Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. is approaching the 25th anniversary of his historic 2,131st consecutive game, a record that wasn't supposed to be broken. A night he's going to keep reliving as he gets closer to the date. It's certain to be one of the most important moments of the year for Ripken, but health scares bring a perspective that never fails to resonate. Cancer comes before baseball. Learning you have it and then beating it. Ripken, who turns 60 on Monday, has gone public for the first...

In the big picture, the Orioles are 12-12 to start a 60-game season and contending for a playoff berth. They have shown much improvement on offense and in their bullpen. But in the smaller, most recent slice of the season they've gone 1-5 in six games and contributed to their own demise a couple of times. Baserunning mistakes late in the game Tuesday and in the first inning Wednesday were costly. They went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position in the first two innings yesterday. They had a...

Well, the Nationals are getting back-to-back days off, thanks to last night's rainout in Atlanta. (For those who wonder why they scheduled a doubleheader for Sept. 4 instead of making up the game today, players generally tend to prefer doubleheaders over losing scheduled days off, especially at home. Plus, they would've already checked out of their hotel before heading to the ballpark yesterday afternoon.) It was an eventful road trip, one that saw the Nats officially go 5-4 but also lose the...

Tonight's game between the Nationals and the Braves at Truist Park has been postponed due to inclement weather in Atlanta. The game will be made up as part of a traditional doubleheader on Friday, Sept. 4, starting at 4:10 p.m. The Nats will be flying in from Philadelphia for that series on Thursday night, Sept. 3. The Nats do not have a game until Friday night, when they open a rare five-game set against the Marlins at Nats Park. So this helps a tired bullpen get back on a normal schedule,...

Though he's out of the lineup for the fifth consecutive day, the Nationals continue to believe Howie Kendrick will be ready to return from a tight hamstring soon enough to make a trip to the injured list unnecessary. Kendrick last played Friday night in Baltimore, going 1-for-5 with a sacrifice fly in the Nationals' 15-3 rout of the Orioles. He has complained of a tight hamstring since, and despite some hope he would be available to pinch-hit, it hasn't happened yet. With an off-day...

One trend that has been noticeable early this season is how the young guys, most of them making their major league debuts, have fit in from the beginning with the Nationals, and have looked like they belong in the big leagues. Luis García, 20, has hit the ground running. Carter Kieboom, 22, had only 11 games of experience coming into 2020, but he also fits in nicely this season. Young pitchers, or pitchers making their major league debuts, have held their own. "They are all doing well, and...

The Orioles shouldn't go streaking while José Iglesias has a sore quad. (A failed attempt to reference "Old School") This team has played eight series. Six have resulted in sweeps - the Orioles on the good side of three and the bad side of three. And now their losing streak has reached four games to lower their record to 12-12. The alternate cap should have a broom on the front. Players that live by the clichéd "one game at a time" motto are handling the losses in the same manner as...

The good start for the Orioles - one that saw them playing .600 ball 20 games into this shortened season - has now hit the skids. The Orioles lost 5-2 to Toronto this afternoon as the Blue Jays completed a three-game sweep. The Orioles have lost four games in a row. They fall to 12-12 and are 1-5 over the last six games. They are 4-11 at home. It feels like an early season crisis for this team, but maybe if they hadn't played so well for 20 games, it would not feel this way. Toronto came to...

Randal Grichuk keeps homering against the Orioles as if his contract provides incentives for it. Just one team. No one else. Grichuk hit two more today off left-hander Tommy Milone, raising his total to four in the series and 16 in 33 career games versus the Orioles. His leadoff shot in the second inning gave Toronto an early lead. His two-run shot in the sixth gave them a new one. One ball cleared the center field fence, the other bounced off an orange awning in the home bullpen. The Orioles...

In spite of all their issues - and they have plenty - the Nationals can win a road series against the Braves with a victory tonight and move to within two games of first place in the National League East. Truth be told, they should already have won this series and were one out away from doing it. This doesn't mean everything's perfect in NatsTown. But it does serve as a reminder things aren't always as bad as they seem. There's still a significant challenge ahead tonight in the series...