A quick turnaround from a night game to a day game is never easy, but when it comes on the heels of a walk-off win, it does at least brighten everyone's mood a little bit. So the Nationals have to be feeling pretty good about themselves after Friday night's 2-1, 10-inning victory over the Marlins, capped by Kyle Schwarber's 454-foot blast to right-center. In order to keep the good vibes going, they'll need Patrick Corbin to give themselves a chance to win today. Once this season, the...

Suddenly, they are the cardiac Orioles. They lose a ninth-inning lead against the New York Yankees, but beat them in 10 on Thursday. They travel across the country, almost lose a lead in the last of the ninth at Oakland but beat the first-place A's for the second time in a row. One guess as to which pitcher started both games? It was John Means on the mound when the Orioles beat Oakland 8-1 last Sunday, snapping their 13-game winning streak. It was Means back out again, this time on the West...

When they needed to make a transaction prior to Friday's game to open up a spot on the active roster for Jon Lester, the Nationals elected to option right-hander Steven Fuentes. That wasn't terribly surprising; the 23-year-old prospect hadn't appeared in a game after getting called up 10 days earlier, and the organization wants to make sure he gets back into a typical, five-day routine as a starter who may have a bright future here. The more notable aspect of the transaction was the location...

Giving up a homer would annoy any pitcher. Tonight when he gave up one, it seemed to really annoy Orioles left-hander John Means. And Oakland batters would pay for that. A walk followed that solo homer in the Oakland second inning. Then Means would strike out eight of the next 12 Oakland batters and retire 14 in a row. He was well on his way to pitching another gem for the Orioles, as they beat Oakland 3-2 in the series and road trip opener. This win got very dicey in the last of the ninth....

The Nationals have gotten used to this by now, looking up at the scoreboard and staring at a string of zeros, not only in their column but next to the opponent's name as well. They'd already been involved in four games that were scoreless entering the sixth, not to mention three games that finished 1-0. (They won two of those, against the Diamondbacks and Cardinals, and lost the other, to the Dodgers.) So tonight's series opener against the Marlins on a blustery night on South Capitol Street...

The Orioles will be without their usual left side of the infield, at least at the start, when they take the field tonight for Game 1 of a three-game series at Oakland. Neither Maikel Franco, who has made 23 starts at third base, nor Freddy Galvis, who has made 22 at shortstop, are in tonight's lineup for the series opener. Galvis has missed the last three games and has not played since Monday night when he suffered a sore left adductor/groin when running out a double. Franco had started every...

Not only has Orioles hitting coach Don Long noticed, along with everyone else, the spike in offensive production from center fielder Cedric Mullins, he's also enjoyed the changes that aren't evident in box scores. "I was really proud of him last year for his personality emerging," Long said yesterday on his Zoom call with the media. "The first year that he was here, kind of getting to know him, he was fairly quiet. He's not a real boisterous guy anyway, but you could see his personality...

The offensive spurts that hinted at breakthroughs for Trey Mancini were mere teasers until a few weeks ago. Until a four-strikeout game in Texas and more conversations with Orioles hitting coach Don Long. It wasn't one day or just a few words that lifted Mancini. They watched video again on Wednesday, studying his at-bats from 2019. And they kept talking. Mancini has hits in nine of his last 11 games and he's reached base safely in seven straight. He's collected 10 hits in 26 at-bats (.385)...

Shortstop Freddy Galvis remains out of the Orioles lineup tonight, his day-to-day status extending at least to Saturday. Ramón Urías is the shortstop for the series opener in Oakland. Pat Valaika is the second baseman. Rio Ruiz is playing third base instead of Maikel Franco. Austin Hays stays in left field and DJ Stewart stays in right. Ryan Mountcastle gets another start at first base, with Trey Mancini the designated hitter. Left-hander John Means has allowed one run or fewer in eight...

As the Orioles begin a two-city, six-game West Coast road trip tonight, they will send their ace to the mound. Lefty John Means (2-0, 1.50 ERA) gets the start as the Orioles play the first of a three-game series at Oakland. Means ranks third in the American League and tied for sixth in the majors in ERA. He ranks fifth in the AL in WHIP (0.90), fifth in opponent batting average (.171) and tied for ninth with 29 strikeouts. He will be making back-to-back starts against the same team. He was an...