PHILADELPHIA - We knew all along this opening stretch of the season was going to be a bear for the Nationals, who had to face the Mets and Phillies at home and then the same two teams on the road. And it indeed has been a bear, but the Nats have survived so far, going 3-3 against New York and entering tonight's series opener against Philadelphia with a 1-1 head-to-head record. That makes this three-game set a big one, of course, because the end result will pretty much end up defining how these...

The bullpen bond that John Means has formed with Paul Fry will be interrupted at least temporarily when he moves into the rotation Tuesday night against the Athletics at Camden Yards. Means doesn't know how long he'll be starting. He replaced TBD on Tuesday, a major league career consisting of four relief appearances about to take another turn. Maybe it's one and done, with Dan Straily replacing him, or manager Brandon Hyde could give him another shot. A team in need of dependable relief is...

Here are some highlights from Sunday's games played by Nationals affiliates: Low Single-A Hagerstown fell to Greensboro 2-1 in 10 innings Sunday. Starter Francys Peguero allowed two hits and no runs in five innings. Angel Guillen kept the Grasshoppers off the board for two more frames. Israel Pineda singled and Jacob Rhinesmith doubled to begin a rally in the fourth for the Suns. Gilbert Lara provided an RBI groundout to stake Hagerstown to a 1-0 lead. He leads the team with seven RBIs to...

NEW YORK - Max Scherzer had dominated, Anthony Rendon had homered and the Nationals had busted their way out to a double-digit lead on the road heading into the final innings. And then the majors' worst bullpen somehow turned that blowout win into a tension-filled bottom of the ninth that ended in an unlikely save situation. Sound familiar? It should, because it just happened Sunday at Citi Field. It also happened July 15, 2017, at Great American Ball Park. Yeah, the 2019 Nationals bullpen...

After allowing seven home runs and 15 runs Sunday, there is nothing, really, to do for the Orioles pitching staff and team as a whole but get back on the horse tonight versus Oakland. Try to ride their way to victory and put that mess from Sunday in their rear-view mirror. The O's were competitive and led the Yankees in the first two games of the series. They just didn't win. Sunday they were blown out and it felt like about 10 losses, but really only counted as one. Time to get back to...

Orioles shortstop Richie Martin followed manager Brandon Hyde to the mound yesterday in the top of the ninth inning and the same thought popped into minds across the ballpark and inside the press box. The Rule 5 kid was going to pitch. Or not. Martin was entering the game to play shortstop while Jonathan Villar moved to second base and Hanser Alberto made his major league pitching debut. Two weeks into the season and Hyde had to use a position player to pitch, the 10th time it's happened to...

NEW YORK - If Davey Martinez was asked this morning to draw up a best-case scenario for the Nationals' series finale against the Mets, this had to be awfully close to what the second-year manager imagined. With his bullpen in shambles but his ace on the mound, Martinez was hoping not only for a dominant Max Scherzer start but also a big day at the plate against Zack Wheeler and the New York pitching staff, creating a comfortable lead that would take all the pressure off that beleaguered...

Maybe that series win at Yankee Stadium last weekend by the Orioles got the Yankees' attention. Because after scoring just five runs in three games at home against Detroit, New York came to Baltimore and hit 14 homers and scored 29 runs in a series sweep of the Orioles. Today right-hander Domingo Germán allowed two hits and two runs over six innings and New York bashed seven more homers in a 15-3 win to sweep the three-game series. The Yankees improved to 5-4 and the Orioles fall to 4-5 and...

David Hess didn't flirt with a no-hitter today. It was gone by the second inning, along with a scoreless tie and any hope that the Yankees might ease up on the power surge. Might stop trying to take out a few of the seats or the batter's eye. Gleyber Torres, Clint Frazier and Gary Sánchez homered in the first three innings to create a four-run lead while the Orioles continued to wait for their first baserunner. And then their first hit. It was Domingo Germán's turn to chase history. It...

NEW YORK - Desperate for bullpen help only a week and a half into the season, the Nationals have promoted one of their standby starters from the minors to take over a relief role. Joe Ross, who was supposed to open the season in the rotation at Triple-A Fresno, was recalled today, with infielder Adrián Sanchez optioned to Double-A Harrisburg to clear a roster spot. Ross, who had been scheduled to make his first start of the season Monday, instead took a red-eye flight from Fresno to New York...