As Orioles manager Brandon Hyde soaked in the loud music last night and other celebratory sounds coming from the auxiliary tent that serves as the visiting clubhouse at Sahlen Field, the end of a 20-game road losing streak playfully compared to a wild card victory, he highlighted the key points that enabled his club to overtake the Blue Jays. Less flashy than the big hits were a bunch of walks that validated his lectures to his hitters, young and experienced, about the importance of plate...

The Orioles began play on Friday night with a record of 1-40 this year when trailing after the seventh inning. They trailed 5-1 after the seventh last night. But they scored four runs in the eighth to tie Toronto 5-5 and one in the tenth to beat the Blue Jays 6-5 last night to snap a six-game overall losing streak and a 20-game road losing streak. Today the Orioles (24-52) face Toronto (38-36) in the third game of this series after winning last night for just the second time in the last 16...

Anthony Santander is in the Orioles lineup today and playing right field after delivering his second career pinch-hit last night during a four-run rally in the eighth inning. Austin Hays is in left field and DJ Stewart is on the bench as the Orioles continue their series against the Blue Jays in Buffalo. Pedro Severino, charged with his seventh passed ball last night, is behind the plate again. Freddy Galvis moves down to sixth in the order. Ryan Mountcastle is the designated hitter. Over his...

At the end of the worst game they've played in weeks Friday night, the Nationals did get some good news: Josh Bell appears to be fine and should even be in today's lineup against the Marlins. Bell, who had to be scratched from Thursday's lineup after complaining of tightness in his right side, underwent an MRI on Friday afternoon to see if he had strained his oblique muscle. But that test showed no strain, according to manager Davey Martinez, and the slugger was back taking swings later in...

The Orioles players and manager Brandon Hyde had been telling reporters that the team had remained upbeat and the attitude in the clubhouse was good during all the recent losing. Some nights, to be honest, it didn't look like it, such as in recent shutout losses of 13-0 to Houston and 9-0 to Toronto. But, to be fair, when a team is getting blown out, it is hard to look good or to look like their energy level is strong. But it's easier to see that when, for instance, the team rallies from 5-1...

If the Nationals are going to get back to .500 and start another winning streak, they'll need to figure out an unknown quantity in right-hander Zach Thompson, who faces them for the first time this afternoon in Miami. Thompson's early returns since being summoned from Triple-A Jacksonville have been impressive. The 27-year-old, signed as a minor league free agent in November after six minor league seasons in the White Sox organization, is 1-2 with a 1.50 ERA and 1.000 WHIP in three starts....

The Orioles won't be able to measure the exact amount of damage done by the cancellation of the 2020 minor league season due to COVID-19. There isn't a device invented for it, despite the wealth of technology at their fingertips. They made the best of a very bad situation with their alternate training site in Bowie and fall instructional camp, as well as programs and innovative ideas transferred via Zoom calls to players kept home. There are scattered examples of prospects who are flourishing...

The pitch count didn't present an issue tonight for Matt Harvey. No inning so taxing that he became fatigued by the midpoint, which happened again in his last start. Harvey made it through the fifth inning for the first time in his last 10 starts, though two solo homers put him behind twice, letdowns that have been deadly with the Orioles unable to siphon runs out of a game. The offense wasn't on mute tonight, rare noise coming from a four-run eighth that created a tie. Harvey wouldn't...

When he stepped off the mound at the end of the sixth inning Saturday night at Nationals Park, Jon Lester felt as good as he has about himself in a long time. Ten starts into his first season in D.C., the veteran left-hander owned a 3.60 ERA. Anyone who reasonably expected anything more than that from the 37-year-old was being unreasonable. By the time he walked off the mound in the third inning tonight at loanDepot Park in Miami, Lester could not have felt anything like he did six days prior....

For a pitcher with a record of 0-7 and ERA of 13.17 over his last eight starts, right-hander Matt Harvey threw quite well tonight. For an offense that had not scored in 24 straight innings, the Orioles no longer have to worry about that streak. And thanks to a late four-run rally and a bases-loaded walk issued by the Blue Jays in the top of the 10th, the Orioles beat Toronto 6-5 tonight. The O's ended a six-game losing streak and a 20-game road losing streak, improving to 24-52. In a 5-5 game...