Orioles manager Brandon Hyde was left with some interesting lineup decisions today based on the Red Sox starting left-hander Chris Sale in the series finale. Chris Davis is 2-for-22 with nine strikeouts lifetime against Sale, Joey Rickard is 2-for-16 and Jonathan Villar is 2-for-12 with nine strikeouts. Hyde kept Villar in the lineup and is leading him off as usual. Rickard is batting second and playing right field. Davis is on the bench, with Trey Mancini replacing him at first base. Stevie...

MILWAUKEE - Desperate for healthy position players and more veterans on their bench, the Nationals are in discussions with outfielder Gerardo Parra and could finalize a deal in the coming days, according to a source familiar with the talks. No deal is done at this point, the source said, but the addition of Parra would make sense for a Nationals club that has been decimated by injuries to its lineup and has felt the domino effect on its bench. Parra, 32, is a career .277 hitter with a .324...

MILWAUKEE - The Nationals haven't been swept in any of the 11 series they've played to date. For all their woes, they've managed to go 8-3 in series finales and 5-0 when facing a potential sweep. So that's what's at stake this afternoon at Miller Park, where the Nats have dropped two in a row despite getting dominant starts from Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg. Obviously, they could use a quality start out of Jeremy Hellickson today. But as we've seen, that's not enough. They have to...

MILWAUKEE - The Nationals have been fielding a lineup lacking a host of key regulars for a while now, that's nothing new. Guys are starting to return, with Anthony Rendon coming off the injured list Monday, Juan Soto hopefully joining him Saturday and Trea Turner perhaps within two weeks of his activation off the IL. How, though, do the Nats score any runs in the meantime? They've scored 21 runs over their last eight games. But that includes a 10-run outburst in Philadelphia on Saturday...

Watching a relentless Boston offense hit three homers and take advantage of eight walks last night can make one have an even greater appreciation for John Means' outing on Monday night in the Orioles' 4-1 win. The Red Sox had scored 30 runs its previous three games before this series and was averaging 6.1 runs per game during an 11-5 run before Monday's series opener. They got back to that last night and never trailed in an 8-5 victory to even this series. The Orioles tied it 2-2 in the...

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde proved yesterday that he can play the comedic and straight-man roles in the same sound bite. Told that his club was 10-11 within its division, Hyde said, "Well, we didn't play good against the Twins, right?" Laughter ensued, led by Hyde, who suddenly broke character and turned serious. "What's so funny?" he asked. Hyde knew because he started it. The Orioles won't have to face the Twins again after losing all six games by a combined score of 45-9 and being...

MILWAUKEE - Anthony Rendon was a welcome addition to the Nationals lineup, until he got ejected. Stephen Strasburg was dominating a tough lineup, until he couldn't get one final out. And Dan Jennings ... well, he simply couldn't get any outs, turning a competitive game into a rout. The Nationals' 6-0 loss to the Brewers tonight was dripping with all sorts of new drama, none of it positive for a team that has now lost 10 of 13 and is barely hanging on by a thread. Not even Strasburg's...

The Orioles were playing a dangerous game tonight with the Red Sox, going toe-to-toe and trading home runs while leading the majors in the number allowed by a wide margin. Pretty hard to win that battle. Mitch Moreland broke the third tie of the night with a three-run shot off reliever Branden Kline in the top of the fifth inning and the Red Sox outlasted the Orioles 8-5 before an announced crowd of 10,703 at Camden Yards. Homers accounted for the first nine runs of the night, the teams trading...

MILWAUKEE - Though they got one key player back from the injured list today, the Nationals placed a key reliever on the IL. All while watching two players hurt during Monday night's loss avoid the IL (for now) and another key regular who has been on the IL more than a month take an important step forward his recovery. Oh, they also demoted their top prospect and recalled one of their top young starters, making him a full-time reliever for the first time. Yeah, it's been an eventful day. Just...

Since the 2012 season, the Boston Red Sox have won the World Series twice. But since that year they have a losing record against the Orioles. That might seem surprising considering what happened last year, when the Sox went 16-3 against the Orioles. But from 2012-2017, the Orioles went 64-49 against Boston and won the season series five times in six tries. Then came last year's poor showing, followed by a 3-2 start against Boston this season. So the Orioles have already matched their 2018...