ATLANTA – Less than an hour before today’s scheduled first pitch at Truist Park, Nelson Cruz was in shallow left field, stretching, exercising and testing out his tight groin with Nationals executive director of medical services Harvey Sharman. He didn’t know yet if he’d be playing this afternoon or not after sitting out Tuesday night’s game. Then

ATLANTA – It doesn’t really mean much in the larger scheme, but in your mind, wouldn’t a 3-4 start to this season sound a whole lot better than a 2-5 start? Especially given the competition they’ve faced, if the Nationals emerge one game under .500 from this gantlet, you’d have to consider that a modest success, right? Well, they have a chance to d

ATLANTA – On an otherwise dreadful Tuesday night for the Nationals, Juan Soto reminded everyone why every at-bat he takes, no matter the score at the time, remains must-see TV.   In the top of the sixth, with his team well on its way to a 16-4 drubbing at the hands of the Braves, Soto stepped to the plate against rookie right-hander Bryce Elder and

Cedric Mullins talked in spring training about trying to concentrate on the middle of the field, an approach that makes him a much larger threat at the plate. He’s still trying, and the improvements are loud. The exhibition numbers illustrated his struggles: five hits in 30 at-bats with 11 strikeouts. Mullins began last night’s game with only three

It was a frustrating loss for the Orioles on Tuesday night. They went 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position and allowed three unearned runs in a one-run loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. They had plenty of chances to make plays to turn a loss into a win but could not do it.   So they have started the year going 1-4 and have played four games decid

ATLANTA – It’s two starts during the first week of a season that opened on the heels of a condensed spring training. Nobody’s about to draw any definitive conclusions about someone just yet based on such a small sample under these circumstances. But on the heels of a bad 2020 season, then an even worse 2021 season, the fact this question already ha

The rotation has taken its first full turn of the 2022 season, and the Orioles don’t really know more than what they understood when it began. John Means and Jordan Lyles are the two veterans at the top. Former Rule 5 pick Tyler Wells is getting his starter’s groove back but working as the front end of a tandem. Left-hander Bruce Zimmermann – he’s

ATLANTA – Not that there was any reason to question it following Monday night’s performance, but Josh Rogers will remain in the Nationals rotation for the time being, lined up to make another start this weekend in Pittsburgh. Summoned from Triple-A Rochester to take the No. 5 spot in the Nats rotation after Aníbal Sánchez came down with a neck inju

After a six-hit shutout on opening day in Baltimore, the Orioles tonight look for their second win in a row against the Milwaukee Brewers, a team that has won the National League Central twice in the last four years. The Brewers won 95 games with a first-place finish last season and won 96 games in finishing atop their division in 2018.   Milw

Orioles reliever Dillon Tate inherited a runner from Mike Baumann in yesterday’s home opener, gave up a groundball single to bring the go-ahead run to the plate and retired the next two batters. He was credited with a hold, and the bullpen kept Milwaukee scoreless over the last five frames. But something didn’t look right. Tate’s velocity was down,