The Nationals managed to turn two runs and six hits into a win Friday night. They did so thanks to Max Scherzer's dominance over 7 2/3 innings, then Daniel Hudson and Brad Hand's relief work after that. In order to win today in Philadelphia, they're either going to need a comparable effort from Joe Ross and any relievers who follow him or a much more complete offensive showing. A more complete offensive showing would be nice, especially against Phillies right-hander Spencer Howard, who...

The Orioles will try to extend their winning streak to a season-long four games tonight with Freddy Galvis remaining the cleanup hitter between Anthony Santander and Ryan Mountcastle. Mountcastle has hit four home runs in his last 10 games, with seven extra-base hits during that span. He's 11-for-35 (.314) with two doubles, a triple and 11 RBI in those 10 games. Santander has reached base in 13 of 14 games since coming off the injured list and is batting .321 (17-for-53) during that stretch...

The Nationals made a small, yet not totally insignificant move Friday in an effort to replenish their minor league pitching depth. The organization signed left-hander Josh Rogers to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Rochester. The Red Wings announced the signing Friday afternoon. Rogers was released by the Orioles on Monday after four appearances (two starts) with Triple-A Norfolk. He went 0-3 with a 7.79 ERA, 1.558 WHIP and 4.67 strikeout-to-walk ratio over his short time...

Every team is bound to run into this conundrum over the course of a 162-game season: The need for a replacement starting pitcher. With off-days, rainouts and injuries - all while dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic this season and last - it happens more often than managers would like. But that comes with the job. Nationals manager Davey Martinez has been dealing with this issue for the better part of the last week, trying to figure out a starter for Sunday's series finale against the Phillies...

Baseball is an easy game, right? Throw ball, hit ball, catch ball. Tag runner out with ball when not on a base. At least that's how easy Alex Avila made it seem while making the heads-up play of the game Friday night to preserve the Nationals' 2-1 win over the Phillies. The stage was set for some late-inning drama. Entering the ninth inning, the Nationals had a 2-1 lead - thanks to Max Scherzer's stellar start and Juan Soto's sixth-inning home run - and were facing the heart of the Phillies...

Lefty Keegan Akin has now made starts in both 2020 and 2021, so when he took the mound last night in the series opener against Cleveland it would have been easy to forget that his big league experience is very limited. As he threw the first pitch last night, he was making just his eighth career major league start. He went 1-2 with a 3.67 ERA in the first seven with 11 walks and 38 strikeouts over 27 innings. He had just 40 2/3 big league innings under his belt. Akin added five more innings last...

The script couldn't have gone any better for manager Davey Martinez and the Nationals on Friday night. Unsure of his starting pitcher for Sunday's series finale in Philadelphia, and needing length from his next two starters to preserve the bullpen, Martinez turned to Max Scherzer to provide one of his usual deep outings to start this series against a division rival. And Scherzer did just that, winning a pitchers' duel with Phillies starter Zack Wheeler and helping the Nationals take the...

John Means is bringing a 2.05 ERA into this afternoon's start against the Indians and he's technically in a slump. This is how good he's been since September 2020. The bar has been raised to such heights that a bump is noticeable. Means had a 1.21 ERA after following up his May 5 no-hitter with six scoreless innings against the Mets at Citi Field. He's allowed nine runs and 16 hits in his last three starts over 18 1/3 innings. Opponents have hit six home runs, giving him 11 to tie Dean...

The juggling act in the Orioles rotation has bounced Keegan Akin out of the majors, landed him in the bullpen and got him back into a starting role. He seems to be handling it with care. Akin twirled five scoreless innings tonight against the Indians, his only issue an opponent that also wasn't permitting any runs. Hunter Harvey replaced him in the sixth and was victimized by Harold Ramírez's RBI triple, but Ryan Mountcastle hit a two-run homer off Bryan Shaw in the seventh and the Orioles...

The Orioles rotation has gotten on a mini run of good pitching. They would love to turn that into a major run but are going to need a lot more games to produce that. Small steps. For now, they will take a rotation ERA of 1.88 over their past five games after Keegan Akin's five scoreless innings tonight against the Cleveland Indians in the series opener at Camden Yards. Akin's outing got the Orioles started on their way to a third straight win. When Ryan Mountcastle hit a two-run homer in the...