As soon as the skies opened in the top of the second at Nationals Park, this was guaranteed to be an unconventional day at the yard. The grounds crew would need to put in extra work to get the field playable once the storm passed. Bullpens would need to be asked to work overtime, with starters burned up. Benches would be emptied, players would swit

NEW YORK – Austin Hays is participating in full baseball activities today and is confident that he’ll return to the Orioles’ lineup this weekend in Minnesota. Hays hasn’t played since bruising his left hip Sunday against the Twins at Camden Yards. “I’m feeling a lot better today,” he said. “I’m going to go out there for BP and try to go through som

NEW YORK – The latest prospect-packed Orioles lineup tonight includes Colton Cowser in left field again, with Gunnar Henderson leading off and playing shortstop, and Jordan Westburg at second base. Manager Brandon Hyde put Ramón Urías at third base and Aaron Hicks in center field. Cedric Mullins is the designated hitter. Austin Hays stays on the be

Joey Meneses had a little extra bounce in his step this morning, certainly more than you’d expect from a player facing the quick turnaround from a three-hour game the previous night to a 1:05 p.m. first pitch today. The reason for Meneses’ good mood: He’s playing first base for the Nationals in today’s series finale against the Reds. This has becom

The Nationals, plain and simple, have not played good baseball this week. It’s not just the fact they’ve lost three straight to the Reds, it’s the way they’ve looked in losing those three games. Sloppy defense. Bad pitching. An inability to deliver at the plate with runners in scoring position. It’s been ugly. One win in today’s series finale won’t

For all the trouble they had when the Reds were at bat Wednesday night, the Nationals might actually have given themselves a chance to win the game had they simply converted some golden scoring opportunities in their first two innings at the plate. Instead, another failure to pounce on a struggling opposing starter set the tone for what became a 9-

In four drafts under Mike Elias and his staff, the Orioles have not selected a pitcher among the first two rounds of the MLB Draft, and they have not signed a pitcher taken above round five. In 2019, they did not select a pitcher before taking Griffin McLarty of College of Charleston in round eight. The next year the highest drafted pitcher was pre

The short-attention reaction to news of Colton Cowser’s promotion was, “What now?” The moment is appreciated and then outdated. Cowser is going to be in the lineup on most nights, the same way it’s working out with infielder Jordan Westburg. Manager Brandon Hyde will call upon the flexibility on his roster. He has no other choice. Players will sit

Whether it was a display of gamesmanship meant to rattle a talented rookie or genuine concern about the device Elly De La Cruz had wrapped around the knob of his bat, Davey Martinez and the Nationals’ actions in the top of the second this evening didn’t produce anything close to a desired result for the home team. Not only was De La Cruz ultimately

NEW YORK – The towering fly ball to Colton Cowser tonight in the first inning drew a roar from the Yankee Stadium crowd but didn’t get close to the warning track in left field. Cowser camped under it and waited, a 44-degree launch angle providing time for fans to realize their mistake. Next came the first at-bat, with one out in the second inning.