Right-hander Stephen Strasburg started Game 3 of the National League Championship Series with a pair of strikeouts in the first inning, including a called third strike on a curveball to Paul Goldschmidt to end the frame. Marcell Ozuna led off the second with a double down the left field line. Fielding a comebacker by José Martínez, Strasburg wheeled and was able to catch Ozuna off second base. Strasburg then got a pair of popups to get out of the threat. Anthony Rendon drew a two-out walk...

Davey Martinez had been saying for days Victor Robles would return to the Nationals lineup once his hamstring was healed enough to ease any concern about more serious injury. Tonight, the Nats manager and medical staff decided it was safe for the rookie center fielder to take the field again. Robles, who hasn't played since straining his right hamstring during Game 2 of the National League Division Series on Oct. 4, will start tonight in center field and bat eighth for Game 3 of the NL...

You couldn't conjure up a better forecast for the first National League Championship Series game played in the District of Columbia. There isn't a cloud in the sky. The temperature at gametime will be in the upper 60s, dropping into the low 60s later in the evening. This is what October is supposed to look and feel like. Nationals Park should be rocking tonight, starting with the pregame festivities that will include the ceremonial first pitch thrown out by Parker Staples, a pediatric cancer...

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde didn't know which relievers to trust this season. Who could get the big outs in the middle and late innings. Who could stay on a roll instead of reverting. Some of the splits increased the degree of difficulty for Hyde as he tried to match up. For example: * Left-handers batted .222/250/.303 with one home run in 104 plate appearances against southpaw Richard Bleier this season, but right-handers hit .355/.392/.612 with five home runs in 131 plate...

He still has the mid-90s fastball that can touch higher. He can still feature an at times devastating slider and solid changeup. He was still tough on right-handed batters this season and had a very strong stretch of games late in the year. But the season didn't end well for O's reliever Mychal Givens. And in 2019, he posted career worsts in ERA, homers, homer rate and Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP). In 2019 he had the second-highest walk rate of his five years in the majors. While O's...

As the Orioles' offseason moves into a new week, there are lingering questions surrounding the club that won't immediately be resolved. There's no real rush. Hires need to be made on the coaching staff and the minor league side has to be completed - with new titles part of the process - before the roster becomes more of a priority. However, my patience wears thin - like today's glitch in our system that deleted my morning entry and had me starting over - and I'm sharing a few of my...

Right-hander Stephen Strasburg makes his first start at home in the postseason for tonight's Game 3 of the National League Championship Series. Strasburg's last start was in the National League Division Series Game 5, in which he allowed three runs early but then settled in to post six innings in the 7-3, 10-inning win over the Dodgers. "Yeah, he's been awesome," said Nationals manager Davey Martinez. "The biggest thing for him is what we always talk about, is to control the...

They spent the better part of five months playing with their backs against the wall. There was the infamous 19-31 start. Then a slow climb back into the race. Then a missed opportunity to catch the Braves in the National League East. Then a down-to-the-wire surge to ensure home-field advantage for the wild card game. Then that winner-take-all game against the Brewers, in which they trailed with four outs to go. Then a 1-0 and 2-1 deficit in the best-of-five National League Division Series...

Nationals manager Davey Martinez had an update on center fielder Victor Robles as he continues recovery from a tweaked right hamstring suffered in Game 2 of the National League Division Series against the Dodgers. "We are going to run him a little bit today, get some treatment," Martinez said during a conference call. "Tomorrow he will participate in BP and do a little running. And we will see where we are at tomorrow. I'm not going to anticipate anything until he comes in tomorrow. But...

ST. LOUIS - The weak link of the Nationals roster, it is well known, is a bullpen that ranked among the majors' worst all season and simply cannot be trusted to close out games. Except that's not entirely true. The weak link of the Nationals roster is the rank-and-file portion of the bullpen, the guys who pitch the sixth and seventh innings, or the guys who have to fill in later when the main arms are unavailable. In the postseason, that portion of the bullpen has barely seen action....