An opposing left-handed starter didn't tempt manager Brandon Hyde to keep Ryan Mountcastle as the cleanup hitter. Mountcastle has been lowered to sixth in the order tonight against the Mariners' Justus Sheffield. He batted fourth in eight of nine games. Though he's doubled twice and homered this month, Mountcastle is 7-for-38 (.184) with a .541 OPS and 17 strikeouts that lead the majors. He's 3-for-18 with nine strikeouts in the last four games. Mountcastle doubled in his second at-bat...

With Ryan Mountcastle among several Orioles scuffling at bat, manager Brandon Hyde dropped him down to sixth in the batting order and moved third baseman Maikel Franco up to the No. 4 spot. Franco will bat cleanup tonight at Camden Yards as the O's and Seattle play the series opener of a four-game set. It will be somewhat familiar territory for Franco. In 117 career games and 486 plate appearances batting fourth, he has hit .248/.302/.395/.698 with 17 homers and 73 RBIs. The only spots he has...

For the first time in 2021, the Nationals will field their full starting lineup. Now it's up to that reinforced unit to actually produce and help end a five-game skid. Josh Bell, Kyle Schwarber and Josh Harrison all were activated from the COVID-19-related injury list today and all three are in manager Davey Martinez's lineup for the series opener against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Bell will hit cleanup and provide protection for the already-red-hot Juan Soto, with Schwarber behind him...

The Washington Nationals announced the following roster moves on Monday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. Reinstated first baseman Josh Bell, infielder Josh Harrison and outfielder Kyle Schwarber from the Injured List. * Optioned infielder Luis García and outfielder Yadiel Hernandez to the Alternate Training Site (Fredericksburg) and placed them on the Taxi Squad.* Returned right-handed pitcher Ryne Harper and left-handed...

The Nationals activated Josh Bell, Kyle Schwarber and Josh Harrison from the COVID-19-related injured list and will have all three veterans available for tonight's series opener in St. Louis. Bell, Schwarber and Harrison were cleared to return today after completing their league- and city-mandated protocols. All had been quarantined since mid-to-late last week after either testing positive for COVID-19 or being deemed close contacts to someone else who did. Manager Davey Martinez hasn't...

DJ Stewart remains in left field tonight as the Orioles begin a four-game series against the Mariners. Maikel Franco is batting cleanup against left-hander Justus Sheffield. Ryan Mountcastle is the designated hitter and batting sixth behind catcher Pedro Severino. Ramón Urías is the second baseman and Freddy Galvis stays in the lineup at shortstop after coming out early yesterday. Dean Kremer lasted only three innings in his first start in New York, allowing three runs and five hits with...

When Brad Hand signed with the Nationals and envisioned his first appearance with his new club, the veteran reliever probably pictured himself trotting in from the bullpen at Nationals Park in the season's opening series against the Mets, looking to close out a one-run game. But pitching the eighth inning with his team trailing by three runs at Dodger Stadium, in the sixth game of the season? Uh, something would've needed to go terribly wrong for that scenario to play out. Something indeed...

The four-game series against the Mariners that begins tonight at Camden Yards features three opposing left-handed starters, which won't influence whether Cedric Mullins stays in the lineup. Those days appear to be in the past. The novelty of Mullins batting left-handed against southpaws is now viewed as the proper approach from a player who's easily been the most impressive in the lineup to begin the 2021 season. Ignore the lowered bar. He's earned the distinction. Mullins is 6-for-11 with a...

When the Orioles' minor league seasons begin next month, we could see rosters filled with starting pitchers and starting pitcher candidates. Piggyback pitching is coming to the O's farm this year. No, this doesn't have anything to do with anyone lugging around someone else on their back. We've seen it before, where a pitcher will piggyback in a minor league game. It essentially means splitting up the game between two starting pitcher candidates, one that starts the game and one that picks...

One week into a season that didn't start when they expected and didn't include the roster they expected, the Nationals have established a fairly common daily narrative. And not an uplifting one. The typical game has played out like this: An impressive outing by the starter is squandered by a lack of offense (especially a lack of power), with some shaky fundamentals and maybe a late home run served up by the bullpen thrown in for good measure. That formula added up to a 3-0 loss to the Dodgers...