BOSTON - The Orioles finally got their bullpen settled after two extra-inning games in New York and now they're proceeding without their starting second baseman. The shuffling and worrying doesn't cease. Jonathan Schoop went on the 10-day disabled list today with a strained right oblique, creating a corresponding roster move for starter Alex Cobb in his debut with the club. "We knew we were going to have to make room for Alex today," manager Buck Showalter said this morning. "I wish it...

Anthony Rendon isn't in the Nationals lineup this afternoon. That's not a surprise, given the third baseman had to come out of Friday night's game after fouling a ball off his left big toe. The real question now is how much time Rendon will need before he is ready to return to an already-struggling lineup that keeps losing key players to injury. "He's sore, real sore," manager Davey Martinez said this morning. "So he's probably going to be day-to-day." Rendon hurt himself fouling a...

BOSTON - The Orioles placed second baseman Jonathan Schoop on the 10-day disabled list today with a strained right oblique, creating a roster spot for pitcher Alex Cobb in a way they hadn't anticipated or desired. Schoop underwent an MRI this morning and the club received the results shortly before noon. Cobb officially was recalled from Double-A Bowie today and is making his debut with the Orioles. The injury occurred last night as Schoop took his final swing in the top of the seventh inning....

BOSTON - The Orioles are listing Jonathan Schoop among their reserves for today's game against the Red Sox. Schoop was removed last night in the eighth inning with discomfort in his side. No move has been announced to accommodate starter Alex Cobb. Pedro Álvarez is batting second as the designated hitter. Tim Beckham is the second baseman and Danny Valencia is playing third. Adam Jones is batting .333 (12-for-36) on the road this season. His 181 career hits against the Red Sox rank third...

BOSTON - The wait is over. The plastic comes off Alex Cobb today and the Orioles are allowed to play with their new toy. Cobb finally gets to make his 2018 debut after simulated and extended spring training games. And he'll try to give the Orioles their fourth quality start in the last five games. This will be Cobb's first major league outing since Sept. 22 at Camden Yards, when he allowed three runs over six innings in an 8-3 win. Chris Davis homered off him in the fourth inning. The Orioles...

Pitching against Houston, New York and Boston on the road would be a challenge for any pitcher. But the Orioles' Chris Tillman has gone 0-3 with a 11.91 ERA in those games. Last night it went from bad to worse for the right-hander who once was the club's top starting pitcher and an opening day starter. It is tough to watch a pitcher with such a different past struggle so badly. Last year Tillman went 1-7 with a 7.84 ERA. After he pitched at Houston April 2, he insisted we would not see a...

The last thing the Nationals want to do is call today's game - on April 14, mind you - "must-win." But let's not kid ourselves here. Having lost eight of their last 10, and having fallen a full six games behind the Mets in the National League East division - seven games in the loss column - this team simply can't afford to lose a Max Scherzer start. The Nationals needed Scherzer to halt their last losing streak (five games). Today they'll ask him to halt their current three-game skid and...

No pitcher will ever admit it, but it had to be on Tanner Roark's mind Friday night. With the Nationals struggling mightily to score runs these days, the right-hander must have felt like he needed to be near-perfect on the mound against the Rockies. "No, you've just got to pitch your game, execute pitches," Roark insisted. "They'll get the job done. You've got to do your job on the mound, one pitch at a time, and execute the pitches." Roark did do that quite well. He surrendered a solo...

BOSTON - Orioles second baseman Jonathan Schoop didn't leave tonight's game to allow Engelb Vielma to make his major league debut. The switch was done to prevent a twinge from growing into something more severe. Schoop felt a muscle in his side grab while striking out to end the seventh inning and Vielma replaced him in the field. "He had some discomfort in his side and we decided to get him out of there to be on the safe side," said manager Buck Showalter. "That last swing he...

They're preaching patience and levelheadedness in the Nationals clubhouse right now, and honestly that's what they have to do on April 13 when the ballclub is struggling to score runs, is two games under .500 and just got held to one run on four hits by the Rockies for the second straight night. "Just got to keep grinding," Bryce Harper said. "Keep doing the things we can do to win ballgames and do the things we can control." "We've got to play until the game's over," Tanner Roark...