He is a young hitter the Orioles are trying to be patient with. Some games they see the good and the bad for Ryan Mountcastle on the same night, sometimes even within the same plate appearance. On Saturday night at Washington, Mountcastle smoked a Jon Lester cutter for a first-inning grand slam. But he chased a curveball to strike out in the fifth. Monday night at Minnesota, he worked a nine-pitch at-bat and then singled to center on a slider. But the next two times up he expanded the zone and...

John Means didn't leave the bullpen many innings to cover Monday night in Minnesota. He worked through the seventh, trailing only because of two solo home runs and an offense that short-circuited with men in scoring position. The game never carried into the bottom of the ninth. The bullpen was responsible only for the eighth, unexpectedly given a lead and coughing up six runs in a demoralizing 8-3 loss. Manager Brandon Hyde wasn't going to use his most effective reliever, left-hander Paul...

The topic probably didn't come up tonight during assistant pitching coach Darren Holmes' visit to the mound in the second inning, but Dean Kremer's lengthy stay on it threatened to get a beleaguered bullpen busy. Wheels in motion with the possibility of having them come off again. Kremer surrendered two runs, and a walk following his conversation with Holmes loaded the bases with one out. The pitch count was skyrocketing, reaching 54 by the time he made it back to the dugout. Two wild...

These Nationals have teased us before. They've had moments over the last two months when they appear to have figured things out, especially at the plate, only to fail to sustain any sense of positive momentum. So even though they looked much better over the weekend while sweeping the Orioles, the Nats were in no way guaranteed of showing up at the park tonight and picking up where they left off. And they most certainly did not. Barely making a peep at the plate against a Reds pitching staff...

Orioles outfielder Austin Hays is testing his sore left hamstring and performing conditioning drills this afternoon at Target Field while retaining his day-to-day status. Hays is out of the lineup for the second consecutive night. "His hamstring's feeling a little bit better," manager Brandon Hyde said in his Zoom call. "Hopefully he'll be available off the bench tonight, but we'll see." The bullpen is a real sore spot and Hyde is keeping the closer role flexible rather than committing...

Still looking for their first win since a week ago Sunday in Baltimore, the Orioles will try to put last night's brutal loss at Minnesota behind them when they face the Twins tonight at Target Field. The Orioles (17-30) have allowed 62 runs during a seven-game losing streak. The seven-game streak is the longest since the O's lost eight in a row from Aug. 12-19, 2019. The club has lost 11 of 12 and 14 of 16 games. They have a minus-46 run differential during the 2-14 slide. The Orioles...

Rookie Dean Kremer will try to play the role of stopper tonight in Minnesota, with the Orioles losing seven games in a row and 14 of their last 16. Kremer is 0-4 with a 6.35 ERA and 1.588 WHIP in eight starts over 34 innings. He's never faced the Twins. His last start resulted in four runs and five hits allowed in three innings against the Rays. He also walked four batters. Austin Hays remains out of the lineup with a sore left hamstring. Ryan Mountcastle is in left field, Cedric Mullins in...

In deciding who would take Victor Robles' spot on their roster, the Nationals elected not to promote another outfielder from Triple-A Rochester, nor did they call up their top prospect who only two months ago was supposed to be their starting third baseman. The Nats' decision to recall infielder Luis García before tonight's series opener against the Reds instead of Carter Kieboom or an outfielder revealed a few things about the current state of things in the organization. With no other...

The Washington Nationals recalled infielder Luis García from Triple-A on Tuesday. Washington placed outfielder Victor Robles on the 10-day Injured List (retroactive to May 20) with a right ankle sprain on Sunday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. García, 21, went 16-for-68 (.235) with one double, four homers, seven RBI, six walks, one stolen base and seven runs scored in 17 games for Triple-A Rochester. He clubbed a two-run...

The last time the Nationals swept a series, they proceeded to lose seven of their next eight games and dig themselves into a hole they're still trying to climb all the way out of. So this weekend's sweep of the Orioles, while encouraging, certainly doesn't guarantee this team has turned a corner. We won't know about that until we see how the Nats perform this week against the Reds and Brewers. Tonight's series opener versus Cincinnati will see Max Scherzer on the mound, so that's always...