Orioles closer Félix Bautista is ready to return to the bullpen rotation. He said he feels good and could have pitched last night. Bautista was not available for Friday’s series-opening game with Boston, manager Brandon Hyde told reporters after that game, due to arm fatigue. “It was mostly just fatigue. But thankfully I’m feeling a lot better, tha

PHILADELPHIA – The forecast here is not good. It’s supposed to rain all day. The forecast tomorrow is somewhat better, though not guaranteed to be dry. That’s the only remaining common off-day for the Nationals and Phillies. In other words, this has the potential to be a mess, and we could be here for a while, then possibly coming back tomorrow. Wh

The Orioles need to flush yesterday’s 17-4 loss to the Red Sox and get ready for today’s series finale. They have plenty of water to do it. Rain is in the forecast all day. The Orioles surrendered 10 runs or more for the eighth time. The 17 runs and 21 hits were both season highs. Mike Baumann was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk this morning. The Or

It was a loss that was damaging to the Orioles' playoff hopes, but aren’t they all at this point? But a 17-4 loss felt every bit the blowout it was. The Orioles were down four runs in the first, seven runs in the fourth, trailed 10-3 after the fifth and needed outfielder Ryan McKenna to pitch to record the last out in the top of the ninth. It was b

One of the more jarring proclamations that I hear relating to rookie catcher Adley Rutschman is how he’s only going to get better. He isn’t a finished product. He’s just scratching the surface. He’s left indelible marks. Rutschman is the ninth player in major league history to record at least 40 extra-base hits and 50 walks in his first 89 career g

PHILADELPHIA – For the past three weeks, the Nationals had been playing a much more watchable brand of baseball, made possible in large part by a vast improvement in the field. Having spent the vast majority of the season trotting out the majors’ worst defense, the Nats have seen that problem area morph into a real strength since the arrival of 21-

During a season where right-hander Jordan Lyles has made numerous good starts for the Orioles – his ERA was 2.72 in his previous seven starts – today was clearly not one. His opponent was the Boston Red Sox. But it seemed it was also the impact of missing his last start due to a stomach virus. Scheduled to pitch during the doubleheader Monday again

PHILADELPHIA – Some news and notes before the Nationals take on the Phillies in the second game of this weekend’s series at Citizens Bank Park … * MacKenzie Gore is set to make a rehab start Sunday for Triple-A Rochester at Syracuse, his first game action since his acquisition from the Padres at the trade deadline. Gore, who has been on the 15-day

With a 3-2 series-opening win on Friday, led by a three-run rally in the sixth and a strong bullpen performance, the Orioles are in position to win another series with a victory either today or tomorrow. The Orioles (73-65) are four games behind Seattle for the final wild card spot as play begins today. They are 4.5 games back of Toronto and 5.5 be

PHILADELPHIA – After coming up short in Friday night’s series opener, the Nationals try to rediscover their winning ways tonight at Citizens Bank Park. They’ll need a better start from Erick Fedde than they got from Patrick Corbin, who despite a ridiculously low pitch count still gave up five runs on 12 hits in 6 1/3 innings during a 5-3 loss to th