Bumpy roads ➡️ beautiful places.

Dr. Anthony Fauci will throw the ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day before the World Series champion Nationals start the 2020 MLB season against the Yankees.

Nationals left-hander Patrick Corbin came out of the blocks mesmerizing with his fastball and patented slider in the final game of the opening series against the Yankees Sunday afternoon at Nats Park. Through the first three innings, Corbin struck out five batters, and the other four hitters all grounded out to third base or shortstop. Yankees bullpen starter Jonathan Loaisiga had also been outstanding, featuring a fastball in the 97-99 mph range and a knee-buckling curveball at 84 mph. That...

The Orioles are discussing how they'll proceed with their 60-man player pool that currently has five open spots. The next meeting is going to be held on Monday, according to executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias. The vacancies exist by design as the club determines how to fill them in order to provide insurance for the major league club and instruction for prospects. "We visit the topic regularly," Elias said during a Zoom conference call. "I think we wanted to see how...

Nationals manager Davey Martinez said there is no update available yet on outfielder Juan Soto and his testing for COVID-19. "Nothing," Martinez said during his pregame video conference call Sunday. "Like I said, we'll get him as soon as he's able to come back. We'll get him going again. That's all I have." Soto received a positive test on Thursday morning and has been staying home in D.C. since. He needs two negative test results separated by 24 hours to be eligible to be...

The Orioles (1-1) and Boston Red Sox (1-1) wrap up their season-opening three-game series this afternoon at Fenway Park. Monday night the Orioles start a two-game series at Miami. They open their home season Wednesday against the Marlins. After allowing 13 runs and 17 hits on Friday as Boston went 10-for-19 with runners in scoring position, the O's pitchers came up big in Saturday's 7-2 win. They allowed nine hits and no walks and Boston went 1-for-7 with RISP. On their way to 108 losses last...

Orioles third baseman Rio Ruiz moves up to the cleanup spot for today's rubber match in Boston. Ruiz is batting in the fourth slot for the 10th time in his career. Manager Brandon Hyde is going with his left-handed-hitting lineup against Red Sox right-hander Ryan Weber. Hanser Alberto moves down to fifth in the order, with Chris Davis sixth. Chance Sisco is behind the plate and DJ Stewart is in left field. José Iglesias, with two more hits yesterday, remains in the third slot. For the...

If someone told you neither Juan Soto nor Stephen Strasburg would appear in the Nationals' opening series against the Yankees but they'd still have a chance to win the series, what would you have thought? To their credit, the Nats have given themselves an opportunity to do just that, if they can win this afternoon's finale on South Capitol Street. The good news: They've got Patrick Corbin on the mound to make his first start of 2020. The Syracuse native and childhood Yankees fan broke a lot...

One of the players many hoped would step up offensively for the Nationals in 2020 did just that in game two of this abbreviated campaign. Victor Robles is one of the Nats many hoped could pick up the offensive slack left when Anthony Rendon signed with the Angels. Saturday night he showed that promise, going 3-for-4 with a double, a two-run homer and four RBIs in the Nats' 9-2 win over the Yankees. It was the defending champions first win of 2020. "Tremendous," said manager Davey Martinez on...

No Stephen Strasburg? No worries, because Erick Fedde was ready for his emergency start. No Juan Soto? No worries, because Victor Robles, Asdrúbal Cabrera and the rest of the Nationals lineup more than made up for the continued absence of the club's best hitter. And if those two developments during tonight's 9-2 blowout win over the Yankees weren't surprising enough, Davey Martinez managed to get five scoreless innings from his bullpen without using any of his top three arms. It might...