PHILADELPHIA – The first five games of the post-Juan Soto and Josh Bell era have been difficult for the Nationals. And unfortunately, it doesn’t look like it’s going to get any easier. “They were big parts of the team," manager Davey Martinez said of Soto and Bell. "But for me, it's about giving guys another opportunity. These guys get an opportuni

The first pitch of today’s game produced a grounder to Rougned Odor, making his third base debut as an Oriole, a position he tolerated last summer with the Yankees. He fielded it cleanly, paused and fired across the diamond for the out. Of course, the ball found him right away. A grounder in the second eluded first baseman Ryan Mountcastle’s, but T

With 1-0 and 6-3 wins over Pittsburgh this weekend, the Orioles have moved closer to a playoff spot and also are now a win away from a second consecutive three-game sweep. They’ll try to get that this afternoon in the series finale. The Orioles beat the Bucs 1-0 on a combined six-hitter Friday night as Dean Kremer allowed four hits over 6 1/3 innin

PHILADELPHIA – Needing bullpen help after Patrick Corbin only recorded two outs in last night’s loss to the Phillies, the Nationals recalled right-hander Mason Thompson from Triple-A Rochester and optioned right-hander Jordan Weems to Rochester before today’s finale at Citizens Bank Park. “We made a move today. We sent Jordan down, brought up Mason

Austin Hays maintains his day-to-day status as he recovers from soreness in his side, a cautious approach to prevent a serious oblique injury. Hays was scheduled to take more swings in the cage this morning after hitting, running and throwing yesterday afternoon. He said he’s “trending in the right direction.” No problems with the increased activit

PHILADELPHIA – The Nationals will look to avoid a four-game sweep at the hands of the Phillies today before heading to the north side of Chicago tonight. Cory Abbott takes the mound for his third major league start after making his first start with the Nationals on Tuesday, when he pitched five shutout innings against the Mets. The right-hander’s N

The Orioles will try for back-to-back series sweeps this afternoon as they play their final game against the Pirates at Camden Yards. They’ve won five games in a row, are five above .500 and are one back in the wild card race. They also trail the third-place Rays by one game. Austin Hays is out of the lineup again with tightness in his side, though

I have mentioned a few times lately that not all days at the ballpark are created equal. Some are more special. We keep getting days like that around Birdland lately, and Saturday was sure one of them. To have Hall of Famers Brooks Robinson and Eddie Murray at the Yard was pretty awesome, for the fans and the Orioles team too. The ceremony for the

PHILADELPHIA – It’s a demanding job being a major league manager. All the pressure in the world lies on your shoulders. You don’t get enough credit when you win and you get all of the blame when you lose. For eight to nine months of the year, Davey Martinez has to worry about the 26 players he has on the Nationals’ active roster. He often even has

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde keeps learning more about this year’s team as it moves through the summer months. He’s making new discoveries, including how it handles difficult situations. And he marvels at it. Nothing seems to faze these guys. They just keep going forward. With heads lowered and expectations set high. “I think we’re a tough group,”