TORONTO - The Orioles' Trey Mancini is racking up some honors: Most Valuable Oriole, and now he's the latest American League Player of the Week after a week when he hit .462 (12-for-26) in six games with four runs, four doubles, two home runs, 10 RBIs and 22 total bases. Mancini has had a huge year for the Orioles and is on his way to recording career highs in homers (34), doubles (36), runs (101), RBIs (93), walks (57), slugging (.532) and OPS (.889). Beginning with last night's game,...

Baseball players are as superstitious as they get, so it's not surprising that Adam Eaton was none too pleased when he walked into the Nationals clubhouse Monday afternoon and saw rolled up plastic curtains positioned over every locker. "Don't bring that up. I'm not happy about it," Eaton said with a smile but more than a hint of truth behind the facade. "I'm not happy at all. We've had a discussion. It won't happen again. If I had it my way, I would do a Chris Sale and rip every...

The Nationals head into a long Tuesday confident in their spot in the playoff hunt. After dropping the Phillies here last night 7-2 to open the five-game set, the Nats are very close - magic number at three - to clinching their first postseason berth since 2017. "We got two games tomorrow," left-hander Patrick Corbin said Monday night, following his winning performance of one run allowed over six frames. "Hopefully start off with a goodie the first game. I don't think anything is going to...

Patrick Corbin battled through six innings as the Nationals dropped the Phillies 7-2. The left-hander's pitch count was up, but he never let the Phillies enjoy a big hit. Former Nats slugger Bryce Harper was never able to change the momentum. Harper singled in the first inning. But Corbin rebounded to strike him out swinging in the third inning on a 94 mph fastball. He walked Harper in the sixth, Harper came around to score the first run for the Phillies. "He had a really good fastball,"...

TORONTO - A marathon game that featured 21 runs, 29 hits, 10 homers and 20 pitchers finally ended early Tuesday morning at Toronto. Anthony Alford hit a walk-off homer with two outs in the last of the 15th as Toronto beat the Orioles 11-10. Alford hit a 2-2 changeup from right-hander Ryan Eades, the 10th O's pitcher, to end a five-hour, 21-minute struggle. Eades had thrown 2 2/3 scoreless when Eades connected for his first career home run in his 51st career plate appearance. Earlier, for the...

A roller coaster of a baseball season that began in hopeless fashion, then turned remarkably hopeful over the course of the summer before some September hiccups has now left the Nationals on the cusp of a significant achievement. It will still take three positive results over the span of a long day of baseball, but it can now be said: The Nationals could clinch a postseason berth Tuesday night, with five games to spare. The Nats put themselves in that position thanks to a 7-2 victory over the...

The Nationals used the longball to take the lead early on against Phillies right-hander Zach Eflin. Adam Eaton crushed an upper deck solo homer to right field in the bottom of the first. His career-high 15th homer of the season came on a 3-2 pitch. In the second inning with two outs, Yan Gomes launched a line-drive solo homer to center field. His 11th homer of the season on a 1-1 offering made it 2-0 Nats. The Phillies notched singles by Bryce Harper and Andrew Knapp off left-hander Patrick...

TORONTO - No one is handing out starting jobs for next year yet for players not fully established at the major league level, but Orioles center fielder Austin Hays is making a strong case for himself since his call-up from Triple-A Norfolk on Sept. 7. Hays is batting .302/.362/.535 in 15 games with the Orioles. He has a six-game hitting streak during which is he is 8-for-24 (.333) with two doubles, two homers and six RBIs. "He's done a great job," manager Brandon Hyde said this afternoon in...

Catcher Kurt Suzuki is on target to catch right-hander Max Scherzer in the nightcap of the Nationals' doubleheader against the Phillies Tuesday night, bench coach Chip Hale announced. "He looked good," Hale said. "He was out at least 120 (feet) throwing hard. Feels good. We will see how it feels tomorrow. It's a big key, the doubleheader. Max (Scherzer) will pitch the night game, so that will probably be the one that Kurt will catch." Suzuki said he felt good after pregame workouts...

Tuesday's doubleheader against the Phillies has loomed on the Nationals' schedule for three months now, and so too has the question of who would make a cameo appearance to start that game. The answer came today from bench coach Chip Hale, who revealed Joe Ross will get the ball for the 1:05 p.m. twinbill opener, with Max Scherzer making his regularly scheduled start in the 7:05 p.m. nightcap. Hale, subbing for Davey Martinez in meeting with reporters pregame while the manager had some...