The TBA for the Orioles' starter Sunday afternoon is expected to become rookie left-hander Bruce Zimmermann in the latest change to the rotation. The tweaking never stops. It just takes a brief rest. John Means and Matt Harvey are staying for the obvious reasons. The Orioles were reluctant to move Jorge López into a bullpen role, though they saw the same logic as everyone else, and he's completed six innings in both starts this month with only three runs allowed to lower his ERA from 6.19...

Tanner Rainey's return to the Nationals bullpen Thursday was as brief as it was disappointing, but it didn't change the club's intentions for the right-hander. Rainey, who had been optioned to Triple-A at the start of the month, was called up as the Nats' designated 27th man for their doubleheader against the Mets. Then, after giving up a two-run homer to Jonathan Villar in the sixth inning of what wound up a 5-4, seven-inning loss, he was optioned back to Rochester. That decision wasn't...

Two teams trying to get it going meet tonight in the first of a three-game series at Fenway Park. The Orioles (38-75) are out to break an eight-game losing streak. Boston (66-51) has lost six of eight and 11 of the last 14. The Red Sox are 11-15 since the All-Star Game. This is the Orioles' second trip this year to Fenway Park, and their first went quite well. It was the first series of the year and the Orioles posted wins by scores of 3-0, 4-2 and 11-3. They swept the opening series by an...

The Orioles will try tonight to end an eight-game losing streak, their third this season, in the series opener against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. They've been swept 13 times. Cedric Mullins brings a 19-game hitting streak to Boston, the longest for the Orioles since Adam Jones hit in 20 straight in May 2012. Austin Hays is in right field tonight. He's hit safely in 10 consecutive games to start the month of August. DJ Stewart is the designated hitter. He homered twice yesterday and has three...

The Nationals are back home again, having just suffered through a brutal 1-5 road trip to Atlanta and New York that included blown saves, rain delays, rainouts and other assorted calamities. All of that leaves this team in a prolonged funk unlike any they've experienced in a very long time. The Nats have lost 27 of their last 37 games. The only worse stretch in club history came near the end of the 2009 season, the last time this franchise lost 100 games. That's how bad things have...

Two weeks ago today, the Nationals completed six franchise-altering trades, admitting this season was a lost cause. They were able to move eight players (seven on expiring contracts) to net 12 prospects in return. Ten of those 12 are already in MLBPipeline.com's ranking of the top 30 Nats prospects. Six of those 12 are in the top 16. And three of those six are in the top 10, including Nos. 1 and 2, Keibert Ruiz and Josiah Gray (both acquired in the Max Scherzer-Trea Turner deal with the...

Middle infielders Richie Martin and Jorge Mateo have experience playing the outfield. Mateo has made more starts and appearances in center than in any other position in the majors. Will the Orioles play them in the outfield this year? While it's possible late in the summer or under special circumstances - like Mateo serving as a defensive replacement - manager Brandon Hyde wants to take an extended look at them in the infield. There are no immediate plans to switch their roles. Martin's...

Trey Mancini had been teammates with Chris Davis for a long stretch. Mancini came up for the end of the 2016 season, was active that year for the American League wild card game and had been teammates with Davis since then. After the Orioles lost to Detroit on Thursday, Mancini talked about Davis announcing his retirement earlier in the day. "I was sad," Mancini said during a postgame Zoom interview. "You know, Chris, I've been playing with him for a long time and I've known him for quite a...

With ace lefty John Means on the mound today, the Orioles certainly felt like they had a good shot to end a losing streak. And Detroit's Miguel Cabrera, sitting on 499 homers, sat out, waiting to play his next game at home on Friday. But the Detroit Tigers didn't need any longballs from Cabrera today. They hit three off Means without him, building an early 5-2 lead and went on to beat the Orioles 6-4 on a sweltering afternoon at Camden Yards. The Orioles (38-75) capped a homestand by going...

Nationals manager Davey Martinez spent his morning Zoom session with reporters detailing his pitching plans for today's doubleheader against the Mets. After a suspended game on Tuesday and last night's postponement, the mound plans had been thrown into a state of flux. Of course, like much of this season, nothing really ever goes according to plan for the Nationals. But today, the pitching plan held up: Sean Nolin and three relievers got through the first game and Erick Fedde got through four...