In baseball, what happens in all nine innings counts. and what happened today in the first inning at Boston was pretty big as the Orioles saw their losing streak to extended 11 games in a row. They fell behind 3-1 after one frame on their way to a 6-2 loss. Boston swept this three-game series by a combined score of 30-5 after being swept there in the first series of the season when they were outscored by Baltimore 18-5. Former O's farmhand Eduardo Rodriguez took the mound for Boston today,...

A summer of misery for the Nationals took another turn for the worse in the last 24 hours when Joe Ross reported forearm tightness following a bullpen throwing session and a subsequent MRI revealed a partial tear of his elbow ligament. The club hasn't finalized a plan yet for Ross, but he will be examined by Keith Meister, the Dallas-area orthopedist who performed Tommy John surgery on him four years ago, and a second major elbow procedure is possible. If that does prove to be the course of...

The Washington Nationals recalled outfielder Lane Thomas and placed right-handed pitcher Joe Ross on the 10-day Injured List (retroactive to Aug. 12) with a partial tear of his right elbow ulnar collateral ligament on Sunday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. Thomas, 25, was acquired by the Washington Nationals from the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for left-handed pitcher Jon Lester on July 30. He hit .385 (5-for-13) with a...

Things are pretty bleak around Nationals Park these days. The home team has lost 11 of 12 and 29 of 39, and has fallen into a tie with the Marlins for last place in the National League East. Yes, this is the first step in a rebuilding project, and the club's record means a lot less now than it did three weeks ago. But that doesn't make this any easier to watch. Or, for those involved personally, to experience. But the Nationals have no choice but to press on, and today they'll try to snap...

With two losses this weekend at Boston and a riding 10-game losing streak, the Orioles are desperate for a win this afternoon at Fenway Park in the finale of this three-game series. The Orioles swept three from Boston at Fenway to begin the 2021 season, winning the games by a combined 18-5 score. But they have lost the first two games this weekend by a combined 24-3 score. Boston had 17 hits, bashed five homers and went 7-for-12 with runners in scoring position Saturday in pounding the Orioles...

The expected bullpen changes came today, with the Orioles designating Adam Plutko for assignment and optioning Dusten Knight to Triple-A Norfolk. In their place, the Orioles selected the contracts of Konner Wade and veteran left-hander Fernando Abad from Norfolk. They made room on the 40-man roster by transferring left-hander Bruce Zimmermann to the 60-day injured list. Plutko allowed home runs in a club-record six relief appearances in a row. He posted a 6.71 ERA and 1.633 WHIP in 38...

More than two weeks have now passed since the craziest trade deadline in Nationals history. And that means all of the players involved in the club's sell-off have had ample time to start making a name for themselves with their new teams. Some have risen to the occasion and become instant fan favorites. Some are still trying to figure things out. Here's a look at the eight players the Nats traded away at the deadline, and how they're performing so far ... MAX SCHERZER The biggest name of them...

It's been 15 years since the Nationals last saw a pitcher do this. That is, pitch this poorly while remaining a member of the rotation for the bulk of a season. Way back in 2006, when Alfonso Soriano was chasing a 40-40 season, Frank Robinson was nearing the end of his managerial career and Ryan Zimmerman was trying to win National League Rookie of the Year, a journeyman right-hander named Ramón Ortiz slogged his way through the worst pitching season in Nats history. Ortiz led the National...

Before the 2021 season, he had never pitched even as high as high Single-A. But it is possible that right-handed reliever Félix Bautista could end this season in the Orioles bullpen. Bautista, 26, from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, has been in the O's farm system since they signed him in August 2016. The Miami Marlins originally signed him out of the Dominican in November 2012, but released him in January 2015. Bautista throws a fastball that has touched 100 mph multiple times this...

The new rule in 2021 that September rosters expand to just 28 players creates another headache for baseball's front offices. As if more were needed. I never liked the idea of stuffing 40 players on a club for the final month and completely altering how the game is managed. The strategy of matching up is destroyed. Benches and bullpens are bursting at the seams. It just doesn't make sense. The sport shouldn't morph into something so unrecognizable while teams are trying to reach the...