TORONTO - After losing two of three in St. Petersburg against the Tampa Bay Rays, the O's road trip has moved on to Toronto. The Blue Jays host the Orioles tonight to start a three-game series that leads into the All-Star break. The Orioles (25-61) beat the Rays 9-6 on Wednesday night and are 3-3 over their past six games. That win was the club's first this year when trailing or tied after eight innings. The Orioles are 4-16 over their past 20 games and 6-20 over the last 26. They are trying...

Davey Martinez has been searching all year for viable fill-in closer when Sean Doolittle isn't available. Who knew the answer would come in the form of a 42-year-old reliever who was dumped by the Athletics six weeks ago after posting a 9.42 ERA? At this point, it's hard to dispute that Fernando Rodney is establishing himself as the Nationals' best Plan B for the ninth inning. A designation Martinez didn't hesitate to place on him after Thursday's 5-2 victory over the Marlins. "Here's a...

On Sunday the Orioles will be represented by two young pitching prospects in the All-Star Futures Game. Single-A Delmarva right-hander Grayson Rodriguez and Single-A Frederick left-hander DL Hall will play for the American League squad against the National League team in Cleveland. The Futures Games has become a pretty high-profile event featuring some of the top prospects in the sport. It will be televised live on Sunday at 7 p.m. by MLB Network. Rodriguez, 19, the first-round pick by the...

Scant offense til the sixth inning? Baserunning blunders? A piecemeal bullpen that required three arms to get three outs in the eighth and a 42-year-old to close it out in the ninth? The Nationals keep finding ways to win in spite of all of this, and that's no small feat. Today's 5-2 victory over the Marlins was simply the latest in this staggering stretch of success that has seen the Nats win 26 of 36 and move themselves into playoff position in the wide-open National League wild card...

Dylan Bundy didn't ask for the rest. He had it thrust upon him. And he's fine with it. Bundy was supposed to start Tuesday night in St. Petersburg, Fla., but his spot suddenly became marked as TBD, leading to media speculation that he was hurt. And leading to some fan speculation that he was traded. Manager Brandon Hyde offered an explanation later that already had been communicated to Bundy. The lines are always open. Working backward in a sense to set up the rotation and seeking the most...

Nationals starters have averaged more than 6 1/2 innings pitched over the last 11 games, with only one starter failing to at least get through the sixth. That's a good thing, and it's no surprise it has helped this team go 8-3 during the stretch. But it's also had a domino effect on the bullpen, which could be seen as positive or negative, depending on your point of view. Needing only a couple of innings every night from his bullpen, and almost always with his team up a handful of runs,...

There is nothing like baseball in Washington on July 4. And when that also coincides with the home team sitting in playoff position for the first time all season ... well, how does it get much better than that? Yes, the Nationals woke up this morning tied with the Cubs for the second wild card spot in the National League. A mere six weeks after falling to 12 games below .500, the second-worst record in the NL, they now own the fifth-best record in the league. Quite a turnaround. And they can...

Over the years, I've learned that manager Gary Kendall can provide some real solid insights on his players. He did that again this week. The first-year manager of the Triple-A Norfolk Tides was a guest on "The Scott and Jeremy show" on 105.7 The Fan in Baltimore. Kendall was asked about right-handed hitting prospect Ryan Mountcastle, who is ranked as the No. 2 Orioles prospect by MLBPipeline.com and No. 69 on the updated top 100 list by Baseball America. The 22-year-old Mountcastle is...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Orioles made it through last night's game without calling upon a 47th different player. They managed to get by with the current group, covering nine innings and heading to Toronto for the final series before the All-Star break. Are 46 players a lot over the course of a season? How about in the first half? Spoiler alert: The first-half number is a club record. So, yes, it's a lot. Consider that the Orioles' record for a season is 56, set last year as they began to...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - John Means tied his career high tonight by working seven innings, pounding the strike zone as if he's angry at it. Ninety-eight pitches and 71 strikes for Means, who held the Rays to two earned runs and three total, didn't walk a batter and left with the score tied. His 2.50 ERA didn't change. The game did after he left. The Orioles erupted for six runs in the ninth off reliever José Alvarado, the last three on Renato Núñez's 19th homer, and they avoided the...