Gunnar Henderson returns to the leadoff spot for tonight’s series opener against the Mariners at Camden Yards, with Jordan Westburg moving down to seventh. Westburg hit leadoff for the first time in his major league career Wednesday while Henderson occupied the cleanup spot. An opposing right-handed starter has returned the club to its usual order.

Runs are a hard thing to come by for the Nationals at the moment. This team, you may recall, was just shut out by the White Sox in back-to-back games, not exactly a source of pride. Why has it been so hard for the Nats to score runs? Because this is a lineup that typically needs to do three things right to get someone across the plate. First somebo

It was an interview in early March at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Fla. at O’s spring camp. As usual, Ryan O’Hearn was being himself which is something reporters have really come to appreciate. He’s almost always available to us and he doesn’t go through the motions in these interviews, he provides real insight. Like he did for me on another sunny

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. grounded a pitch from Kyle Bradish up the middle Wednesday afternoon with two outs in the third inning, and George Springer surely thought he was going to score from second base. Shortstop Gunnar Henderson couldn’t make a diving stop. He appeared to be the last line of defense. Jorge Mateo had other ideas, and his ridiculous r

CHICAGO – The question was specifically about his strikeout with the bases loaded in the top of the third Wednesday afternoon, and he answered that part of the query with a compliment to White Sox starter Garrett Crochet. But then Keibert Ruiz continued his answer and began speaking about himself in a broader sense, recognizing that one at-bat wasn

Sometimes you have a frustrating day with runners in scoring position but can still win. Sometimes you get a homer from your first and last batters of the game to win. Sometimes you have streaks riding, and it looks like they will end. But they don't. Sometimes you see curious moves happen in an inning like the bottom of the eighth, but you still w

Anthony Santander led off the fourth inning yesterday with a single and poked a double down the left field line to begin the eighth before the pain from a bruised knee led to his removal in right field. Colton Cowser, who shaved his beard to “change things up,” broke his bat on a fourth-inning single and snapped a 7-for-55 streak. Austin Hays playe

CHICAGO – With the season now more than one-quarter complete, we pretty much know how most Nationals ballgames are going to go. Their starting pitcher isn’t going to dazzle but is going to give them a chance, even if for only five or six innings tops. Their bullpen is going to be effective, especially when handed a lead. And their lineup is going t

Adley Rutschman took a big swing, stumbled back and twisted his torso, looking like a golfer using body English to keep the ball from hitting the water or sand. Rutschman crossed home plate and was drenched. The second walk-off home run of his career in the ninth inning gave the Orioles an improbable 3-2 win over the Blue Jays before an announced “

CHICAGO – Ildemaro Vargas was asked if he could remember the last time he batted third. “Little League,” the Nationals utilityman said, lowering his right hand to a couple feet off the ground as if to show how tall he was at the time. “Unbelievable!” That streak ends today, because Vargas is batting third for the Nats in their series finale against