SEATTLE - The Orioles get their best hitter back in the lineup today. Trey Mancini, hitting .304/.361/.558, is batting second and playing first base today at Seattle. Mancini has been out since getting plunked on the left elbow in the first inning Wednesday afternoon at Oakland. He suffered a contusion and sat out the last two games. "I think he's still a little sore but he really wants to get back in there," said manager Brandon Hyde. "Talked this morning. He's excited to play, so he's...

SEATTLE - The Orioles' bullpen shuffle keeps churning. After last night's game lefty Sean Gilmartin, who was the starting pitcher, was optioned back to Triple-A Norfolk. Today the Orioles have selected the contract of 27-year-old right-hander Matt Wotherspoon. He is joining the club for the second time this year. Wotherspoon was added to the roster April 3 in Toronto and optioned out the next day. On April 6 he was outrighted back to Norfolk. He made his major league debut April 3 at Rogers...

The Nationals arrive for Saturday night's matchup at Nats Park against the first-place Braves with an opportunity to win their second straight series over Atlanta. Just as important with a victory tonight the Nats can return to the .500 mark for the first time since April 23 (11-11). Washington went to 2-0 in late May at SunTrust Park. Counting tonight, the Nats still have 16 regular season games left against the Braves. Following Friday night's 4-3 victory, the Nats have now won a...

SEATTLE - During a 10-game losing streak, the Orioles have lost four times by two runs or one, the latest last night's 10-9 loss at Seattle. The O's 10-game streak matches the longest in the majors this year. Kansas City lost 10 in a row from March 31-April 11, and Detroit lost 10 in a row from May 13-23. The 1958 Orioles lost 11 straight between July 27 and Aug. 8, and the club has had losing streaks of 12 or more just six times in its history. At 21-55, the Orioles are 12-27 on the road....

SEATTLE - At this point, should the Orioles feel encouraged about their comeback last night or snakebit that it fell short and they lost again? The losing streak reached 10 when the Mariners beat the Orioles 10-9 Friday night at T-Mobile Park. But what was headed for a blowout loss with the Orioles down 10-3 after five became a one-run game by the seventh inning. Would the Orioles end a long losing streak with a stirring comeback? The answer would be no, but at least the offense, at least for...

SEATTLE - Well this was a unique way to lose a game and stretch a losing streak to 10, but the Orioles did it. Fall behind big, rally big, come up just short. Frustrating indeed as they lost 10-9 at Seattle after trailing 10-3 after five innings. This time it did not come apart for the Orioles in the middle innings. It happened by the end of the home third. Their rally in the sixth and seventh was impressive but it did not produce a stirring comeback win, rather just yet another frustrating...

As he handed Trevor Rosenthal the baseball with the game on the line Friday night - a scenario that had not been seen around these parts since the season's very first week - Davey Martinez had a simple message for his beleaguered right-hander. "This is your moment," manager said to pitcher. "Enjoy it." Given what Rosenthal has been through in 2019, why not try to spread a little positivity in a critical moment? Four pitches and one gargantuan out later, Rosenthal indeed was enjoying the...

Right-hander Stephen Strasburg managed to hang in there despite a slow start Friday night, accruing six innings and watching as his Nationals came back from a 3-0 deficit to edge the Braves, 4-3. Strasburg lasted six innings, allowing three runs in the first three innings, but then shut out the Braves for three frames to improve to 8-4. Austin Riley's two-run homer in the second and an RBI double from Freddie Freeman lifted the Braves to a 3-0 lead in the third. "You're going to give them...

In another one-run nail biter, it was inevitable that the Nationals bullpen would have to find a way to come up with important outs and escape a major jam to finish the game against the first-place team in the National League East. Now sprinkle in a tired bullpen with five relievers having pitched the day before in a 7-4 win over the Phillies. The card-carrying member of the resilient warriors not named Sean Doolittle in this bullpen right now is right-hander Wander Suero, who came up the...

The Orioles prospect talk doesn't usually bring infielder Mason McCoy into the conversation. Pitching is the area that warrants the most attention, and fans are waiting for first baseman Ryan Mountcastle and outfielders Austin Hays and Yusniel Diaz to be thrust into the rebuild. Catcher Chance Sisco made it back and DJ Stewart got the call before landing on the injured list with a sprained ankle. There aren't many cries for McCoy, 24, but I sense that there's been gradual notice. McCoy is...