Reliever Vinny Nittoli is coming back to the Orioles organization.

Nittoli, 34, signed a minor league deal and is reporting to Triple-A Norfolk after opting out of his contract with the Brewers last week.

Nittoli posted a 3.86 ERA in 27 games with Triple-A Nashville, striking out 37 batters in 28 innings. He tossed four scoreless innings with the Orioles over two games in 2024.

Left-handed reliever Keegan Akin began his injury rehab assignment today in the Florida Complex League and tossed a scoreless first inning against the FCL Rays with one hit and two strikeouts.

Akin is on the injured list retractive to July 1 with left shoulder inflammation. He’s appeared in 39 games with the Orioles and posted a 3.32 ERA and 1.421 WHIP in 38 innings. He’s started three times as an opener.

The Nationals have lost 11 of their last 13 series, including each of their last four. That’s how you wind up falling from two games under .500 to 21 games under .500 in a relatively brief amount of time. Suffice it to say, there’s a lot of work to be done just to reverse course and get this ship floating again. The road continues tonight with the opener of a three-game series against a Reds team that is smack dab in the middle of the National League Wild Card race and just took a series from the Mets at Citi Field.

Jake Irvin makes his first start of the second half, having been given seven days off since his last outing in the first-half finale. The right-hander has been OK so far this month, posting a 3.71 ERA, but he’s still looking to recapture the more consistently effective form he displayed earlier this year and for a large chunk of last year. He faced the Reds twice last season, and though he took no-decision in each case, he did pitch well (five runs in 12 innings).

Brady Singer has not faced the Nationals since 2023, when he was still pitching for the Royals. The 28-year-old right-hander has allowed three runs or fewer in 10 of his last 11 starts.

CINCINNATI REDS 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: Partly cloudy, 84 degrees, wind 7 mph in from center field

REDS
CF TJ Friedl
2B Matt McLain
SS Elly De La Cruz
LF Austin Hays
DH Gavin Lux
1B Spencer Steer
3B Noelvi Marte
RF Jake Fraley
C Jose Trevino

The Orioles have made the following roster moves:

• Signed CF RJ Austin (3^rd round), SS Colin Yeaman (4^th round), SS Jaiden Lo Re (5^th round), LHP Caiden Hunter (6^th round), RHP Hunter Allen (7^th round), LHP Kailen Hamson (8^th round), CF Cam Lee (9^th round), and RHP Dalton Neuschwander (10^th round) from the 2025 First-Year Player Draft.

The Orioles have signed 13 of their 24 draft picks. The deadline for MLB teams to sign their draft selections is Monday, July 28, at 5 p.m. ET.

If it happened to anybody else, it would’ve been notable. Because it happened to James Wood, it was downright shocking.

A prolonged slump? By one of the most consistent offensive players in Nationals history, one of the most consistent 22-year-olds the sport has ever seen?

“It’s just baseball,” Wood insisted. “It can’t all be rainbows and sunshine all the time. It happens. You’ve just got to work your way out of it.”

Since the day the Nationals called him up from the minors 1 year and 3 weeks ago, Wood has never been through any slump that lasted more than a handful of days. His longest 0-fer made it to only 15 at-bats during a four-game stretch in late-July 2024.

This one, though, made it to 20, stretching over more than five games sandwiched around the All-Star break. When it began, Wood was batting .287 with a .939 OPS. By the middle of Sunday’s game, those numbers were down to .271 and .895.

TAMPA – Tony Mansolino is willing to talk about the weather and how miserably hot it gets in Florida. He loves to share stories about his two young sons, learning the sport through his father, Doug, and pretty much any topic that isn’t a guarded club secret. But just like his predecessor, Mansolino knows that most of the media sessions begin with injury and rehab updates.

There’s no escaping it – just like the heat.

The interim manager was happy to pass along the latest positive report on Kyle Bradish, who is following his two innings of live batting practice over the weekend with his first rehab start Thursday at High-A Aberdeen.

Bradish made his last Orioles appearance on June 14, 2024 against the Phillies, allowing two runs in five innings and coming out after only 74 pitches. The red flag was raised and flapped in the breeze. A pitcher who received a platelet-rich plasma injection in January after his diagnosis of an ulnar collateral ligament sprain was on borrowed time, and the clock struck 12 on a Baltimore evening.

We’ll assume that it was muggy.

TAMPA – The Orioles took a quick lead again this afternoon with Jackson Holliday’s leadoff home run. They built on it in the third inning with Alex Jackson’s first homer since last July. They keep playing to win, as reflected by the lineups, but there’s no escaping the reality of their situation.

Today’s 5-3 victory over the Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Field featured a 2-hour, 36-minute rain delay – longest of the season - prevented a sweep and left the Orioles 10 games below .500 at 44-54. They’re playing four this week in Cleveland before returning home. And each day that passes makes them wonder how much the clubhouse will change.

If it’s a distraction, the Orioles pushed it aside today. They led 4-0 by the third on Henderson’s 109.2 mph, two-run double off Ryan Pepiot. The only losses came later in the inning when plate umpire James Hoye ejected Ramón Laureano and interim manager Tony Mansolino.

Laureano thought he checked his swing on a strikeout, flung his helmet and protective padding at home plate and was tossed. Mansolino picked up the argument after Laureano walked away and received his first career major league ejection.

Ramón Urias entered the game at first base and Ryan O’Hearn moved to right field.

Having already seen MacKenzie Gore and Nick Pivetta engage in a 1-0 pitchers’ duel last month in San Diego, Miguel Cairo sounded confident about what would be in store in this afternoon’s rematch at Nationals Park.

"It’s going to be another good game today," the interim manager said. "Pivetta’s an ace. We’ve got an ace on our side, too. And whoever does the little things better, I think, is going to come out on top. Hopefully that’s us. But it will be a good game to watch. You’ve got two aces pitching today, and it will be awesome."

It took all of four batters for any notion of a pitchers’ duel to remain viable. And it took fewer than three innings for the Padres to blast Gore from the game and make the rest of this sticky Sunday a cakewalk for Pivetta, who coasted through six innings of one-run ball to an 8-1 victory.

This was no repeat of the June 26 series finale at Petco Park, another afternoon game that saw Pivetta outduel Gore to a 1-0 win. The Padres right-hander remained in peak form, carrying a shutout into the sixth. But Gore wilted in a manner not previously seen during the first All-Star season of his career.

"I think I was just bad today," he said. "I think it was more that I just wasn't very good. They put the ball in play and got a lot of hits, and they were able to hit two homers. But I just wasn't very good."

The Nationals have found themselves in this position plenty of times over the last month-plus, having lost the first game of a series before bouncing back to win the next night, leaving the finale as the decisive rubber game. And in five of the last seven such instances, they’ve lost the finale and thus lost the series.

One of those series came last month in San Diego, where the rubber game featured a pitching matchup of MacKenzie Gore vs. Nick Pivetta. Gore was outstanding that afternoon, allowing one run over six innings. And Pivetta was better, tossing seven scoreless innings with only three batters reaching base. Thus did the Padres win the game, 1-0.

Here we are again with the same pitching matchup in the series finale between the same two teams, this time at Nationals Park. Can Gore duplicate his efforts from that outing? More importantly, can the Nats mount more of an offensive threat against Pivetta and provide their ace with some desperately needed run support? That’s what’s at stake this afternoon.

SAN DIEGO PADRES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 87 degrees, wind 11 mph out to right field

PADRES
RF Fernando Tatis Jr.
1B Luis Arraez
3B Manny Machado
DH Xander Bogaerts
CF Jackson Merrill
LF Gavin Sheets
SS Jose Iglesias
2B Jake Cronenworth
CF Bryce Johnson
C Elias Díaz

Mike DeBartolo’s first week on the job as the Nationals’ interim general manager was consumed with the Major League Baseball Draft. His second and third weeks on the job are now focused on MLB’s upcoming trade deadline, and a critical question he must confront: How committed is the organization to its current group of young players?

The Nats will be sellers at the deadline for the fifth straight year, that much DeBartolo concedes. Veterans on expiring contracts like Kyle Finnegan, Michael Soroka, Josh Bell, Amed Rosario and Paul DeJong will be shopped.

But the asking price for those two-month rentals isn’t likely to be steep. If DeBartolo is interested in making more significant changes and acquiring more prominent prospects before July 31, he would need to consider dealing players still under club control beyond 2025.

First baseman Nathaniel Lowe, who has one year of arbitration eligibility remaining, is one possibility. But what about MacKenzie Gore, one of the key prospects acquired in the 2022 Juan Soto blockbuster and a first-time All-Star, yet one who only has 2 1/2 years left of club control (same as Soto at the time of that trade)?

DeBartolo didn’t straight up shoot down the possibility when asked Saturday in a session with reporters following No. 1 draft pick Eli Willits’ introductory press conference. But he did make it fairly clear he’s not interested in breaking up what he believes is a solid foundation of young players already at the major league level.

TAMPA – Kyle Bradish will begin his injury rehab assignment Thursday with High-A Aberdeen, staying on track for a second-half return to the Orioles’ rotation.

Bradish had two ups yesterday during live batting practice in Sarasota.

Adley Rutschman (oblique) will start his rehab assignment Tuesday with Triple-A Norfolk. He’s getting at-bats today against Tyler Wells, who’s nearing his own assignment.

First baseman Ryan Mountcastle (hamstring) will join Rutschman later in the week.

Left-hander Cade Povich (hip) starts Thursday or Friday at Norfolk.

Kyle Finnegan said he couldn’t wait to get back on the mound tonight and erase the sting of Friday night’s disastrous ninth inning. The Nationals closer got his wish. And made the most of the opportunity.

Handed a two-run lead in the top of the ninth, Finnegan shut down the Padres and finished off a 4-2 victory before a boisterous Saturday night crowd of 31,136 that waited out a 1-hour, 5-minute rain delay and was rewarded for its patience with a much-needed victory by the home team.

Finnegan needed it as much as anyone. The slumping closer entered with a 4.37 ERA and zero saves (with three blown saves) since June 6. He avoided any drama this time, retiring the side and giving his teammates a chance to celebrate at the center of the diamond.

"Any pitcher will tell you: After a bad one, you don't want to stew on it for too long. You want to get back out there and put it behind you," Finnegan said. "So I was excited for the opportunity to do that tonight. Happy that they had the faith in me to go back out there and get the last three outs."

"I told him right now: It doesn't matter who's coming up to hit, you're my closer," interim manager Miguel Cairo said. "Go out there and just do your job. And he did it today."

TAMPA – Tony Mansolino is new to this whole managing thing, carrying his interim tag into every major league ballpark and a few of the minor league fill-ins, but he’s a quick study and knows that he can’t control the narrative.

The media’s gonna media.

The pressure of the approaching trade deadline could be impacting the Orioles, who are predicted by some outlets to be the most active team with a bundle of pending free agents on the table and hopes of contending fading like old jeans.

Or it isn’t. The blame might fall instead to deficiencies in the rotation, a slumping offense and an injury bug that could devour an entire city. The Orioles had 25 different players on the injured list in the first half to tie the White Sox for most in the majors. The Red Sox, Dodgers and Mets were next with 22, which is an important note because they seemed to cope better than the others.

“I’m an optimist in every which way, so I’ve never gravitated toward the feel sorry for me or everything’s terrible or everything’s negative,” Mansolino said. “I tend to look at the opportunity that somebody else gets and look at the possibility of doing great.

TAMPA – A fast start tonight by the Orioles would have to set a pace that didn’t let the Rays pass them. It was a dangerous little game that was destined to cause a crash.

Three of the first four batters reached and the Orioles scored twice before the bats were tamed again, with no runs over the next seven innings.

None were surrendered by Dean Kremer through the sixth and only one through the seventh for another quality start, but it proved to be no match for the Orioles’ failures in the clutch.

Seranthony Domínguez was charged with three runs, two earned, in the bottom of the eighth and the Rays rallied past the Orioles 4-3 before an announced sellout crowd of 10,046 at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

The losing streak grows to four games and the Orioles are 11 under again at 43-54.

TAMPA – The Orioles got on a serious draft signing roll today, with two more players entering the organization.

The club reached agreements with left-hander Joseph Dzierwa, a second-rounder out of Michigan State, and right-hander JT Quinn, a Competitive Balance B Round selection out of Georgia.

Five of the Orioles’ first six picks have signed professional contracts.

Catcher Caden Bodine, the 30^th-overall pick out of Coastal Carolina, will report to the Sarasota complex on Sunday and meet up with 19^th-overall selection Ike Irish, a catcher/outfielder from Auburn.

Bodine, who began switch-hitting when he was 4 years old, wasn’t fazed by the Orioles taking another catcher before him.

When it came time to negotiate his first professional contract, Eli Willits felt no need to waste any time. He wanted to get the deal done and get to work. He does have a goal, of course, of reaching the big leagues at an extremely young age.

“I’m just ready to get out there and play,” the Nationals’ top draft pick said this afternoon. “I set a goal to be in the big leagues by the time I’m 20. That’s something I’m really excited to do, and hopefully I get there and start playing well, and that can be something I accomplish in the next few years.”

So it was that Willits found himself at Nationals Park, only six days after he was selected No. 1 overall in the Major League Baseball Draft, signing his first professional contract, donning City Connect gear and working out at shortstop and in the batting cage alongside big leaguers prior to tonight’s game against the Padres.

Of course, Willits wasn’t legally allowed to sign that contract by himself. Because he won’t turn 18 until December, his parents also had to sign the $8.2 million deal offered to him by the Nats.

That dollar amount, while a record for a player drafted out of high school, still came in well below MLB’s designated slot value for this year’s No. 1 pick ($11,075,900). The Nationals already were enamored enough with Willits on his playing merits and long-term potential to select him over fellow Oklahoma high school shortstop Ethan Holliday and LSU left-hander Kade Anderson. But the fact they could spend less on his signing bonus and apply those savings to later-round picks was an added bonus for a recently reshaped front office that entered this draft hoping to do something along those lines.

TAMPA – Zach Eflin is nearing a return to the Orioles’ rotation, perhaps next week in Cleveland.

Eflin tossed four innings yesterday in the Florida Complex League, allowing five unearned runs in the fourth. He threw 68 pitches, 40 for strikes, and said he felt “great” and “ready to go.”

The Orioles put Eflin on the 15-day injured list retroactive to June 29 with lower back discomfort and he's itching to rejoin the club.

“I’ve been eager,” he said. “I feel like I’ve been ready. More so just to prove I can kind of do it yesterday. Back feels great.”

Eflin went on the IL earlier this season with a low-grade lat strain. He said the back discomfort has “kind of popped up the past couple years, like once a year, and typically takes like seven days to clear up and I’m pretty much good to go after that."

It promises to be another eventful day and evening at Nationals Park, and it’s not just about the game. The Nats are set to formally sign and introduce No. 1 draft pick Eli Willits this afternoon. You can watch the press conference live on MASN at 3:15 p.m. Interim general manager Mike DeBartolo is also scheduled to meet with reporters for the second time since assuming the position, and there are no shortage of topics to discuss with him.

As for the game, the Nationals will look to bounce back from a sloppy, 7-2 loss to the Padres on Friday night. They’ll hope for more early offense after getting shut out by Dylan Cease, looking for better results against Yu Darvish, who makes only his third start of the season after missing several months with right elbow inflammation.

Mitchell Parker takes the mound for the Nats, and he pitched well last month at Petco Park, holding the Padres to three runs over six-plus innings, ultimately earning the win. The lefty will need to provide some length, you would think, after Miguel Cairo used up seven relievers during Friday’s loss.

SAN DIEGO PADRES 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: Chance of storms, 82 degrees, wind 5 mph out to left field

PADRES
RF Fernando Tatis Jr.
1B Luis Arraez
DH Manny Machado
LF Gavin Sheets
SS Xander Bogaerts
CF Jackson Merrill
3B Jose Iglesias
2B Jake Cronenworth
C Martín Maldonado

TAMPA - The Orioles signed another first-day draft pick today, Arkansas shortstop Wehiwa Aloy, the 31^st-overall selection.

Aloy receives the full slot value of $3,042,800, as reported by MLB.com’s Jim Callis.

The club already inked catchers Ike Irish and Caden Bodine, the 19^th and 30th selections. The deadline for signings is July 28 at 5 p.m.

Aloy, 21, fell to the Orioles and they pounced. A native of Hawaii, he won the Golden Spikes and Southeastern Conference Player of the Year awards this year by slashing .350/.434/.673 with 19 doubles, two triples, 21 home runs, 68 RBIs and 81 runs scored.

In three seasons, Aloy hit .332/.406/.609 with 43 doubles, seven triples, 49 homers and 170 RBIs in 181 games.

The Orioles today signed shortstop WEHIWA ALOY, the No. 31 overall pick in the 2025 First-Year Player Draft.

Aloy, the Wailuku, Hawaii native and University of Arkansas product is the third of 24 Orioles draft picks to agree to terms, along with catchers IKE IRISH (No. 19 overall) and CADEN BODINE (No. 30 overall). The deadline for MLB teams to sign their draft selections is Monday, July 28, at 5 p.m. ET.

Not that there was much reason to worry, but the Nationals will be officially signing their No. 1 draft pick less than one week after selecting him.

Eli Willits, the 17-year-old shortstop from Oklahoma who became the first player in the country drafted Sunday night, will be at Nationals Park today to formally sign his first professional contract, then be introduced both to media during an afternoon press conference and then to fans attending tonight’s game against the Padres.

MASN will televise the press conference live at 3:15 p.m.

It’s a quick turnaround for both Willits and the Nats, who agreed to a deal in short order. Terms of that deal aren’t yet known, but Willits is expected to sign for less than Major League Baseball’s suggested slot value for the No. 1 pick of $11,075,900, a move that appears to have allowed the club to go above-slot on multiple later-round picks.

The Nationals surprised some in the baseball world when they chose Willits over fellow Oklahoma high school shortstop Ethan Holliday and LSU left-hander Kade Anderson. But in a wide-open draft with no consensus best player, the Nats believe Willits was as good (if not better) than the other options and came with the added prospect of financial flexibility.