If the Orioles are going to make pitching data so readily available, creating a big splash with their plunges into analytics, reliever Shawn Armstrong would have been foolish to stay in the shallow end. To figure out why he was getting hit and losing command after leaving the injured list, Armstrong studied his mechanics and hunted for a solution beyond the standard side work and conversations with director of pitching/pitching coach Chris Holt and assistant pitching coach Darren Holmes. They...

If there has been a consistent theme to a mostly disappointing April for the Nationals, it has been the all-or-nothing nature of most ballgames. There have been very few run-of-the-mill, back-and-forth contests. Most have either been comfortable wins or blowout losses. The lineup either explodes for a big night or is completely shut down. The starting pitcher either looks fantastic or gets blasted. In the long run, that formula isn't going to take the Nats to the place they desire. But in the...

The walk to the dugout was done slowly, as if Dean Kremer wanted to stay on the mound tonight and try to figure out how to hush a Yankees lineup that kept reaching the highest decibels. He didn't want to be silenced. Until then, the only quiet moments came with the Orioles at the plate. They didn't have a hit off Domingo Germán until two outs in the fifth inning. Ryan Mountcastle beat out a chopper behind third base, perhaps a sign that his luck is changing after he flied to the warning...

When Giancarlo Stanton mashed a baseball at 119 mph in the top of the first inning tonight, that was incredibly impressive exit velocity. But the grounder to third was deftly fielded to his left by Orioles third baseman Maikel Franco and he turned it into a 5-4-3 double play. But before long, some other hard-hit balls off O's starter Dean Kremer would not be turned into outs. For the second straight night, Yankees batters teed off on a young O's starter. It was lefty Bruce Zimmermann last...

The Nationals haven't yet figured out their pitching plans for the weekend. And it doesn't appear they will until they've decided if Jon Lester truly is ready to make his long-awaited season debut. Lester, who opened the season on the COVID-19 injured list, has made three rehab starts at the club's alternate training site in Fredericksburg. On Sunday, he threw 90 pitches over six innings, which would typically be as much as a pitcher needed before he was activated. And the Nats may indeed...

The Orioles and New York Yankees have split the first two games of their series at Oriole Park. The Orioles (10-13) host New York (10-13) tonight in the third game of their four-game series and this seven-game homestand. The Yankees won 5-1 last night as right-hander Corey Kluber allowed one run over 6 1/3 innings. New York hit three solo homers with Aaron Judge (No. 5), Kyle Higashioka (No. 4) and Giancarlo Stanton (No. 6) connecting. Of the 12 hardest-hit balls in the game last night, Yankees...

The sprained left ankle that forced Orioles outfielder Anthony Santander onto the injured list is likely to keep him out until the back end of the projected two-to-four week range. Santander injured the ankle in an April 20 game in Miami while getting back to first base on a pickoff throw. "He's improving," manager Brandon Hyde said in today's Zoom call. "I'm assuming it's going to be more like four weeks just because it's a sprained ankle. He's going to be out for a couple weeks and...

Dean Kremer has been recalled from the Orioles' alternate training site and returned to the rotation. He's starting tonight against the Yankees at Camden Yards. Kremer has made seven career starts, including three against the Yankees. He's allowed five runs and 10 hits with 10 walks and 19 strikeouts in 14 innings. A roster spot opened last night with reliever Jay Flaa optioned to the alternate site. Austin Hays is in left field again and batting second. Ryan Mountcastle is batting seventh...

The Nationals need to generate offense any way they can right now. How do they do that, given the resources currently available to them? They have to stick with some of their struggling regulars and sprinkle in some backups who create more favorable matchups. Tonight, with left-hander Steven Matz on the mound for the Blue Jays, that means an emphasis on right-handed hitters. Manager Davey Martinez decided the best way to do that was to stack four right-handed bats atop his lineup (Trea Turner,...

It's no secret that the Nationals need Josh Bell to have a good year in order to reach the levels of success they aspire for this season. That's what general manager Mike Rizzo was banking on when he acquired the slugging first baseman from the Pirates for two pitching prospects on Christmas Eve, the first big move of the offseason. And after he tore through Grapefruit League action by hitting .383 with a 1.328 OPS, six home runs and 15 RBIs, that's what the Nationals thought they were going...