The Nationals aren't the only team in the National League East with bullpen issues. After an offseason of acquiring bullpen arms, NL East teams are having difficult times finding reliable relief arms. And there are still two weeks to go in April. The Nationals' Austen Williams gave up four ninth-inning runs Wednesday in a 9-6 win against the Giants at Nationals Park, meaning the Nationals went into Thursday's game with the highest bullpen ERA (8.04) in the league. The Mets were the...

Surely this is the most important official release of the day in Washington: the Nationals' starting lineup for their series finale against the Giants! While much of the world is focused on a different building in a different part of town, baseball fans are most interested in what takes place here on South Capitol Street, where the Nats are trying to take back-to-back games and win this three-game series in order to head out on a road trip to Miami and Colorado with a winning record. Patrick...

Right-hander Jeremy Hellickson is turning into one of the most consistent Nationals starters. He did it again Wednesday in the Nats' 9-6 win over the Giants. Hellickson (2-0) went 5 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on five hits with four walks and no strikeouts. He had to throw only 79 pitches, 51 for strikes. Hellickson's first two starts of the season have come seven days apart, but the 32-year-old now has allowed only two runs in 11 2/3 innings to drop his ERA to 2.63. "Hellickson was...

The Orioles have a bonus pool of $13,821,300 with which to sign their picks in the first 10 rounds of the 2019 First-Year Player Draft in June. That according to figures published by Baseball America. The Orioles have the No. 1 pick in the draft for the second time in team history. They selected LSU right-hander Ben McDonald with the overall top pick in 1989. The slot amount available to sign the top pick is just over $8.4 million dollars. The Orioles may wind up signing that player for an...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Orioles manager Brandon Hyde checked on Alex Cobb yesterday, received the information he wanted and proceeded with his pitching plans for the weekend and beyond. Cobb's back is fine. The spasms are gone. And he's coming off the injured list Friday to start against the Twins at Camden Yards. The rotation lines up as Cobb, Dan Straily and Dylan Bundy for the weekend series, followed by David Hess and Andrew Cashner for the first two games against the White Sox in...

With a late seven-run lead, Nationals manager Davey Martinez was certainly hoping that he wouldn't have to go to his closer to finish out the game. But when the bullpen unraveled yet again, he had no choice but to call on Sean Doolittle. The Nats were feeling good up 9-2 heading to the ninth, thanks to four homers, highlighted by a three-run shot from Matt Adams and two-run homers by Juan Soto and Kurt Suzuki. However, reliever Austen Williams was unable to record an out in the ninth, allowing...

Let's ignore, tough as it may be, the Nationals bullpen for just one night. Yes, this remains the biggest topic of discussion on a team that too often is seeing the good work of others overshadowed by ineffective work in the late innings by the majors' worst relief corps. Tonight's 9-6 victory over the Giants was that close only because of a near ninth-inning collapse, rescued only by Sean Doolittle's hurried appearance to record the final two outs with the tying run at the plate. But the...

Davey Martinez spent most of the evening sweating in the dugout, this despite the heavy coat he was wearing on a deceptively chilly mid-April evening on South Capitol Street. His Nationals had opened up an early lead on the Giants but couldn't add on, and so now the second-year manager had to figure out how he was going to get the requisite outs necessary from his beleaguered bullpen while protecting only a two-run lead. Then Matt Adams and Kurt Suzuki made life a whole lot easier on Martinez...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - If David Hess had any shot at getting deeper into his start tonight against the Rays, he needed to soften the contact against him. Think pillow instead of pillar. Everything that Hess threw was tattooed, with exit velocities in the first inning of 115.4, 102.3, 105.6 and 108.9 mph - the latter resulting in a three-run homer by the University of Maryland's Brandon Lowe on a ball that traveled 409 feet, according to Statcast. Hess allowed another run in the second and...

The Nationals produced a couple of loud at-bats versus Giants starter Jeff Samardzija in the first inning to break out to a big early advantage. Following an Adam Eaton walk, Juan Soto slammed a two-run shot to right field. It was the third homer of the season for Soto and came on a first pitch. One batter later, Howie Kendrick launched a no-doubter over the left field wall for his third homer of the season. The Nationals led the Giants 3-0 after one inning. In the second inning, Wilmer Difo...