PHOENIX – As he arrived at the mound at Chase Field late Sunday afternoon, Kyle Finnegan understood the magnitude of the moment, and the challenge he now faced. The Nationals held a 4-3 lead over the Diamondbacks, who had just loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth off Steve Cishek, who after recording the first out of the inning now handed t

The theories are plentiful and varied, with no expectations that actual evidence is going to surface. Three Orioles relievers threw pitches that were clocked at 100 mph or more during the first two games of the weekend series against the Yankees. Two experienced their first exposure to triple digits in the majors. Granted membership into the club.

PHOENIX – So little about the Nationals’ performance this afternoon at Chase Field was inspired. There were egregious outs run into on the bases, errors committed in the field, long innings defined by deep counts and walks issued. And yet when it really mattered in the end, the Nats found a way to do just enough to put themselves in position to win

The curveball that Dean Kremer fed Aaron Judge in the first inning today made the Yankees slugger look bad. Or at least human. Judge took his usual mighty cut, caught only air, and walked back to the dugout with a rare strikeout in the series. Kremer tried the same pitch in the third inning with a runner on base, and Judge destroyed it with the sam

PHOENIX – It seemed innocent enough, a solo homer by Victor Robles off Madison Bumgarner in the eighth inning for what proved to be the final run in the Nationals’ 7-2 loss to the Diamondbacks. Bumgarner, though, is ever mindful of what’s going on around him, especially when it involves someone from the opposing team hitting a home run off him. The

PHOENIX – The Nationals’ schedule this month has been unrelenting, and it will continue to be that way in the coming days, with series against the Dodgers, Cardinals and Mets next up. That made this weekend’s series with the Diamondbacks a potential ease-in for the Nats. Of course, that’s not how things have worked out so far. The Nationals have lo

The New York Yankees (65-31), who own the best record in the majors, have lost just five series all year, one already against the Orioles. The O's can win a second series this season versus the Yankees if they take the series finale today at Oriole Park. After Friday's 7-6 loss to New York, the Orioles fell behind 3-0 after four innings last night.

To keep rookie Adley Rutschman in the Orioles’ lineup this afternoon as the designated hitter, manager Brandon Hyde had to sit one of his starters. He chose outfielder Anthony Santander, who moved to the bench for the series finale against the Yankees. Santander leads the club with 16 home runs. He has five multi-hit games in his last 14. But someo

Earlier this season, when he wasn’t a hitter on a heater, the Orioles' Ramón Urías, had you interviewed him then, would have expressed complete confidence in his offense and that his stats would soon come around. This was when his OPS was .648 at the end of May. The underlying data about his contact rates, exit velocity and other numbers told him h

Trey Mancini is starting in right field today, with Adley Rutschman the designated hitter for the final game of the Orioles’ series against the Yankees at Camden Yards. Rutschman moves down from second to fifth in the order. He has 16 doubles since June 10. Tyler Nevin is starting at third base. Ramón Urías is batting .404/.440/.723 (19-for-47) wit