android mobile devices, Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV.

MASN+ subscribers receive 24/7 MASN and MASN2 content including every available Orioles and Nationals game, Orioles and Nationals Classics, O’s and Nats Xtra, and all other MASN programming. Orioles and Nationals games produced by MASN include special features like in-game interviews with players, mic ups, and in-depth interviews and analysis. 

Jordan Westburg raised hopes with his reinstatement Tuesday from the injured list, and expectations soared when he hit a leadoff homer in the bottom of the ninth and came back last night with a double, walk and three-run homer.

Look who's back. Back again.

Westburg punished a fastball from Tigers right-hander Will Vest in the first game of the series and a sinker last night from right-hander Beau Brieske, but the Orioles need more production against lefties. The loss dropped their record to 4-14 against southpaw starters, including openers like the Tigers’ Brant Hurter.

Overall, the Orioles entered last night slashing .202/.277/.279 against left-handers. Westburg will be in the lineup most nights, and every time the Orioles are matched up against them.

“I think whenever a guy comes off the IL, you don’t expect him to carry us, so the expectation for Jordan after missing a month, he’s not going to carry us,” warned interim manager Tony Mansolino. “If he does, we’ll take it. But I think over time as he gets back to himself, yeah.