In his second MLB start Cade Povich faces friend, former college teammate

Cade Povich

When O’s rookie lefty Cade Povich makes his second big league start tonight facing Atlanta, his mound opponent will be a friend and former college teammate.

Right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach was a two-way player at the University of Nebraska. He and Povich were on the team together there in 2020 and 2021. Schwellenbach was both a starting shortstop playing behind Povich and also closed out some of his wins too as a late-inning reliever.

During the 2021 season, when Povich was 6-1 with a 3.11 ERA for the Cornhuskers, Schwellenbach hit .284 with a .862 OPS in 48 games at short. On the mound he went 3-1 with an ERA of 0.57 and recorded 10 saves.

In the 2021 MLB Draft, Atlanta selected Schwellenbach in round two, No. 59 overall. Minnesota selected Povich in round three, No. 98 overall.

Tonight, the two former Cornhuskers face each other on the mound at Camden Yards.

Continue reading
  0 Comments
0 Comments

O's game blog: Tyler Wells on mound for O's in series, road trip finale

wells pitches grey

What has been a winning road trip will come to an end this afternoon when the Orioles (22-11) play at Atlanta (23-11) to wrap up this three-game series. 

The Orioles won 9-4 Friday night but lost 5-4 last night at Truist Park to fall to 7-3 in one-run games, 13-7 in road games and 3-1 in games versus National League teams.

The Orioles started the road trip going 3-1 at Detroit and then went 2-1 at Kansas City and are now 1-1 this weekend for a 6-3 mark on the 10-game trip.

Even with Saturday's loss, the Orioles have been winners in 14 of their last 18 games, 16 of their last 21, and 18 of their last 24. That .783 winning percentage (18-5) since April 10 heading into last night was the best in the big leagues over that stretch.

The Orioles have not lost successive games since April 8-9 at home against the New York Yankees, which was the last time they lost a series.

Continue reading
  0 Comments
0 Comments

Hays is back in Orioles' lineup for final game of road trip

wells pitches grey

ATLANTA – The Orioles still have a chance to win their eighth series in a row to draw within one of the club record.

The Braves rallied last night for a 5-4 win on Kevin Pillar’s two-run homer off Danny Coulombe in the eighth inning.

Austin Hays returns to the lineup, batting fifth and playing left field. James McCann is catching a morning game after a night game, and Adley Rutschman is on the bench.

Anthony Santander is the designated hitter and batting second. Gunnar Henderson is the shortstop and cleanup hitter, with Jorge Mateo on the bench.

Manager Brandon Hyde spoke to Mateo at the infielder’s locker after last night’s game, likely to tell him about the day off.

Continue reading
  0 Comments
0 Comments

Santander slam highlights another Orioles series opening win (updated)

Santander slam highlights another Orioles series opening win (updated)

ATLANTA – One mistake pitch, a meatball in the heart of the plate. Is that asking too much?

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde hoped that Atlanta left-hander Max Fried was due. Or perhaps it was just wishful thinking.

Hyde can recite Fried’s line from the four-hit shutout tossed at Camden Yards in 2021, right down to the zero walks. He knows about the three consecutive scoreless starts this season and the one run allowed in 20 innings.

Fried didn’t locate a fastball in the fourth inning tonight and Anthony Santander sent it over the left-center field fence to break a tie. That was the mistake. Cedric Mullins barreled a sinker leading off the seventh for another home run. That was a mistake.

So was the notion that Dean Kremer would lose a pitchers’ duel with Fried. Or that the harder part of the schedule would crush the Orioles.

Continue reading
  0 Comments
0 Comments

Rays are headed to World Series

Rays are headed to World Series
The American League East champion Tampa Bay Rays are headed to the World Series. They won the first three games of the AL Championship Series against Houston, but then lost the next three. But behind right-hander Charlie Morton, they won 4-2 in Game 7 last night to head to the World Series for the second time in team history. In 2008, they lost, four games to one, to Philadelphia. Now they will chase their first title against the winner of tonight's National League Championship Series Game 7...
Continue reading
  0 Comments
0 Comments

Can rookie Marlins hurlers tame tough Braves lineup in NLDS?

Can rookie Marlins hurlers tame tough Braves lineup in NLDS?
Baseball teams are measured with an endless numbers, from traditional statistics to a new-age analytics such as Wins Above Replacement. The Miami Marlins have another set of numbers unique to the season of the pandemic: As the season started, they had 18 players test positive for the coronavirus and were quarantined for a week in Philadelphia. They used 61 players for 60 games, including pitchers manager Don Mattingly met for the first time as he brought them into a game. Olympic speed skater...
Continue reading
  0 Comments
0 Comments

Late comeback attempt falls just short, Nats lose 2-1 to Braves (updated)

Late comeback attempt falls just short, Nats lose 2-1 to Braves (updated)
The Nationals offense could not get going until late, and a furious rally attempt fell just short as the Braves eked out a 2-1 nail-biter Saturday night at Nats Park. Left-hander Patrick Corbin was very good and gave the Nationals a chance to win. Unfortunately, his counterpart was better. Right-hander Ian Anderson fired seven shutout innings, allowing only one hit and striking out nine as the Braves held off the Nats. In the end, RBI singles by Marcell Ozuna and Ozzie Albies were all the...
Continue reading
  0 Comments
0 Comments

Game 44 lineups: Nats vs. Braves (updated, Eaton scratched)

Game 44 lineups: Nats vs. Braves (updated, Eaton scratched)
The Nationals lost another lead Friday night to the Braves, but this time persevered into extra innings and won the game 8-7 at Nats Park. Michael A. Taylor's bloop single to right field in the bottom of the 12th scored Adam Eaton with the walk-off run. Taylor's winning knock was his third career walk-off hit and first since a walk-off double on May 22, 2018, against the Padres. On Thursday night, the Nats led 5-0 after two innings before succumbing 7-6. The Nats are 4-4 against the Braves...
Continue reading
  0 Comments
0 Comments

Good friends Finnegan and Bourque keep Braves off board for win

Good friends Finnegan and Bourque keep Braves off board for win
Nationals relievers Kyle Finnegan and James Bourque managed to keep the prolific Braves offense off the board in extra innings in an 8-7, 12-inning win Friday night at Nats Park. Finnegan pitched two scoreless frames while Bourque earned his first major league win with a shutout 12th as the Nats prevented the Braves from coming back from a 5-0 deficit to win for the second night in a row. Finnegan walked the tightrope for two innings and managed to prevent the Braves from scoring a run even...
Continue reading
  0 Comments
0 Comments

Doolittle to injured list with strained oblique, likely down for season

Doolittle to injured list with strained oblique, likely down for season
The Nationals have placed left-handed pitcher Sean Doolittle on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain and have called up left-hander Ben Braymer from the alternate training site. Doolittle appeared to injure his oblique on a pitch to Nick Markakis in the top of the ninth of Thursday night's 7-6 loss to the Braves and left the game. Manager Davey Martinez said Doolittle is seeing the doctor this afternoon and he expects to have a complete update after tonight's contest. With a...
Continue reading
  0 Comments
0 Comments

Another Freeman grand slam dooms Nats in 10-3 defeat (updated)

Another Freeman grand slam dooms Nats in 10-3 defeat (updated)
Freddie Freeman had no grand slams to his credit prior to the Braves' series this weekend against the Nationals at Truist Park. Now he has two. Atlanta ran away from a close game with four runs in the sixth inning thanks to the second grand slam by Freeman in two days and the Braves dispatched the Nats 10-3. Atlanta blasted 12 homers over the four games. The Nats also walked nine batters in the game, allowing the Braves extra baserunners, and finished 3-8 on the 11-game road trip. Marcell...
Continue reading
  0 Comments
0 Comments

Game 39 lineups: Nats at Braves

Game 39 lineups: Nats at Braves
The Nationals are seeking a series win today in the final game of four at Truist Park against the first-place Braves. The Nats dropped Atlanta 10-4 Saturday night to win consecutive games for the first time since Aug. 10-11. One reason the Nats find themselves in last place in the National League East is that they went 6-16 between those back-to-back wins. At the start of play Sunday, the Nats trail the Braves by 8 1/2 games in the division and are 6 1/2 games back of the final NL wild card...
Continue reading
  0 Comments
0 Comments

Late homer, Taylor's bunt key in Nats' 10-9 win (updated)

Late homer, Taylor's bunt key in Nats' 10-9 win (updated)
The Nationals offense finally got off to a good start, scoring seven times in the first three innings Friday night. But the Braves used a dramatic Freddie Freeman grand slam to tie the game in the fourth. With the way things had gone for the Nats during their seven-game losing streak, many wondered if the Braves would again just finish them off. Not so fast, said the Nats' hottest hitter, Trea Turner. His solo homer in the sixth broke the tie, helping to steer the Nats to a 10-9 victory in a...
Continue reading
  0 Comments
0 Comments

Game 37 lineups: Nats at Braves

Game 37 lineups: Nats at Braves
In the second game of the Nationals' doubleheader against the Braves, right-hander Wil Crowe will make his second major league start, looking to help the Nats stop a week-long skid. With the 7-1 loss in the opener, the Nats have lost a season-high seven games in a row, their longest losing streak since June 18-25, 2016. On Aug. 22, despite allowing only two earned runs, Crowe took a 5-3 loss to the Marlins in the second game of a doubleheader. He tossed 3 2/3 innings, scattering six hits,...
Continue reading
  0 Comments
0 Comments

Game postponed, rescheduled for Sept. 4 doubleheader

Game postponed, rescheduled for Sept. 4 doubleheader
Tonight's game between the Nationals and the Braves at Truist Park has been postponed due to inclement weather in Atlanta. The game will be made up as part of a traditional doubleheader on Friday, Sept. 4, starting at 4:10 p.m. The Nats will be flying in from Philadelphia for that series on Thursday night, Sept. 3. The Nats do not have a game until Friday night, when they open a rare five-game set against the Marlins at Nats Park. So this helps a tired bullpen get back on a normal schedule,...
Continue reading
  0 Comments
0 Comments

Hudson on allowing walk-off homer: "It stinks"

Hudson on allowing walk-off homer: "It stinks"
The Nationals bullpen walked the tightrope all night long as it attempted to hold the lead and managed to find a way to get within one out of pulling it off. Until all that walking on a tightrope turned into a walk-off. Dansby Swanson delivered a dramatic two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth off Nats closer Daniel Hudson, part of a four-run Braves rally that resulted in a stunning 7-6 loss. "They're really tough, man," Hudson said during a postgame Zoom video call. "They don't hurt...
Continue reading
  0 Comments
0 Comments

On Soto as possible MVP, the shuffle and a long-term deal

On Soto as possible MVP, the shuffle and a long-term deal
After an amazing breakout campaign in front of a national audience all the way to the 2019 World Series title, Nationals left fielder Juan Soto is primed to have another big season. He is going to walk a lot. He's going to hit a lot. And a lot of those hits will be homers. Could he be in the running for MVP in the National League? Of course. But it will not be easy. Thanks to an October to remember, good pitches to hit will be at an even higher premium for Soto in 2020. Angels slugger Mike...
Continue reading
  0 Comments
0 Comments

Fans could see a new Braves world in 2020

Fans could see a new Braves world in 2020
Last offseason, the Nationals' Mike Rizzo went to work early on building his roster, getting catchers Kurt Suzuki and Yan Gomes and relief pitchers Trevor Rosenthal and Kyle Barraclough. This offseason, it is the Braves, defending National League East champions, that are roster-building early. The Braves signed free-agent lefty pitcher Cole Hamels to an $18 million contract, adding to a list of transactions. They spent $98 million this offseason by signing three relievers - Will Smith, Chris...
Continue reading
  0 Comments
0 Comments

Some key points entering regular season's final week of play

Some key points entering regular season's final week of play
Baseball's final week of the regular season has arrived. Here's what we know: The Brewers haven't missed National League MVP candidate Christian Yelich: The Brewers are 10-2 since Yelich was sidelined with a knee injury. They are 17-4 during September, a repeat performance of last season when they won 20 games in the final month to make the postseason. The Brewers, who have the tiebreaker to get home field in case of a wild card tie with Washington, have scored 32 runs in their last four...
Continue reading
  0 Comments
0 Comments

Young outfield making tough catches look commonplace

Young outfield making tough catches look commonplace
The outfield defense was on display again for the Nationals in their 7-0 shutout of the Braves on Sunday at Nats Park. Juan Soto made nice catch in the corner, and Victor Robles a few incredible stops in deep center field, including a few against the dreaded sun monster. Soto had to grab a line drive to begin the game off of Ronald Acuña Jr.'s bat. Robles had a few versus Matt Joyce, Josh Donaldson and then Freddie Freeman in the ninth inning. Adam Eaton caught one for an out off the bat of...
Continue reading
  0 Comments
0 Comments