They faced an 11-game opening gauntlet against nothing but two division rivals expecting to win this season. They've been without their starting shortstop for more than two weeks now. They continue to have to piece together their bullpen on a nightly basis, hoping to find a combination that records the necessary outs before giving up too many runs. Things have not gone swimmingly for the Nationals so far in 2019. And yet after hanging on for Thursday's 4-2 win over the Giants, they left town...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Orioles left-hander John Means is available in the bullpen tonight and for Friday night's series opener against the Twins at Camden Yards. However, he isn't ticketed for exclusive relief duties. Manager Brandon Hyde said Means is the likely choice to start April 26 in Minnesota following the off-day. Means could bounce back and forth between the rotation and bullpen. "Means is still a starting option and he's going to make a lot of starts," Hyde said. "We're going...

The Nationals had seen glimpses of Patrick Corbin at his best, but today they saw the left-hander at his absolute best from the moment he took the mound until the moment he departed 7 2/3 innings later. And what they saw during a 4-2 victory over the Giants confirmed what they've suspected all along: This is one of the best starters in baseball. "He really wasn't giving them any chance to get into any kind of rhythm," catcher Yan Gomes said. "He was taking apart the corners. We were...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Alex Cobb was supposed to make a start against the Athletics at Camden Yards before back spasms forced him onto the injured list for the second time this year. He was eligible to return on Tuesday for the series against the Rays that concludes tonight at Tropicana Field, but manager Brandon Hyde wanted to give him a little more recovery time. Cobb will be on the mound Friday night against the Twins in Baltimore. It's going to happen if the weather allows it. No more...

Patrick Corbin had pitched well every time he had taken the mound wearing a Nationals uniform. Now the prized lefty finally has his first win in Washington. With 7 2/3 innings of two-hit ball, Corbin put his team in prime position to defeat the Giants today. And thanks to some early offense and a late escape act by the bullpen, the Nationals walked off the field with a 4-2 win and another series victory. At one point, Corbin (1-0) looked poised to go the distance and spare Davey Martinez from...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Orioles conclude their latest road trip tonight, having gone 2-4, and Chris Davis stays on the bench while recovering from a stomach virus. Davis is missing his third game in a row. Trey Mancini is in left field tonight, with Joey Rickard in right and Dwight Smith Jr. serving as designated hitter. Renato Núñez makes his second career start at first base. Pedro Severino is catching. Andrew Cashner has won three of his four decisions despite a 5.31 ERA and 1.623...

Anthony Rendon went hitless on opening day against Jacob deGrom. He hasn't gone hitless since. With a double off the left field wall in the bottom of the third this afternoon, Rendon extended his career-best hitting streak to 16 games and helped the Nationals open up a 2-0 lead on the Giants. Rendon, who kept his streak alive with a single in his final at-bat Wednesday night, didn't make things nearly as dramatic today. Though he struck out looking at a 3-2 fastball in the bottom of the...

It's been kind of taken for granted, but given what he went through the last two years, the fact that Adam Eaton started each of the Nationals' first 16 games this season is quite significant. Eaton, of course, missed most of 2017 after tearing the ACL in his left knee. Then he missed considerable time early in 2018 after Baltimore foot specialist Lew Schon suspected loose cartilage in the outfielder's ankle following an awkward slide, a diagnosis that was later confirmed by Green Bay...

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...