Paul Mancano and Byron Kerr break down the Nats' slow start to the 2020 season.

The Nationals' 11 hits were not enough as they dropped the series opener to the Blue Jays 4-1. Bobby Blanco and Alex Chappell have your MASN All Access Xtra recap.

The 2020 season is about to get weirder. The Marlins have been shut down this week due to an increasing number of positive tests for COVID-19, which forced the postponement of both games against the Orioles in Miami. The teams are supposed to play Wednesday and Thursday night at Camden Yards, but more postponements are in the works. Rather than stay idle, the Orioles could be hosting the Yankees for the next two nights. The Yankees had their game against the Phillies postponed again today at...

Less than a week into the season, baseball is dealing with a coronavirus outbreak, leaving the most important question unanswered: What is the line of demarcation for calling off the 2020 season? That decision is a subjective one. The agreement between owners and players to start this season amid a pandemic gives that decision to Commissioner Rob Manfred. If at any time he thinks travel is too dangerous and the schedule takes an integrity hit, then Manfred can end the season. And after at least...

Some news and notes on this Tuesday morning ... * Baseball can be a respite from world events. Right now, it's also a respite from baseball. After spending all of Monday morning and afternoon consumed with the news of the Marlins' coronavirus outbreak, the Nationals went out and played their own game. They went on to lose, 4-1 to the Blue Jays, but nobody was attributing their performance to the distraction of that far more important development. "Honestly, once the game starts you get so...

The Blue Jays used the longball to build an early lead against Nationals veteran Aníbal Sánchez. Thanks to four solo homers and four double plays that kept the Nats offense from igniting, Toronto grabbed the series opener 4-1 on Monday night. Setting the tone on the game's second pitch, Teoscar Hernández led off with a solo homer to right-center field to give Toronto a 1-0 advantage. It was Hernández's third career leadoff home run, one of two homers for the slugger off of...

A flurry of singles and well-struck balls should have portended a good night at the plate for the Nationals. It didn't. Ten singles and a double by the home team only produced one run, and that wasn't nearly enough to make up for the four solo homers the Blue Jays launched off Aníbal Sánchez during a 4-1 victory at Nationals Park that only served to add to the defending champs' frustration during the opening stretch of this unusual season. The four blasts off Sánchez - two by...

Safety comes first. Before a winning series, before the standings, before anything relating to balls and strikes. The Orioles were stuck in their hotel in Miami yesterday unsure whether they'd play the following night or receive clearance to fly back to Baltimore. Less than a week into a truncated season that offers little flexibility, they had gone from summer training camp to the danger zone. The team boarded a charter flight last night and left the state of Florida, one of the pandemic hot...

The Blue Jays used the longball to build an early lead against Nationals veteran Aníbal Sánchez in his first start of the season Monday night. Teoscar Hernández led off the game with a solo homer to give Toronto a 1-0 advantage. It was Hernández's third career leadoff home run. In the fourth inning, the Blue Jays enjoyed the longball again thanks to solo shots from Rowdy Tellez and Danny Jansen. All three roundtrippers were the first homers of the season for those Blue Jays...

The Orioles won't be the visiting team against the Marlins in their home ballpark. Commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed tonight on MLB Network that Tuesday's game also has been postponed and won't be moved to Camden Yards. Manfred indicated that the next game could be played Wednesday night, which begins the Orioles' first home series of the truncated season, if COVID-19 testing on the Marlins produces favorable results. This is based on the assumption that government officials will allow the...