The latest shuffling in the Orioles bullpen has slid David Hess back to the majors. The Orioles recalled Hess from Triple-A Norfolk this morning. He replaced Josh Lucas, who was optioned after last night's 4-1 win in Toronto. Manager Brandon Hyde will explain to the media at Rogers Centre how he envisions using Hess, but it's likely to be in long relief and other in-game spots, rather than in the rotation. Hess was moved to the bullpen and then optioned to Norfolk on June 16. He kept pitching...

Even with the extra-inning loss to the Royals in the rearview mirror, the Nationals have some positives to take away from Friday's events at Nats Park. The Nats fell to Kansas City 7-4 in 11 innings, but came back from a 4-1 deficit to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth, watching as Ryan Zimmerman's power returned and learned that Anthony Rendon will sacrifice his All-Star Game invitation in order to stay in D.C. and rehab a tight left quad/hamstring for the duration of the...

TORONTO - The Orioles can end an 11-series road losing streak with a win this afternoon at Toronto. They beat the Blue Jays 4-1 last night at Rogers Centre as Dylan Bundy gave up one run over 6 2/3 innings and Chris Davis homered and drove in three. The Orioles last road series win was at Rogers Centre from April 1-3. They then split a four-game series at Boston and have since dropped 11 consecutive series away from Oriole Park. The O's longest winning streak of the year is four games and...

TORONTO - He may have homered with three RBIs Friday night, giving his team the run production that was often expected when he signed his big contract, but not much changed last night for Chris Davis. He still doesn't seem to have an answer for how he can do that more often and manager Brandon Hyde made no postgame pronouncements or promises that Davis would play more often now. He's been only a sometimes starter recently and often is batting down near the bottom of the order. But for a night...

He delivered three doubles, two of them at key moments to drive in runs, one of them to notch the 1,000th RBI of his career. He scampered around the bases and scored a critical run on a bad foot. But he also missed a golden opportunity to win the game at the plate. And then he cost his team with a misplay in the field that helped the Royals pull off a 7-4 11-inning win over the Nationals. Suffice it to say, this was the most eventful night of the season for Ryan Zimmerman. The veteran first...

Anthony Rendon will have the All-Star designation by his name for the 2019 season, but he will not play in the game or participate in activities at the Midsummer Classic in Cleveland next week because of a left hamstring/quad injury. Major League Baseball announced Friday that the Dodgers' Max Muncy will replace Rendon on the National League All-Star team. Rendon has been dealing with the left quad and hamstring injury for a few weeks. He has decided that rest and rehab here in D.C. would help...

For nine days, the Nationals did just about everything right. They got clutch hits when they needed them. They made pitches when they needed them. They found a way to beat the Marlins and Tigers eight times in nine games and ascend to the top position in the National League wild card race. So as tonight's series opener against the Royals played out, it was only natural to assume the Nats would find a way to pull this one out as well. Someone would drive in the big run. Someone would make the...

Andrew Cashner is making his final start today before the All-Star break and it's interesting to consider whether there's another countdown to his last days with the Orioles. Not the last guaranteed year on his contract. His status as trade chip, perhaps the biggest on the club. Trey Mancini would rank first if we could determine his availability. The Orioles certainly would move Cashner, though creating another hole in the rotation might turn some stomachs queasy. Who's deserving of the...

TORONTO - Chris Davis produced his first multi-RBI game since May 10 and Dylan Bundy allowed just one run for the first time since May 17 as the Orioles beat Toronto 4-1 on Friday night at Rogers Centre. The Orioles, who went 0-10 at Toronto last year, are 3-1 at Rogers Centre in 2019. They won their second in a row and for the fourth time in seven games in improving to 26-61. The Orioles can end a run of losing 11 straight road series if they win one of the next two games this weekend. Bundy...

Victor Robles is getting a rare night off, sitting on the bench while Gerardo Parra starts in center field for the Nationals' series opener against the Royals. But Robles is physically fine, according to manager Davey Martinez, despite some close calls the last two days. "He's just getting a day off," Martinez said. "He had a beating the last couple days, so just giving him a little break." That "beating" Robles took the last two days came in the form of a couple of pitches that struck...