CHICAGO - Trey Mancini remains out of the Orioles' lineup tonight for the opener of a three-game series against the White Sox. Mancini is day-to-day with a bruised hand. He didn't play yesterday in Minnesota. Hanser Alberto is making his first professional start in right field. He appeared in two games in right last year with Triple-A Round Rock. Joey Rickard is batting second and Dwight Smith Jr. is hitting cleanup. Pedro Severino is behind the plate to catch left-hander John Means. Smith is...

The Nationals' first month of the season has been mediocre, but they are lucky none of the other three teams expected be National League East contenders are playing well either. The Mets and Braves can score, but each has pitching issues, the Mets in the rotation and the Braves in the bullpen. And the Nationals' bullpen struggles are documented well, although Erick Fedde and the relievers pitched well in a much-needed victory Sunday against San Diego. The Phillies rotation is coming together....

The Nationals just completed a stretch in which they went 6-9 against the Pirates, Giants, Marlins, Rockies and Padres. Now they open a 16-game stretch in which they'll face the Cardinals, Phillies, Brewers, Dodgers and Mets. Suffice it to say, they need to play better in every facet of the game if they are going to survive this. It doesn't help matters that tonight they don't have Anthony Rendon in the lineup for the seventh time in eight games with a bruised left elbow. As of this moment,...

A two-time Olympic gold medalist, a national high school and college basketball player of the year, two current University of Maryland coaches who have led teams to multiple NCAA titles, a coach and a player who led the Washington Redskins to championships in different eras and, for the first time, an area team have been selected for induction into the Washington DC Sports Hall of Fame. The 11 honorees will be inducted in a special ceremony on Sunday, June 23 at Nationals Park prior to the 1:35...

CHICAGO - The Orioles latest roster move involves another pitcher to be placed in their bullpen. However, it isn't Shawn Armstrong. The club announced today that right-hander Yefry Ramirez has been recalled from Triple-A Norfolk. He's expected to be available in relief for tonight's series opener against the White Sox. Ramirez has made four starts with Norfolk and posted a 1.50 ERA and 1.11 WHIP in 18 innings. Opponents are batting .177 against him. A streak of 14 straight scoreless innings...

The Washington Nationals recalled infielder Adrián Sanchez from Double-A Harrisburg and optioned right-handed pitcher Erick Fedde to Double-A Harrisburg on Monday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. Sanchez, 28, joins the Nationals for his second Major League assignment of the season. He hit .276 with three doubles, one triple, one homer, six RBI, three stolen bases and nine runs scored in 16 games with the Senators. Sanchez was...

Left-hander Matt Grace has been the go-to middle-relief choice by manager Davey Martinez. Grace had some outings that didn't go as well as he would have liked to begin the season, but now is on a streak of no runs allowed in six of his last seven appearances, including three in a row. The only thing about the appearances he would change is the four walks allowed. Grace said he made a couple of tweaks to his delivery that seemed to have helped. He has whittled his ERA down from 20.25 to...

As Carter Kieboom rounded the bases following his game-tying homer in the fifth inning - this on the heels of Victor Robles' solo homer the previous inning, that on the heels of Juan Soto's three-run blast the inning prior to that - Davey Martinez paused to consider what the three youngest players on the Nationals roster had just accomplished. "I sat there, and I go, '20, 21, 21: That's pretty cool,' " Martinez said. "I started thinking, 'Has that been done before?' " The answer: No,...

MINNEAPOLIS - An 11th-round draft pick by the Orioles out of the University of West Virginia in 2014, left-hander John Means went to spring training a longshot to make the Orioles roster. But not only did Means make it, tonight he'll make his fourth start when the Orioles open a series in Chicago against the White Sox. Showing more velocity than in 2018 and an impressive and, at times, swing-and-miss changeup, Means has gone 3-2 with a 1.74 ERA over seven outings. In 20 2/3 innings he's...

The Orioles can be thankful that the Twins don't play in their division. Nineteen games against them would be excruciating. The sweep at Target Field over the weekend continued a trend that's seen the Twins win 12 straight games against the Orioles. Someone asked Dylan Bundy, who took the loss yesterday, what makes them so good. "They don't miss pitches over the plate," he replied. No one seems to be missing those pitches, and that's how a staff surrenders 71 home runs in 29 games. And...