Pat Valaika grounded into a force against Adam Cimber this afternoon and the Orioles' 2021 season was a wrap. The fifth in a row below .500. A final record of 52-110, with two fewer wins than the last full season in 2019. With 56 road losses that are third-most in team history. And with a minus-297 run differential. The Blue Jays did their part to stay alive in the wild card race by winning 12-4 at Rogers Centre, a game that included George Springer's leadoff home run against Orioles rookie...

It got lopsided early. And while the Orioles' season began with a bang when they swept Boston at Fenway Park in April, it didn't end that way. The Toronto Blue Jays, in a game they had to have, blew out the Orioles 12-4 today to complete a three-game sweep that ends the Orioles' 2021 season. They finished 52-110 and with the second-most losses in club history, behind only the 115-loss 2018 Orioles. Arizona was tied late in its game today. A Diamondbacks win and the Orioles and Arizona would...

Mike Rizzo wasn't about to put a timetable on the Nationals' rebuilding project to become a contender again, but the longtime general manager seemed to make it clear today in an end-of-season session with reporters that he views this year as the low point in the process, with significant improvement expected in 2022. "Our goal is to win," Rizzo said during a 25-minute session in the home dugout prior to the Nationals' season finale. "It's to win the division. It's to win the World...

As the Orioles wait for Game 162 to begin in Toronto, manager Brandon Hyde reflected on the season today and marveled at how briskly it passed. "We're talking about it in the clubhouse, it seems like a lifetime ago we were in Boston and got rained out of opening day and the next day in Fenway we're still being tested, still having masks, no fans," he said. "It seems like we've come a long way since then and we got back to somewhat as normal a season as could possibly happen. "There's...

The Orioles end the 2021 season today in Toronto with the opportunity to play spoilers, keeping the Blue Jays out of the playoffs with a victory. It's that simple. Rookie Bruce Zimmermann is making his 13th major league start and 14th appearance, and his second since coming off the 60-day injured list. He held the Red Sox to one run and two hits over four innings on Tuesday. Zimmermann has never faced the Blue Jays. The Baltimore native hasn't allowed a hit in 36 consecutive two-strike...

The Washington Nationals recalled right-handed pitcher Joan Adon from Triple-A Rochester and placed infielder Luis García on the 10-day Injured List with a strained oblique muscle on Sunday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. Adon, 23, went 7-6 with a 4.97 ERA in 21 starts between High-A Wilmington, Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester in 2021. He struck out 122 batters against 40 walks in 105.0 innings pitched. He ranked...

Well, here we are. It's Game 162, the end of a long and winding and eventful but ultimately disappointing baseball season in the nation's capital. If someone told you on opening day everything that would transpire over the ensuing six months, would you have believed it? Probably not. There is, however, meaningful baseball to be played today on South Capitol Street. Perhaps not so meaningful for the Nationals, but critical to the Red Sox, who enter the day tied with the Yankees atop the...

For the Orioles, the final day and game of the 2021 season has arrived. They play the Blue Jays this afternoon at Rogers Centre to conclude the year and then head into the offseason and the winter. They have lost the first two games of this series, by 6-4 and 10-1 scores. Toronto opened a 6-0 lead Friday night before a late O's rally. The Blue Jays hit five homers in the first five innings yesterday, opened a big early lead and won by nine runs. The O's have gone 3-2 in their last five...

The Nationals pitching staff enters today's season finale sporting a 4.79 ERA, seventh-worst in the majors. And that number has only gotten worse as the season has played out. Since the All-Star break, the Nats' ERA is a gaudy 5.60, third-worst in the majors. So as they prepare to evaluate what went wrong this year, and what changes could be necessary to try to prevent it from happening again, the Nationals would be expected to at least consider whether pitching coach Jim Hickey deserves any...

The closest the Nationals are going to get to meaningful October baseball occurred around 7 p.m. tonight on South Capitol Street, as the sun set behind the first base stands, the temperature inched down toward the 60s, and a sellout crowd of 41,465 watched in nervous anticipation as the most feared hitter in the sport stepped to the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth and the home team trailing by a run. "I love that feeling," Juan Soto said in his Zoom session with...