Orioles top prospect Adley Rutschman had a prime spot in the batting order today in the All-Star Futures Game at Denver's Coors Field. Rutschman began the game as the catcher and batting fourth for the American League team. He is the No. 2 prospect in the sport, but the No. 1 player remaining on the farm with shortstop Wander Franco now in the majors with Tampa Bay. In his first at-bat, leading off the top of the second for the AL team, Rutschman flied out to short left field. He hit a 1-0...

Ever the optimist, Nationals manager Davey Martinez will pause during the All-Star break to take stock of his team. However, he won't spend much time rehashing the injuries that have made roster management a daily challenge, the long stretches of ineffective offense and what might have happened had he had a healthy pitching staff for the season's half. When Martinez says he looks at the present and future, he's not just whistling in the wind. That's the only way he's survived a challenging...

Another day, another roster move for the Nationals. Right-hander Kyle McGowin is going on the 10-day injured list with a right biceps tendinitis, manager Davey Martinez said during his pregame Zoom session with reporters. Andres Machado is being recalled from Triple-A Rochester to take McGowin's roster spot. McGowin left Saturday's game after facing three batters in the sixth inning and working to a 1-1 count against Thairo Estrada. After the 10-4 loss, Martinez said that McGowin had...

The All-Star break arrives after today's series finale, with the Orioles sending rookie Spenser Watkins to the mound for his second major league start and third appearance. Watkins held the Blue Jays to one run over five innings last week. Ryan McKenna gets the start in left field and Austin Hays is in right. Ryan Mountcastle is the first baseman and Anthony Santander is the designated hitter. Trey Mancini is on the bench before participating Monday in the Home Run Derby. Hot-hitting Ramón...

It's the final game before the All-Star break this afternoon in Baltimore as the Orioles host the Chicago White Sox to wrap up a three-game series and a rain-shortened homestand of five games. The Orioles will be swept for the 11th time this season if they lose the series finale today. The White Sox won 12-1 Friday night and 8-3 on Saturday afternoon, making the Orioles 1-3 on this homestand. They've lost the last three games at Oriole Park by a combined 30-6 score. The Orioles have 25 hits...

Before Cedric Mullins could rise to major league All-Star, he had to beat down the perception that he was too small, that he couldn't play in a bigger environment, that his ceiling was as a fourth outfielder. Justin Haire knew better, and his opinion went unchanged after the Orioles adjusted their plans for Mullins, taking him from starting center fielder to minor league project. Haire was Mullins' head coach at Campbell University in Buies Creek, N.C. He was armed with all the necessary...

After dropping the first two games of a three-game set at Oracle Park, the Nationals will turn to Erick Fedde (4-5, 4.53ERA) to try to snap a three-game losing streak and end the season's first half on a high note. The right-hander will be making his 13th start of the season and his second since returning from the injured list with an oblique issue. In his first game back from the injury, Fedde struggled through 4 1/3 innings against the Padres at Nationals Park, allowing six runs on eight...

BOWIE - Since he would be departing his team after Friday's doubleheader to head to Denver for the All-Star Futures Game, catcher Adley Rutschman may have wanted to leave his club on a high note. A go-ahead solo homer to left-center to break a 2-2 tie and lift Bowie to a 3-2 win in Game 2 on Friday was a nice parting gift to the Baysox players he would temporarily say goodbye to. His blast in the fifth inning helped the Baysox get a win for right-hander Mike Baumann. Rutschman is the Orioles'...

The Orioles held optional batting practice early this afternoon, the cage rolled onto the field and a pitching machine and hitting coach Don Long set up in front of the mound. A team with a roster weighted with established veterans might have attracted a small handful of participants. The Orioles had players coming in waves. The outfield was covered with pitchers willing to shag fly balls. Long worked up a heavy lather in the summer heat. "I don't see anybody not working in here," said...

In an alternate universe, Jon Lester would have deserved a better fate. The ground balls he induced would have found gloves rather than grass, his fielders wouldn't have betrayed him with clunky defense and he'd have been much more pitch-efficient. Instead, Lester endured a death by a thousand cuts Saturday afternoon, when the Giants both hammered and doinked him with regularity, his defense contributed to five unearned runs on two errors and the southpaw departed after just 2 2/3 innings...