When he makes his second major league start Sunday afternoon at Boston, we might be reminded that lefty John Means beat some odds to get to that mound at Fenway Park. He was not a high draft pick, selected in round 11 in 2014 out of West Virginia University. He was never a highly ranked prospect and has never been listed among the Orioles' top 30 prospects by Baseball America. Numerous times, he saw others rated more highly get more attention, but he slowly and surely kept moving his way up...

Despite Friday's series opening loss to the Pirates, Anthony Rendon continues to scorch the ball. He went 2-for-5 with two homers, and even his outs were loud. Rendon is batting .426 and already has six homers and 16 RBIs in 12 games. His OPS is now at a whopping 1.439. His first homer Friday gave the Nationals a 2-1 lead. His second homer was just as dramatic, bringing the Nats back from a 3-2 deficit to tie the game at 3-3. "I'm just trying to control the things that I can control,...

They can't trust their planned setup man in any situation of consequence. The other experienced right-hander they added this winter can't prevent an inherited runner from scoring. The lefty they signed late in spring training doesn't look fully ready for this workload. And now one of the few members of the Nationals bullpen to perform early on and merit a chance in high-leverage spots is injured after three straight disastrous outings. Suffice it to say, the Nationals relief corps - already...

One would not blame Nationals left-hander Patrick Corbin if he became upset after pitching another gem and seeing the bullpen give it away late. But Corbin remained calm even without the decision, tossing seven solid innings on a rainy Friday night at Nats Park. He allowed only a Josh Bell solo homer in the second inning and then three other hits, striking out 11 and walking one. Corbin fired 106 pitches, 65 for strikes, but the Nats fell to the Pirates, 6-3 in 10 innings. "Felt good," Corbin...

BOSTON - An Orioles lineup without Chris Davis last night provided another opportunity for Trey Mancini to play first base. However, he could go back to the outfield this afternoon with the Red Sox starting right-hander Rick Porcello. Mancini hasn't touched left field this season and Hyde continues to dole out starts to Dwight Smith Jr., who's homered in back-to-back games. A decision must be made whether to give Mancini the Green Monster today or spacious right. The other alternative is to...

Only two weeks in, the Nationals' lineup has established an encouraging trend for late-game heroics, often making up for the club's bullpen woes. Alas, they can't always count on their bats to do the job their relief corps cannot. Especially when they've already done it once on a given night. It happened tonight during a 6-3, 10-inning loss to the Pirates that was as discouraging as any to date this season. The Nationals wasted a brilliant performance by Patrick Corbin. They wasted Anthony...

BOSTON - Hanser Alberto lined a single into right field tonight with two outs in the top of the fifth inning and the Orioles could exhale. They had their first baserunner. Red Sox left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez, the former Orioles farmhand, wasn't going to make history against them. Just a mild flirtation on a cold and rainy night in Boston. Fourteen straight Orioles were retired before Alberto's hit and the Orioles already trailed by three runs. They rallied for two in the seventh on Dwight...

Pittsburgh scored first against Nationals southpaw Patrick Corbin. In the second, Josh Bell led off with a solo homer over the left-center field wall on 0-1 count. Corbin then struck out two and forced a groundout to end the inning. The Nats quickly answered in the bottom of the second. Pirates starter Trevor Williams walked Ryan Zimmerman and Wilmer Difo. Corbin helped his own cause with an RBI single to left field to tie the game 1-1. Corbin allowed a single to Erick González in the third...

Will going on the road be good for Orioles pitchers? So far in 2019, they've been much better and allowed fewer homers on the road than at home. During the season-opening 4-2 trip to Yankee Stadium and Rogers Centre, O's pitchers allowed six homers and posted an ERA of 4.33. During the just-completed 1-6 homestand they yielded 28 homers with an ERA of 8.29. Right-hander David Hess (1-1, 2.70 ERA) gets the start tonight to open a four-game series at Boston. For the year, Hess has thrown 13 1/3...

BOSTON - Orioles catcher Pedro Severino has avoided the injured list after being hit by a J.B. Wendelken curveball yesterday on top of his batting helmet and sprawling to the dirt. Severino passed the concussion tests, accompanied the team to Boston and is available to play in the series. "He's a lot better today," said manager Brandon Hyde. "He caught a break there. It's always scary when somebody gets hit in the head. Had a little bit of a headache, but they cleared him of all concussion...