Adley Rutschman celebrated his return to the Orioles tonight. If Cedric Mullins passes him going the other way, he’s doing it with a bang.

Mullins and Coby Mayo hit back-to-back home runs in the second inning, Rutschman broke a tie with a two-run double in the third, and the Orioles kept unloading on Blue Jays pitching to win their third game in a row, 11-4, before an announced crowd of 20,176 at Camden Yards.

Zach Eflin lasted only 4 1/3 innings in what could be his last game with the Orioles, who improved to 48-58 with the trade deadline arriving at 6 p.m. Thursday. The Blue Jays have the best record in the majors at 63-44 but are 26-27 on the road.

Eflin wasn’t sharp and his luck wavered, but the Orioles supported him in every possible way. Runs were plentiful, and Mullins made a leaping catch at the center field fence to rob Nathan Lukes of a game-tying two-run homer in the fourth. Eflin stood frozen, the same look of disbelief that Trevor Rogers wore on Saturday after Mullins’ diving grab, and raised his cap.

Mullins landed with his back against the fence and with knees bent, as if sitting on an imaginary chair. He tossed the ball underhand to Ramón Laureano, who raced over from right field, and they jogged back to the dugout. One of them received a standing ovation.

HOUSTON – Travis Sykora, the Nationals’ top pitching prospect, needs Tommy John surgery after a recent MRI revealed a torn ulnar collateral ligament.

It’s a significant blow for the 21-year-old, who was trending toward being big league-ready sometime in 2026. Now he’s likely to miss most, if not all, of that season while recovering from the elbow surgery.

Sykora hadn’t pitched since July 5, when he departed his second start with Double-A Harrisburg after only one inning. Initial exams on his arm suggested he had not suffered a significant injury, and the organization’s medical staff decided to shut him down for two-to-three weeks before resuming a throwing program. A club source at the time compared the situation to that of fellow prospect Jarlin Susana, who recently returned to the mound after two months on the minor league injured list following his own shutdown period.

Sykora did not, however, get an MRI after first experiencing symptoms, according to multiple sources. That test was finally performed recently after the right-hander wasn’t showing signs of progress, with the results showing he actually had suffered a tear of the ulnar collateral ligament.

Surgery to reconstruct the ligament is now scheduled to take place in two weeks.

An MRI on closer Félix Bautista’s right shoulder was inconclusive, but he’s going to remain unavailable for a considerable period.

Bautista went on the 15-day injured list after throwing a season-high 34 pitches on July 20 in Tampa and experiencing a decline in velocity.

“There’s a lot of swelling in the shoulder, can’t quite make a determination quite yet or diagnose it,” said interim manager Tony Mansolino. “Once the swelling goes down enough to scan it again, then we’ll have more information, and that’s gonna be probably more weeks than days.”

Bautista underwent elbow reconstructive surgery in October 2023 and didn’t pitch again until 2025. He hasn’t recaptured the triple-digit heat that was common during his All-Star season, but he recorded 19 saves in 20 chances and had a 2.60 ERA in 35 games. He struck out 50 batters in 34 2/3 innings but also walked 23.

The need for a closer lessens with the Orioles in last place and approaching the trade deadline as sellers, but they want to remain competitive, and their options are limited with Bryan Baker dealt to the Rays and Gregory Soto to the Mets. Seranthony Domínguez and Andrew Kittredge also are trade possibilities.

HOUSTON – Hello from Daikin Park in downtown Houston. No, it’s no longer Minute Maid Park. The memories of October 2019 from this place, however, remain, regardless of the stadium’s name.

The Nationals kick off the second leg of their road trip tonight with the opener of a three-game series against the Astros. They just took two of three from the Twins in Minnesota, this after taking two of three from the Reds in D.C. Could they actually pull off three straight series victories? This one should be a stiffer challenge than the last two, especially with Astros ace Framber Valdez on the mound tonight.

Given that tough matchup against one of the best lefties in the league, Miguel Cairo has a very different looking lineup for this one. Most notably, James Wood is not playing for only the second time in his major league career. Wood has been in a significant slump (7-for-64, eight walks, 32 strikeouts over his last 17 games) so you can understand why Cairo may believe it’s a good time to give the young star a physical and mental breather.

Brad Lord, meanwhile, makes his second start since rejoining the rotation. After tossing four innings of one-run ball against Cincinnati, the rookie right-hander should be good to build up to a heavier workload. He threw 50 pitches in that game, so perhaps 65 or so tonight if all goes well?

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at HOUSTON ASTROS
Where: Daikin Park
Gametime: 8:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Indoors

The Orioles could peel more players off their roster this week, but they’ve added two from the injured list.

Catcher Adley Rutschman (oblique) and reliever Keegan Akin (shoulder) were reinstated this afternoon, as expected. The Orioles designated catcher Jacob Stallings for assignment and optioned right-hander Yaramil Hiraldo to Triple-A Norfolk.

The 40-man roster has 38 players.

The Blue Jays are in town for a four-game series, including Tuesday’s split doubleheader. Rutschman is expected to catch for the first time since June 19 in Tampa. He has a .993 OPS in 47 career games against Toronto, the highest by any catcher all-time in a minimum 175 plate appearances, according to STATS.

Tyler O’Neill has homered in three consecutive games. Yesterday’s homer had an exit velocity of 113.6 mph, the hardest of his career.

The Orioles have made the following roster moves:

• Reinstated LHP Keegan Akin (left shoulder inflammation) from the 15-day Injured List.
• Reinstated C Adley Rutschman (left oblique strain) from the 10-day Injured List.
• Optioned RHP Yaramil Hiraldo to Triple-A Norfolk.
• Designated C Jacob Stallings for assignment.

The Orioles’ 40-man roster currently has 38 players.

MINNEAPOLIS – The Nationals departed the Twin Cities after Sunday’s victory with a roster that experienced only one change over the course of the weekend, with Jose Tena replacing the traded Amed Rosario.

By the time the team departs Houston following Wednesday’s game, there’s a decent chance that roster will have undergone even more change.

With Major League Baseball’s trade deadline now fast approaching, we’ve reached that point in the season where anything and everything can happen, and usually does. Though the deadline doesn’t arrive until 6 p.m. Eastern Thursday (an off-day for the Nationals), plenty of deals will be consummated these next three days as teams look to get a jump on the process and add key players for a few extra games.

We’ve known for a while the Nats were going to be active. Once they endured through a miserable 7-19 month of June, and certainly once ownership made the decision July 6 to fire general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Davey Martinez, it became clear they would once again be deadline sellers and not buyers for the fifth consecutive year.

Some of these recent deadline periods have included only a handful of trade candidates. This one, though, includes a bunch, because the Nationals entered the weekend with seven veteran players on expiring contracts: Rosario, designated hitter Josh Bell, infielder Paul DeJong, starter Michael Soroka and relievers Kyle Finnegan, Andrew Chafin and Luis Garcia. Rosario was dealt to the Yankees late Saturday night for a pair of prospects. The others all have a good chance of being dealt at some point over the next 82 hours.

The trade deadline is 6 p.m. Thursday and I’m told that MASN is a seller only when it comes to me. Make them an offer.

A reporter-to-be-named later or cash considerations should get it done.

A straight-up for Chad Bradford is being discussed, according to an industry source with direct knowledge. He actually was at the ballpark over the weekend to sign autographs. At least, that's their story. I'm still suspicious. 

Players wonder how much the roster is going to change in the next few days. They try to block it out, but how is that possible? Relievers Bryan Baker and Gregory Soto already left and others are going to follow. They know it.

“Definitely a new experience for me, because the past two years, we’ve obviously won a lot more games,” said shortstop Gunnar Henderson. “Definitely a new experience. It’s a weird one, because obviously, don’t know who, when or if. It’s just kind of a crappy situation.

MINNEAPOLIS – Jake Irvin had been looking forward to this day for more than a year, from the moment Major League Baseball released its 2025 schedule during the 2024 All-Star break. The Bloomington, Minn., native had just missed pitching at Target Field the last time the Nationals played here in April 2023, called up to make his big league debut in D.C. less than two weeks later.

And when the time finally came this afternoon, Irvin wasn’t going to waste the opportunity.

With seven innings of two-run ball, Minnesota’s own gave a gathering of friends and family in attendance that numbered in the hundreds plenty of reason to cheer. And with a second straight offensive surge from a lineup that had been shut out in its two previous games, the Nationals cruised to a 7-2 victory over the Twins.

That’s now four of six for the Nats over the last week, winners of back-to-back series for the first time in nearly a month. They’re still 19 games under .500, poised to deal away several more veterans before Thursday’s trade deadline. But they are at least starting to play better baseball after a dismal start to their summer that cost their longtime general manager and manager their jobs.

"We're playing with energy. We're doing the little things the right way," said interim manager Miguel Cairo, now 6-9 since replacing Davey Martinez. "We got men on third twice and we got RBIs. So we're doing the little things the right way, what we're supposed to do as a team. It's been good. We're going to keep doing it. We're going to keep preaching that."

Tomoyuki Sugano made his 20^th major league start today, unsure whether No. 21 will come with the Orioles.

Sugano is a trade possibility with the deadline four days away. He didn’t treat this afternoon’s game as an audition for scouts. He wanted to give the Orioles a chance to win the series, the job he’s paid to perform. What happens next will reveal itself later.

Dylan Carlson moved the Orioles ahead in the second inning with a two-run single, Tyler O’Neill homered for the third day in a row, and Sugano tied his major league high with eight strikeouts in a 5-1 victory over the Rockies before an announced crowd of 16,407 at Camden Yards.

Sugano held the Rockies to one run and four hits in six innings for his eighth quality start, and the Orioles are 47-58 with the first-place Blue Jays coming to town.

O’Neill’s two-run shot off Austin Gomber in the third traveled 433 feet to left field. His home run total has grown to six, with good health allowing him to get extra work in the cage and fix his swing.

MINNEAPOLIS – Dylan Crews is ready to begin his long-awaited rehab assignment.

Crews, who has missed the last two months with a strained left oblique muscle, will join Triple-A Rochester to begin playing games Tuesday, the final step before his eventual return to the Nationals’ active roster. The Red Wings play on the road this week in Charlotte.

The club has taken a cautious approach with the 23-year-old outfielder, bringing him along slowly and making sure he crossed off every item on his checklist before clearing him to play in games. This last week offered him his first chance to face live pitching in the cage to go along with the regular rounds of batting practice, defensive drills and baserunning exercises he had already been participating prior to that.

“I know it took maybe a little bit longer than some people would’ve wanted it to,” he said. “But we’re trying to make sure it’s all right, and that way we don’t have to restart and have to do this whole thing all over again.”

Crews initially hurt himself on a checked swing May 20, landing on the 15-day injured list the following afternoon. He was transferred to the 60-day IL earlier this week, a procedural move needed to open a spot on the 40-man roster for left-hander Konnor Pilkington. The Nats will need to clear another 40-man spot before Crews can be activated.

The Orioles have multiple roster moves coming that aren’t tied to the trade deadline.

Catcher Adley Rutschman is expected to be in Monday night’s lineup against the Blue Jays at Camden Yards, and left-hander Keegan Akin should be in the bullpen. Their injury rehab assignments with Triple-A Norfolk ended last night.

Rutschman caught in back-to-back games to check the final box. He went 2-for-15 with a double, but plate results didn’t influence his timeline.

Jacob Stallings or Alex Jackson will be the corresponding move for Rutschman. Jackson is in today’s lineup. Stallings caught Trevor Rogers last night, when the left-hander tossed seven scoreless innings and gave up just one hit.

Akin retired both batters faced last night, and he can give the Orioles a second left-handed reliever with Grant Wolfram. Yaramil Hiraldo was recalled yesterday and retired the side in order in the eighth inning. Corbin Martin, Colin Selby and Kade Strowd also are in the ‘pen.

MINNEAPOLIS – It turned out to be an eventful Saturday night for the Nationals. They beat the Twins, 9-3, snapping out of their two-game offensive funk in a big way. Jacob Young had to depart early after getting hit on his right index finger while trying to bunt, and Alex Call came off the bench to drive in three runs in his place. Then the club traded Amed Rosario to the Yankees for a 26-year-old pitcher and an 18-year-old outfielder at night’s end.

What does today have in store? The Nats will have another shot at winning a series, and they’ll have Jake Irvin on the mound for what will be a very meaningful start for the right-hander. The Minnesota native has been looking forward to his first big league start at Target Field since the day the 2025 schedule was released last summer, and that day has finally arrived. He’s going to have a lot of family and friends in attendance. It’s up to him to control those emotions and go out and pitch well.

The Nationals lineup will be facing an opener in Cole Sands. The Twins right-hander shouldn’t go more than two innings, tops. It remains to be seen how Rocco Baldelli manages the rest of the game. With Rosario off to the Bronx and Young day-to-day with a finger contusion, the Nats have recalled infielder José Tena to give them some more depth for the time being.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at MINNESOTA TWINS
Where: Target Field
Gametime: 2:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 90 degrees, wind 12 mph out to left field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
LF James Wood
2B Luis García Jr.
DH Josh Bell
1B Nathaniel Lowe
CF Alex Call
RF Daylen Lile
3B Paul DeJong
C Riley Adams

Jordan Westburg is leading off and playing second base for today’s series finale against the Rockies. Jackson Holliday is on the bench.

Coby Mayo is at first base, pretty much assured against left-handed starters. Dylan Carlson is in left field, Ramón Laureano is in right and Tyler O’Neill is the designated hitter.

Colton Cowser and Ryan O'Hearn join Holliday on the bench. 

Tomoyuki Sugano makes his 20^th major league start. He’s posted a 4.54 ERA and 1.350 WHIP in 103 innings.

Sugano had a 3.00 ERA through April, but a 3.48 ERA in five starts in May, but he registered a 6.20 ERA, 1.743 WHIP and .330 opponents’ average in five June starts and has allowed 12 earned runs (13 total) and 20 hits this month in 14 1/3 innings over three outings.

Cedric Mullins must rely on his own organization to feel the love for his glove.

Interim manager Tony Mansolino spoke again yesterday about “the eye test,” just as his predecessor always did. Just as most people do who watch him on a nightly basis.

Mansolino praised Mullins yesterday while the metrics continued to pummel him. The Fielding Bible calculated his defensive runs saved (DRS) at minus-17, the worst of his career, the worst in baseball. And then, Mullins bolted into left-center field in the third inning, the angle taking him toward the fence, and laid out to snag Orlando Arcia’s 105 mph line drive.

Statcast calculated the catch probability at 75 percent. Mullins, it seems, can’t catch a break.

He could scale the warehouse and break glass to rob a home run and be downgraded for the angle.

MINNEAPOLIS – The first of several likely dominoes to fall before Thursday’s trade deadline came down late tonight when the Nationals dealt infielder Amed Rosario to the Yankees for 26-year-old right-hander Clayton Beeter and 18-year-old outfielder Browm Martinez.

The trade, which was officially announced shortly after the Nats’ 9-3 victory over the Twins, sends Rosario to a perennial contender for the stretch run in exchange for two younger players. It’s the first trade completed by interim general manager Mike DeBartolo.

“When I heard where I was going, I kind of didn’t believe it,” Rosario, who spent the first four years of his career in New York playing for the Mets, said via interpreter Mauricio Ortiz. “I don’t know what happened in that moment. … At some point, I kind of knew I was going to get traded. But I didn’t know it was going to be today.”

Beeter, rated as the Yankees’ 20th best prospect by MLB Pipeline, has five games of big league experience over the last two seasons but was immediately optioned to Triple-A Rochester after the trade was announced. A second round pick of the Dodgers in 2020 who was sent to New York two years later for Joey Gallo, Beeter has been a starter through most of his minor league career but was pitching out of the bullpen this season. Over 323 2/3 total minor league innings, he has a 3.64 ERA, 1.319 WHIP and 13 strikeouts per nine innings. The red flag: He has walked 5.1 batters per nine innings.

Martinez only signed his first professional contract last year and has played in the Dominican Summer League since. The right-handed-hitting outfielder has played 56 total games over parts of two seasons, batting .320 with a .426 on-base percentage, three homers, 35 RBIs and 34 stolen bases.

MINNEAPOLIS – Alex Call was watching from the dugout as Jacob Young attempted to bunt in the top of the third tonight. He saw his teammate foul that bunt off, but in the process get struck by the pitch on his right index finger, leaving him shaking his hand in obvious pain.

So while the Nationals tended to Young and ultimately escorted him off the field with what the club termed a contusion, Call readied himself to take over the at-bat with an 0-2 count already in place.

Call promptly delivered the Nats’ first run-scoring hit in 96 hours. Then for good measure he launched an opposite-field homer four innings later to help lead his team to a 9-3 victory over the Twins in the closest thing the outfielder can have to a homecoming game in the major leagues.

Though he will go out of his way to make sure you know he’s not from Minnesota, Call is from nearby River Falls, Wisc., just on the other side of the Mississippi River. And if ever there was a night to come through off the bench, this was most certainly it.

"I take the best of Minnesota and the best of Wisconsin," he said. "I'm a Packer fan, but I was a Twins fan. This is a really special area, and I'm a Midwest kid. The River Falls community is where I'm from. It's shaped me into who I am. It's a part of me, and it's fun to be back here."

The trade deadline can’t touch Trevor Rogers and Tyler O’Neill. They aren’t on expiring contracts. They aren’t expected to go anywhere except on the team charter.

Cedric Mullins is a pending free agent and could be moved. Fans seem to be cheering him a little louder these days. Twice tonight, for sure.

The Orioles didn’t make any deals and all three players, controllable and vulnerable, stepped up in an 18-0 thrashing of the Rockies, which set the club record for largest shutout win. The previous mark was 17-0 against the White Sox on July 27, 1969.

Rogers allowed one hit over seven scoreless innings, retiring 20 of 22 batters. O’Neill hit his second homer in two nights, a two-run shot off Colorado starter Antonio Senzatela, and reached base four times. Mullins made a spectacular diving catch and belted a three-run homer. And the Orioles evened the series before an announced crowd of 20,188 at Camden Yards.

Thirteen batters came to the plate in a nine-run seventh, with Gunnar Henderson doubling twice and driving in two and Coby Mayo contributing a walk and two-run double off the bench, and the Orioles improved to 46-58. Kyle Farmer went from designated hitter to emergency pitcher in the eighth and Alex Jackson greeted him with a pinch-hit homer.

MINNEAPOLIS – Luis Garcia didn’t even realize it until he got back to the dugout after throwing his final pitch in the bottom of the seventh Friday night.

Someone mentioned to the Nationals reliever the velocity of that final pitch: a fastball to the Twins’ Ryan Jeffers, who grounded out to short: 100.7 mph.

“I wasn’t looking,” he said. “I was just trying to throw strikes.”

Garcia did throw strikes during his 1-2-3 inning at Target Field, with seven of his nine pitches qualifying. But most notable to anyone paying attention were his velocity readings on the stadium radar gun. Eyes opened when he reached 99.9 mph on one offering. Then before that one had time to fully register, he uncorked that 100.7 mph heater to Jeffers.

“It’s the hardest I’ve thrown since ’22, I think,” Garcia said.

The Orioles returned to having eight relievers in their bullpen today by optioning infielder Jeremiah Jackson and recalling right-hander Yaramil Hiraldo.

Hiraldo made his major league debut on May 27 against the Cardinals and tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings in his lone appearance.

Grant Wolfram remains the only left-hander in the ‘pen, but interim manager Tony Mansolino expects Keegan Akin to be reinstated from the injured list on Monday. Akin is pitching again tonight with Triple-A Norfolk.

Ryan O’Hearn is back at first base tonight and Coby Mayo heads to the bench after homering last night.

O’Hearn turns 32 today. He could become the third Oriole to homer on his birthday in the last 10 years after Ramón Urias last summer and Matt Wieters in 2016.