Craig Gentry remains the left fielder and leadoff hitter today for the Orioles while Trey Mancini recovers from a knee injury. Caleb Joseph is behind the plate today after Chance Sisco started three consecutive games. For the Orioles Craig Gentry LF Pedro Alvarez DH Manny Machado SS Adam Jones CF Chris Davis 1B Tim Beckham 3B Anthony Santander RF Caleb Joseph C Luis Sardiñas 2B Andrew Cashner RHP

LOS ANGELES - Davey Martinez's afternoon declaration that Anthony Rendon would likely be available to pinch-hit surely left many of Nationals fans wondering why the star third baseman never did emerge from the dugout during Saturday night's 4-0 loss to the Dodgers. It's not like there wasn't an opportunity, most notably the top of the eighth, when with his team trailing by two runs, Martinez sent Matt Reynolds instead of Rendon up to pinch-hit against lefty Tony Cingrani. Reynolds, who...

LOS ANGELES - It was as electric a moment as the Nationals have experienced so far this season, it ranked with any moment of Stephen Strasburg's career and it felt like it could have been the moment that propelled the Nats to come back and beat the Dodgers tonight. By game's end, though, Strasburg's dazzling escape from a bases-loaded jam in the sixth was a mere footnote. Such is life when the opposition tacks on runs late and your own lineup totals two hits during a 4-0 loss at Dodger...

On a team that again couldn't generate much of an offensive attack yesterday, deep fly balls celebrated as some sort of moral victory, Chance Sisco had a single and a walk in three plate appearances and was crowned king for a day. The kid has hit pretty much throughout his life. But anything he does behind the plate will overshadow it. The bat got the Orioles' attention. Defense will get him more opportunities in the majors. Sisco couldn't prevent two wild pitches from Chris Tillman because...

LOS ANGELES - The Dodgers are making a lot of loud contact against Stephen Strasburg tonight, but so far, only one of them has managed to cause any actual damage on the scoreboard. Joc Pederson's solo homer in the bottom of the second represents the lone run of the evening for either team midway through this game. That blast to center field off a 97 mph fastball got out of Dodger Stadium in a hurry, but it's hardly the only ball hit hard off Strasburg so far. Strasburg got off to a quick...

The Cleveland Indians pitching staff has been on a roll. The Orioles hitting has definitely not. That has been a bad combination in this series for the Orioles. Thanks to Dylan Bundy, they managed to win on Friday night, but they are batting .138 (8-for-58) the past two nights against Cleveland pitchers. The Orioles have scored a total of 15 runs in eight home games in 2018. They've scored three, two, zero, one, one, five, three and zero. They are batting .169/.263/.274 at home this year. They...

LOS ANGELES - Though he was able to strike out Corey Seager after a mound visit from an athletic trainer Friday night, Matt Grace wasn't able to avoid the disabled list today. The Nationals placed Grace on the 10-day DL with a left groin strain, an injury the reliever said he had been dealing with for several days but became particularly noticeable during his seventh-inning appearance Friday at Dodger Stadium. Not wanting to risk a more serious injury, and not wanting to be left with a short...

After pitching to an ERA of 11.91 with a WHIP of 2.824 through three starts, right-hander Chris Tillman needed to pitch better in a hurry. He did today but the Orioles were blanked on two hits by Cleveland's Mike Clevinger in a 4-0 loss that drops them to 6-15. They've lost nine of 11 and have been held to three runs or fewer 14 times in 21 games. Tillman gave up three solo homers in pitching a season-high six innings. He allowed eight hits and four runs with a walk and five strikeouts on 83...

The Washington Nationals recalled right-handed pitcher Trevor Gott from Triple-A Syracuse and placed left-handed pitcher Matt Grace on the 10-day disabled list with a left groin strain on Saturday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement. Gott, 25, returns to the Nationals for his second stint with the club. He appeared in five games (5.0 IP) from March 31 to April 13 and allowed opposing batters to hit .176 against him (3-for-17) while...

Granted the bar had not been set very high, but Orioles right-hander Chris Tillman had his best start of the year this afternoon. But Cleveland right-hander Mike Clevinger pitched better. Clevinger pitched a complete-game two-hitter, as the Tribe beat the Orioles 4-0. He walked two and fanned three to improve to 2-0 with an ERA of 1.75. Clevinger threw 107 pitches, 70 or strikes. The Orioles fall to 6-15 for the season, have lost seven of eight and nine of their past 11 games. Cleveland is...