The stands were mostly empty, the prospect of a long day and night of baseball was looming and the Nationals and Rockies had to conjure up the energy to get through today's doubleheader opener on their own. That made for what at times was a sleepy afternoon of baseball on South Capitol Street. In the end, the Nationals managed to engage themselves just enough at the right moments to walk away with a 3-2 victory and give themselves an opportunity to sweep the doubleheader when Patrick Corbin...

PHOENIX - Catcher Adley Rutschman is expected to make his Maryland debut Saturday evening with the short-season Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds. The Orioles haven't made an official announcement and schedules always are subject to change, but Saturday appears to be the target date for Rutschman to leave the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League. Aberdeen began a six-game homestand Tuesday that carries through the weekend. The IronBirds host Hudson Valley Saturday at 6:05 p.m. Ripken Stadium should be...

PHOENIX - Renato Núñez is sticking at third base this afternoon after homering again last night in a 7-2 win over the Diamondbacks. Rio Ruiz stays on the bench despite another opposing right-handed pitcher. Manager Brandon Hyde is staying with the hot hand. Anthony Santander is in center field, Pedro Severino is catching a day game following a night game and Richie Martin is playing shortstop. Chris Davis is at first base after striking out four times last night. For the Orioles Jonathan...

Matt Adams has been in this position before. It happened last year. It happened earlier this year. Adams has known throughout his tenure with the Nationals that his playing time would be limited when Ryan Zimmerman was healthy. But he's also known he would need to step in and become a regular if and when Zimmerman suffered injury, an all-too-frequent occurrence in recent years. So when Zimmerman went down Sunday night with a recurrence of the plantar fasciitis that sidelined him two months...

The Nationals edged the Rockies 3-2 in Game 1 of today's doubleheader at Nationals Park. The Nats are now through 100 games in the 2019 campaign, sporting a 35-15 record since May 24, and are 22-9 since May 2 at Nats Park and have swept three straight doubleheaders. Tonight they look for four in a row. The Rockies are going in the opposite direction: 7-20 since June 21 and 3-15 since June 30. After the first game, the Nationals optioned right-hander Erick Fedde to Triple-A Fresno and called up...

After a thrilling Tuesday night at the ballpark - thrilling, at least, once Trea Turner completed his second career cycle in the bottom of the seventh - the Nationals are right back at the park this morning for what promises to be a long day and night of baseball. Monday's rainout - did it ever actually rain during the evening hours? - forced them to schedule a day-night doubleheader today. The good news: The Nats were able to avoid burning up their bullpen during an 11-1 win over the Rockies....

PHOENIX - Dwight Smith Jr. used to be hitless in 33 at-bats and looking every bit like a player in a deep funk. Smith is a changed man. Hits in his last four games. A single and three-run homer last night in a 7-2 win. A hot streak that seemed to come out of nowhere. "I just kept working hard," he said. "It's just baseball. I was coming back from injury, so I was just getting timing back. And me struggling mentally and physically, it was a lot, but I had good teammates and good supporting...

PHOENIX - Renato Núñez can belt home runs as the designated hitter, first baseman or third baseman. He can launch baseballs in his sleep, though rounding the bases is harder to do if you tuck the sheets. Manager Brandon Hyde will pick a position or a role and let Núñez feast. It's become one of his easiest decisions. Just keep the guy in the middle of the lineup. Núñez hit his team-leading 24th home run tonight in the second and Anthony Santander delivered a two-run shot...

After exchanging victories the last two nights, the Orioles and Arizona Diamondbacks wrap up their three-game series this afternoon at Chase Field. Arizona won 6-3 Monday and the Orioles hit three homers in a 7-2 win last night. The Orioles (32-68) have played 100 games and have 62 to go in the 2019 season. They are 4-2 over their last six games and 10-10 in the past 20. They are 17-32 on the road. This current trip moves on to Anaheim and San Diego after today's game. The Orioles got homers...

While Orioles farm teams at Triple-A Norfolk and Single-A Frederick have struggled this year, four other affiliates went into play last night in first place. Those were clubs at Double-A Bowie (25-7), Single-A Delmarva (21-10), short-season Single-A Aberdeen (23-15) and the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League Orioles (16-7). But no team has had such a remarkable turnaround this year as Bowie. The Baysox were 7-23 on May 5. That was not only the worst record in the Eastern League at that time, it was...