Following a 2-4 road trip during which they won two of three in St. Louis and were swept at Detroit, the Orioles are back at Oriole Park tonight to start a week-long homestand. They host the New York Yankees for four games and then the Tampa Bay Rays will be in town for three over the weekend. This starts a difficult stretch of two weeks of games w

MIAMI – The Nationals will be without designated hitter Nelson Cruz for Monday’s series opener against the Marlins. Originally slated to bat fourth in his usual DH role, Cruz was scratched just under two hours before the scheduled first pitch to start this three-game set in Miami. Yadiel Hernandez will now bat cleanup as the designated hitter, with

Austin Hays took coach’s batting practice this afternoon and did some outfield work, including shagging fly balls, and is nearing a return to the Orioles lineup. Hays has been missing from it since the final game in St. Louis, when reliever Génesis Cabrera stepped on his left hand on a play at first base. “My hand’s feeling a lot better today,” Hay

With a lineup tonight that is still without Austin Hays and Ryan Mountcastle and will also be without shortstop Jorge Mateo, at least at the start, the O’s could use another solid game on the mound. They will send out rookie right-hander Kyle Bradish (1-1, 4.24) for his fourth career start. And he is facing the first-place New York Yankees (25-9),

The Orioles have returned home after being swept in Detroit, and Robinson Chirinos is catching tonight. No roster moves have been announced. No new lockers in the home clubhouse. Austin Hays is attempting to hit this afternoon. The swelling is down in his left hand, but he remains out of the lineup. Ramón Urías is batting cleanup and starting at sh

MIAMI – ¡Bienvenidos a Miami! After finishing up a six-game homestand by going 2-4 against the Mets and Astros, the Nationals now embark on a six-game road trip starting with tonight’s series opener against the Marlins. Interestingly enough, the Nats have fared much better away from their home ballpark so far in 2022. They’re 7-9 (.438) in their 16

Quick quiz: Who leads the Nationals in RBIs? It’s Josh Bell, right? Yes, but it’s not only Bell. Also checking in with 21 RBIs through the season’s first 36 games is an unexpected contributor: Maikel Franco. While Bell’s offensive exploits have been front and center since opening day, Franco’s contributions have been delivered in a bit more quiet f

Jorge Mateo ran full-speed into Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson yesterday on a bunt up the line, and the result was predictable. Mateo hit the ground hard and stayed down as manager Brandon Hyde and head athletic trainer Brian Ebel bolted from the dugout. Mateo eventually got up and finished his at-bat, falling to one knee on a swing and str

Captain Obvious has been busy this season, giving me a steady stream of calls and notes. The latest was to remind me that the Orioles may be an improved team but are not yet at the point they can be missing several key players and still consistently win. The Captain is right again. The Orioles were without Ryan Mountcastle and Austin Hays in Detroi

It had all the trimmings of a classic pitchers’ duel, Justin Verlander and Patrick Corbin matching zeros in the run column while Verlander maintained a zero in the hits column as well. For Verlander, though, this was par for the course. He just carried a no-hit bid into the eighth inning in his previous start. For Corbin, this was uncharted territo