DETROIT – First baseman Ryan O’Hearn delivered the lineup card to home plate this afternoon. The Orioles couldn’t resort to sacrificing a chicken, especially with the price of eggs, but they needed to change their ways. They had to shed the bad mojo that tampered with their lineup, roster and win total.

They’re open to suggestions, because nothing they’ve tried is working.

Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal struck out 11 batters in six scoreless innings against a lineup missing three regulars, and the Tigers completed their weekend sweep with a 7-0 victory at Comerica Park.

The Orioles (10-17) hadn’t been swept since the Cubs won three games from July 9-11. They’re seven below .500 for the first time since July 4, 2022, and they’ve got the first-place Yankees coming to Baltimore.

“Every night, box scores aren’t going in our favor,” said Dean Kremer. “It’s tough to stay mentally engaged once things kind of start spiraling. But that’s the name of the job and being able to find our way out of that and keeping things positive. We have guys in the clubhouse who are plenty positive and try to pick us up. We’re going to be OK by the end of this.” 

Riley Adams knows the drill at this point. With Keibert Ruiz healthy and productive, and with plenty of off-days built into the Nationals schedule throughout April, there simply aren’t going to be many playing opportunities for the team’s backup catcher.

Adams today starts for only the fourth time in 28 games to begin the season. Ruiz has started the other 24, the most games played by any catcher in the majors to date.

If you’re looking for someone to complain about the arrangement, you’re not going to get it.

“There’s no awkwardness whatsoever,” Adams said. “We both have jobs to do. We both want to win games. We both want to get our pitchers through games and put zeros on the scoreboard. To me, it doesn’t matter who’s catching. We’re a collective.”

Adams has been through this for more than three seasons now. From 2022-24, he played between 41-48 games, taking between 130-158 plate appearances.

DETROIT – The Orioles will try to avoid a three-game sweep today with Dean Kremer on the mound and Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubel providing the opposition.

It doesn’t get any easier.

Wins might come more regularly if the Orioles can improve their production with runners in scoring position. The Orioles are 6-for-51 with RISP and have left 47 on base since Easter.

The Orioles rank 25th in the majors with a .217 average and 23rd in OPS at .636 with RISP.

The lineup is missing Adley Rutschman, Jordan Westburg and Cedric Mullins. Rutschman was hit on the right hand in Game 2 while blocking a pitch and has some soreness and swelling. Westburg has a sore hamstring that began bothering him yesterday. Mullins has been ill the past few days and played 18 innings yesterday.

It seems that runs will be at a premium throughout this four-game series, given how good the Mets pitching staff has been as a whole and how good the Nationals rotation has been to date. We saw it in Friday night’s opener, aside from the eighth and ninth innings. And we certainly saw it Saturday in New York’s 2-0 victory, in which Francisco Alvarez’s early home run represented the entirety of the offensive output in the game.

On paper, today’s game looks like another pitchers’ duel. Mitchell Parker has quietly been one of the best starters in the majors to date, with a 3-1 record, 1.39 ERA and (get this) a 1.6 bWAR that leads all major league pitchers. The left-hander has been consistent, he’s provided length and he has kept damage to an absolute minimum. It would be a huge boost for the Nationals if he can continue that trend today.

Tylor Megill, meanwhile, has been outstanding in his own right, the owner of a 1.09 ERA through five starts. That number is maybe a bit misleading, because the right-hander has allowed four unearned runs to go along with three earned runs so far. But he’s still been very good, striking out more than a batter per inning. The Nats have got to find a way to hit the ball in the air against him, especially their left-handed bats, in an attempt to take advantage of the strong wind that’s blowing out to right field today.

NEW YORK METS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 65 degrees, wind 18 mph left field to right field

METS
SS Francisco Lindor
RF Juan Soto
1B Pete Alonso
3B Mark Vientos
DH Starling Marte
LF Brandon Nimmo
C Luis Torrens
2B Luisangel Acuña
CF Tyrone Taylor

DETROIT – Tyler O’Neill tried to play through the neck soreness and had to succumb.

The Orioles put O’Neill on the 10-day injured list yesterday. He’s hoping to be back when eligible to return.

“That’s obviously the goal,” he said last night. “Just, unfortunately, dealing with some pain and immobility for the better part of a week. It’s just better to get it dealt with now and not have it lingering around over the course of the season.

“Hopefully, we can knock it out and be back out there as soon as possible.”

The issue began on the last homestand, leading to O’Neill’s 15^th career trip to the injured list but the first involving his neck.

The Orioles have made the following roster move:

• Returned 27^th man RHP Colin Selby to Triple-A Norfolk after tonight’s doubleheader.

DETROIT – The bullpen gates swung open and Charlie Morton jogged onto the field, glove tucked under his arm and his routine scrambled. This wasn’t the typical starter’s stroll to the mound to begin warming for the first inning. The 41-year-old Morton was reliving the final game of his rookie season.

Manager Brandon Hyde chose to use Morton in relief after Keegan Akin went 1 2/3 scoreless innings in Game 2 of the doubleheader against the Tigers. Perhaps a change would do him good.

The results were mixed, which leaves unclear the immediate plans for him. The outcome for the Orioles was bad.

Riley Green hit a three-run homer and Morton walked five batters, but he had better results over 3 2/3 innings with the bar lowered in the Orioles’ 6-2 loss to the Tigers that completed the sweep at Comerica Park.

Today’s results left the Orioles with a 10-16 record, the first time they’ve fallen six games below .500 since July 5, 2022. They’re 1-5 going back to Sunday’s Easter egg hurt.

On a day in which they got another quality (if abbreviated) start from Brad Lord and then a bunch of zeroes from members of their bullpen who haven’t put up many of those this season, the Nationals gave themselves a golden opportunity to beat the best team in baseball for the second time in 24 hours.

Surprisingly effective pitching is great, but it does still take some modicum of offense to win a ballgame, and the Nats had very little of that during a 2-0 loss to the Mets on a rainy, then windy, Saturday on South Capitol Street.

Despite holding New York’s potent lineup in check aside from one early homer off Lord, the Nationals missed their chance to follow up Friday night’s inspired win with another one before a crowd of 33,867 that weathered two early rain delays followed by strong wind gusts during a day game that turned into a night game.

“You look at what’s going on, you think we’re going to snap out of it and get a couple of hits,” manager Davey Martinez said. “It just didn’t happen today with guys on base. We got some hits, but not any big hits, timely hits.”

The Nats totaled seven hits (all singles) and two walks against Clay Holmes and a quintet of Mets relievers. They took only two at-bats with runners in scoring position, both in the bottom of the seventh.

The Orioles have made the following roster moves:

• Recalled LHP Grant Wolfram from Triple-A Norfolk. He will wear number 86.
• Optioned RHP Brandon Young to Triple-A Norfolk.
• Added RHP Colin Selby from Triple-A Norfolk to serve as the 27^th man for tonight’s doubleheader.

DETROIT – The Orioles began the day with an injury update that removed a second outfielder from the roster. They sent a rookie to the mound for his second major league start in the first game of a doubleheader and watched him walk five batters in two innings.

A tall order against the first-place Tigers kept growing, along with an organization’s collective frustration.

Brandon Young battled through 4 2/3 innings in a 4-3 loss in Game 1 at Comerica Park. He gave the Orioles a chance with a later departure than anticipated and only two runs on the board when he left, but the bullpen had to shoulder another heavy load.

Bryan Baker let his first inherited runner score and the Orioles, unable to win back-to-back games for a second time, fell to 10-15.

Young was charged with three runs to give him a 6.23 ERA in 8 2/3 major league innings. He allowed four hits and struck out six, and his walk total held at five with all of them condensed into 1 2/3.

Scan the stat page and you’ll find that Lucas Sims, Eduardo Salazar and Colin Poche rank among the Nationals’ leaders in appearances as the season’s first month winds down. Then consider none of the three has pitched in at least four days, and you realize just how much Davey Martinez was counting on all of them earlier this month before each struggled.

Poche (owner of a 15.00 ERA and 3.333 WHIP in 10 games) hasn’t pitched since Tuesday. Salazar (owner of an 8.31 ERA and 2.192 WHIP in 11 games) hasn’t pitched since Sunday. Sims (owner of a 15.26 ERA and 2.609 WHIP in 12 games) hasn’t pitched since Saturday, a full week.

Nothing’s physically wrong with any of them, Martinez insisted today. He just hasn’t found the right situation to call upon any of them during this stretch.

“They’re good,” the manager said. “We sat up last night for a while and said they’ve got to get back in the game. I don’t want them sitting for a week. We’ll get them back in there.”

The hidden message in there: While the Nationals began the season counting on Poche, Salazar and Sims to pitch meaningful innings, their performances have dropped them out of contention for anything resembling high-leverage spots, of which there have been many over the last week while the team won five of its last seven games.

How wild was Friday night’s 5-4, walk-off win for the Nationals? So wild that a controversial triple play was like the No. 4 storyline of the game. That’s wild.

The Nats happily took that win, their fifth in their last seven games. They’re back to two games under .500 at 12-14, actually only a game behind the Phillies for second place in the NL East. All things considered, that’s not a bad place to be during the final weekend of April.

They’ll look to continue their winning ways later this afternoon with the second game of four against the division-leading Mets (weather permitting). It’ll be Brad Lord on the mound for his fourth major league start. He has yet to complete five innings or exceed 65 pitches, but hopefully his arm is ready for that kind of workload by now, because the Nationals could certainly use some length to take a little pressure off the bullpen.

After a decent showing Friday night against Kodai Senga, the Nats' lineup gets another tough challenge in Clay Holmes, the former Yankees closer who is now starting in Flushing. Holmes has actually seen his strikeout rate go up despite the move from the bullpen to the rotation, with an eye-popping 11.9 per nine innings so far this year. His walk rate is also up, though, to 4.6 per nine innings. The Nationals need to be patient today, something they haven’t necessarily done all that well this season.

NEW YORK METS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Chance of rain, 74 degrees, wind 15 mph left field to right field

DETROIT – The Orioles couldn’t wait any longer on Tyler O’Neill.

Prior to today’s doubleheader, the Orioles placed O’Neill on the 10-day injured list with inflammation in his neck and recalled outfielder Dylan Carlson from Triple-A Norfolk.

The move is backdated to Thursday and O’Neill is eligible to be reinstated on May 4.

“He’s been dealing with that probably since last week,” said manager Brandon Hyde.

“When he’s able to come off the IL, we’re expecting him to not miss any more time.”

Tyler O’Neill is out of the Orioles’ Game 1 lineup today as he continues to receive treatment for neck discomfort.

Outfielder Dylan Carlson is on the taxi squad. He didn’t play yesterday in Triple-A Norfolk’s doubleheader.

Reliever Colin Selby also is on the taxi squad. The Orioles won’t announce their 27^th man until the conclusion of Game 1.

Adley Rutschman and Ryan Mountcastle also are on the bench. Jordan Westburg remains the designated hitter. Heston Kjerstad is in left field and Rámon Laureano is in right.

Jackson Holliday is the second baseman.

DETROIT – Charlie Morton is having trouble with the curve.

Game 2 of today’s split doubleheader against the Tigers presents Morton with another opportunity to spin his season in the right direction. He’s gone 0-5 with a 10.89 ERA and 2.226 WHIP in 20 2/3 innings, and the Orioles can’t promise an extended run of starts.

The opponent could provide the cure. Morton hasn’t allowed an earned run to the Tigers in his last 23 2/3 innings, one of the longest streaks against them since 1995, according to STATS. It began in May 2017 and has continued through June 2023. Derek Lowe owns the longest stretch in the Wild Card era at 33 1/3, followed by Mariano Rivera (27 2/3), Jamie Moyer (27), Jon Garland (26) and Sean Lowe (24).

Morton will grasp onto any possible advantage. He’s the third pitcher to go 0-5 with a 10.00 ERA in his first five appearances with a team, per STATS. Jeff Weaver lost his first five starts and posted a 15.35 ERA with the Mariners in 2007 and Jason Marquis was 0-5 with a 14.33 ERA with the Nationals in 2010.

In five starts since signing for $15 million, Morton has allowed 31 hits and 25 runs with 15 walks in 20 2/3 innings. He hadn’t allowed four-plus earned runs in his first five starts in his previous 17 major league seasons, and his 10.89 ERA is the highest over any five-game span in a minimum 20 innings. It’s also the second-highest in a pitcher’s first five starts with the Orioles after Ty Blach’s 11.32 ERA in 2019.

When we look back on it days, weeks, months, even years from now, Friday night’s 5-4 win over the Mets may seem like just an ordinary divisional victory for the Nationals. But those who watched and lived it know it was so much more.

After a 3-0 lead vanished in the eighth inning, what had started as a positive night had suddenly turned a heartbreaking one with the Nats down by one run with only six outs to go.

But the Nationals prevailed with a ninth-inning rally, thanks in large part to the bottom of the order and the team’s young stars. It was all capped off by the first walk-off hit of James Wood’s young career.

So much happened last night, it couldn’t possibly be processed in one post. Let’s take some time to revisit some of the finer points of the Nats’ best win of the season to date …

Jake Irvin shows toughness in strong start
Although it is easy to forget, we should remember that the Nats almost lost their starting pitcher to injury two batters into the game.

The Nationals’ home schedule has been difficult on paper to date. All five opponents who have come to D.C., including the Mets for this weekend’s wraparound series, entered the year with high aspirations of playing in October. And all five, with the exception of the Orioles, started today above .500.

The combined record of the Phillies, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, Orioles and Mets entering today was 71-53, good for a .573 winning percentage. The Nats’ record against those first four daunting opponents: 7-5, good for a .583 winning percentage.

This young Nationals squad has done what they said they would do from the start of spring training: Show their stuff against the top dogs in the league.

And just when they thought their eighth victory against a tough opponent was snatched away from them, this young Nationals group put together a ninth-inning rally to walk off the Mets 5-4 in a truly wild game in the District.

“A little tick for tack,” said manager Davey Martinez after one of the craziest wins in his career. “I'm proud of the boys. They fought. We talk about that all the time. We played hard for 27 outs and we fought. Man, I'll tell you right now, CJ (Abrams, who scored the winning run) was hauling ass. He really was. I don't know how else to explain it, but that was awesome to see.”

Cade Cavalli took the mound for his second rehab start Thursday night while starting the season on the 15-day injured list and pitched to some very encouraging results.

Moved up to Double-A Harrisburg, the right-hander completed five scoreless innings with two hits, one walk and four strikeouts on an efficient 69 pitches, 43 of which were strikes.

“Very good. He threw the ball exceptionally well,” Nationals manager Davey Martinez said ahead of his team’s opener against the Mets. “I think his average velo was up to about 96 (mph). He threw the ball really well. Curveball was very good. He was trying to land it for strikes; he did that very well. So he's just building himself up. He's doing well.”

Cavalli’s first rehab start, as he continues to build his way back from March 2023 Tommy John surgery, came on April 19 with Single-A Fredericksburg. On that night, he completed four shutout innings with one hit, two walks, three strikeouts on 46 pitches, 29 strikes.

When asked where he would like to see Cavalli’s fastball velocity to be during these rehab starts, Martinez referenced the famous signs at last year’s spring training that hung in the bullpen and read, “I don’t care how fast you throw ball four.”

DETROIT - The Orioles won’t begin their three-game series against the Tigers tonight, with the opener postponed due to inclement weather in the forecast.

The teams will play a day-night doubleheader on Saturday. The first game will start at 1:10 p.m., and the second game is scheduled for 6:10 p.m.

So much for a free night.

Neither team posted its lineup today, perhaps in anticipation of the postponement. The tarp is on the field and popup storms are anticipated.

This is the second postponement for the Orioles in 2025. Their April 11 game against the Blue Jays at Camden Yards became part of a split-doubleheader on July 29.

Monday, April 28

Orioles vs. Yankees | Orioles.com/Tickets