DETROIT - Looking for wins and now two games back in the American League East race, the Orioles play at Comerica Park tonight. They open a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers, Major League Baseball's winningest club since Aug. 11.

The O's lineup tonight shows Gunnar Henderson leading off, Cedric Mullins batting third and Adley Rutschman hitting fourth. Eloy Jiménez is the DH and Jacskon Holliday is batting ninth at second base. 

Yes, the Tigers (75-72) are a hot team and they are pushing for wins too. They begin play tonight 3.5 games behind the Twins for the final American League wild-card playoff spot.

Detroit has won four of five and 13 of 19 games. The Tigers lead MLB in going 20-9 since Aug. 11.

Best MLB records since that date:

It’s too late for Keibert Ruiz’s season totals to become respectable. The Nationals catcher dug himself into such a deep hole in April and May, he simply wasn’t going to be able to climb all the way back and finish with offensive numbers that look decent on the back of his baseball card.

But anyone who has watched Ruiz over the entirety of the season can see he’s a much better hitter now than he was several months ago. He has progressively improved, and the version he’s put there of himself the last few weeks has been the best version of him.

“The way he’s playing right now – everything, defense, hitting – he’s done way better,” manager Davey Martinez said Thursday. “And he’s gotten progressively better every month after the All-Star break.”

That’s not entirely true. Ruiz was slightly better in May than he was in June, slightly better in July than he was in August. But the overall improvement most definitely is there, from a .488 OPS in March and April to a .554 OPS in May and June to a .679 OPS in July and August. And now, through the first 12 days of September, he boasts a .958 OPS built on the strength of a 12-for-36 hot streak and seven extra-base hits.

Ruiz delivered his sixth double of the month during Thursday night’s loss to the Marlins. He has been hitting the ball with more authority, especially to right field, and not chasing pitches out of the zone quite as regularly as he did during the season’s first half.

A Nationals club that has owned the Marlins this season looked ready to keep that trend going tonight when it stormed out to a quick three-run lead against an unheralded opposing starter while watching its own starter cruise along for six innings barely breaking a sweat along the way.

It’s not quite that simple to win ballgames in the major leagues, of course, no matter the quality of opponent. You still need to pitch well for nine innings, hit for more than one inning and play clean defense all night.

And the Nats did none of those things during what wound up a disheartening 6-3 loss to Miami.

Despite an at-times dominant start from Mitchell Parker and the aforementioned early three-run lead, the Nationals fell flat the rest of the way. They didn’t score again after the bottom of the first. They committed three errors, two of them directly leading to three unearned runs. And they didn’t get the outs they needed from Derek Law during a decisive top of the eighth that flipped the score in the Marlins’ favor.

All of which added up to only their second loss in 10 head-to-head games this season against the last-place Marlins, this one played before a sparse crowd of 13,299 on Thursday night in September.

Jose A. Ferrer had already faced the minimum three batters required of him in the top of the eighth Wednesday night. And now, with two on and Marcell Ozuna stepping to the plate representing the tying run, no one would’ve batted an eyelash had Davey Martinez summoned a right-hander from his bullpen in place of Ferrer.

Martinez instead decided to stick with the 24-year-old left-hander, believing this was an opportunity to see how he handled a big spot against a big hitter.

“That was his moment,” the Nationals manager said. “I told (pitching coach Jim) Hickey: ‘Let him face these guys. We’re going to need him to do that, so let him get used to it.’ And he went through it fine.”

That he did. Ferrer got Ozuna to fly out to right field on a 99 mph fastball. Then he got Matt Olson to tap a grounder back to the mound on a 100 mph fastball to get out of the jam and ultimately help lead the Nats to a 5-1 victory over the Braves.

“It felt great, especially since for this season, based on the way the game was going, that was the toughest inning I’ve pitched this year,” Ferrer said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. “And to be able to pull a zero out, not give up any runs in that situation, I felt great about it.”

The Nationals spent the last two nights facing a Braves team desperate for every win it can get as it tries to beat out the Mets for the final wild card berth in the National League. For the next four nights, they’ll face a Marlins team with absolutely nothing to play for. So, the intensity level may be ramped down a bit here over the weekend.

The Nats have absolutely owned Miami this season, winning their first eight head-to-head matchups before finally losing for the first time last week. They’ve got a chance to really put the finishing touches on a dominant performance with at least three more wins this weekend, which would also go a long toward their goal of improving upon last year’s 71-91 record. (They need to go 7-10 the rest of the way to do that.)

Mitchell Parker gets the start, and two of the rookies strongest starts this season have come against the Marlins. The lefty has allowed two runs in 10 innings against them, though he hasn’t faced them since June 16.

The Nationals lineup faces an unknown in Darren McGaughan, a 28-year-old right-hander making only his third career start. A waiver claim from the Guardians earlier this summer, McGaughan owns a 5.14 ERA in 106 career Triple-A starts. He’s not a flamethrower: His fastball averages only 89 mph, and he throws more sweepers than anything else.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs MIAMI MARLINS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 79 degrees, wind 8 mph in from right field

The ball went soaring to center field, clearing the wall with plenty of room to spare, bouncing off the concrete floor out there and up against the bullpen cart that resides some 420 feet away from the plate at Nationals Park.

“Yeah, I got that one pretty good,” CJ Abrams said with a grin.

Abrams’ fourth-inning home run Wednesday night was significant for the role it played in helping the Nationals defeat the Braves, 5-1. It was significant for the way it showed another sign the struggling shortstop may finally be breaking out of his second half slump. And it was significant for the milestone it represented.

This was Abrams’ 20th homer of the season. Which, when combined with his 28 stolen bases, makes him the newest member of the exclusive 20/20 Club.

Abrams is only the fifth player in Nationals history to hit 20 homers and steal 20 bases in a season. He joins Alfonso Soriano (who entered the even rarer 40/40 Club in 2006), Bryce Harper (2016), Lane Thomas (2023) and Ian Desmond (who did it three straight years from 2012-14).

Jake Irvin stood on the mound, the count full against the Braves’ toughest hitter, took a deep breath and then fired one last fastball on a night full of them. And when that 92 mph heater, above the zone and boring in on the hands, blew past a helpless Marcell Ozuna, the Nationals right-hander flexed his arms, roared with delight and hopped off the mound, knowing he had just completed yet another dominant start against a top opponent.

Irvin’s unlikely no-hit bid may have been thwarted two batters earlier when Atlanta finally notched its first base hit of the game, but that in no way diminished his overall performance during the Nats’ 5-1 victory on a gorgeous September evening on South Capitol Street.

With six nearly flawless innings, Irvin proved once again he could master the Braves lineup. Starting once in each of the four series between the two clubs this season, the 27-year-old finished with a sparkling 1.16 ERA, surrendering only 13 hits across 23 1/3 innings.

"Those guys get to see me a lot, but the role's reversed as well," he said. "Just understanding what those guys do and how we can best pitch around them and pitch to them, I think, helped out a lot."

In only one of those previous three head-to-head matchups had Irvin earned the win due to a recurring lack of run support. His teammates provided enough tonight, scoring four times against Max Fried, including the solo homer that propelled CJ Abrams into the 20/20 Club for the first time in his career.

One day after committing his eighth error in 24 games, José Tena is not starting at third base for the Nationals.

He’s starting at second base.

Wanting to give the struggling fielder a mental break from the unfamiliar position he’s learning on the fly in the majors, manager Davey Martinez decided to give him a start at a more comfortable position, giving Luis García Jr. the night off against Braves left-hander Max Fried.

“I just wanted to get him over there and relax a little bit,” Martinez said. “It’s a position he’s played quite a bit. And I want to see him play there. … I wanted to give Luis a day today, and I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to get Tena over there and kind of switch it up a little bit. We’ll see.”

Primarily a shortstop coming up through the Guardians’ farm system, Tena also has played a decent amount of second base. The Nationals’ greater need at the moment, though, is at third, so that’s where Tena has exclusively played since his acquisition last month.

Tuesday night’s game was ugly. I mean, real ugly. At least for the Nationals. MacKenzie Gore was roughed up for the first time in weeks. José Tena committed another error. The bullpen wasn’t particularly good. And the lineup was held to three hits despite only having to face Braves starter Reynaldo López for one inning before he departed with shoulder tightness. (López, by the way, was placed on the 15-day injured list this afternoon.)

So they’ll try to wipe the slate clean and start all over again tonight, hoping for a better result in the season final between these two National League East foes. The Nats have already clinched the season series, so at worst they’ll finish 7-6 against Atlanta. They’d prefer 8-5.

Like Gore, Jake Irvin enters this one having pitched exceptionally well against the Braves this season. Over 17 1/3 innings across three starts, he has allowed only two runs. We saw Atlanta’s hitters take a more aggressive approach against Gore and have a lot of success with that; it’ll be interesting to see if they do the same with Irvin.

Max Fried starts for the Braves, and he was outstanding in his lone appearance against the Nats this season. The lefty, a pending free agent, tossed eight scoreless innings May 28 at Truist Park, outlasting Irvin to take the win that day.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs ATLANTA BRAVES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 80 degrees, wind 7 mph in from right field

It was not necessarily an easy play. The ball came screaming off Luke Williams’ bat at 104.4 mph. But José Tena’s reaction said it all.

The Nationals’ rookie third baseman couldn’t react quickly enough and was left in a defensive position as the ball skipped toward him. It rattled off his glove, and though he picked it up right away, he had to rush his throw across the diamond and ultimately pulled first baseman Joey Gallo off the bag.

“I should’ve made the play,” Tena said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. “I should’ve caught it and made the play.”

Tena’s error wound up prolonging the top of the third Tuesday night, with MacKenzie Gore unable to pitch his way out of the inning before allowing four runs to score. The Braves went on to rout the Nats, 12-0, and Tena found himself once again confronting questions about his shaky play in the field.

This was the eighth error charged to Tena in only 24 games since the Nationals called him up last month. The 23-year-old admittedly is still learning third base on the fly after spending the majority of his time in the Guardians system at shortstop, but his struggles nonetheless have been costly and have at times overshadowed his strong offensive performance.

The season’s final three weeks will see the Nationals play 11 of their last 19 games against teams in the thick of the pennant race. It makes for a significant challenge for a team loaded with rookies getting used to September baseball in the majors for the first time, let alone games of this magnitude.

The gauntlet begins with a quick, two-game series against the Braves, a division rival the Nats already clinched its season series against. And with MacKenzie Gore having played a huge role in that success, tonight’s matchup on South Capitol Street should have elicited some sense of confidence from the home team.

How much of that confidence remained at the end of a 12-0 drubbing? Gore and Co. can say what they want, but there were no silver linings to be found on this Tuesday night at the park.

In one of his worst starts of the season, and certainly his worst in nearly a month, Gore dug his team into an early 7-0 hole, failing to make it out of the fourth inning and getting battered around by a Braves lineup severely depleted by injury, one just hoping to produce enough to take advantage of great pitching and beat out the Mets for the National League’s final Wild Card spot.

Gore wasn’t solely to blame tonight. He was victimized by two costly defensive mistakes. And the Nationals lineup managed all of three hits despite facing the Atlanta bullpen for eight innings after All-Star starter Reynaldo López departed 25 pitches in with shoulder tightness.

Some 3 1/2 months since he last pitched for the Nationals, Trevor Williams took the mound this evening in Harrisburg for a long-awaited rehab start.

The right-hander, out since May 30 with a flexor strain in his elbow, tossed three scoreless innings in the Double-A game against Reading. And barring any setbacks, he’s likely to return to Harrisburg and build up to four or five innings Sunday afternoon, then be activated off the 60-day injured list and rejoin the Nats rotation.

“It’ll be nice to see him back on the mound for us before the season’s over,” manager Davey Martinez said. “So we’re going to try to build him up for that.”

Why are the Nationals so determined to get a 32-year-old pending free agent starts down the stretch of a season that won’t extend into October? It’s not just about giving Williams a chance to pitch a couple more times in the big leagues and perhaps help his cause as he looks for a job in 2025. It’s also about giving the four young starters who are a part of their future the best opportunity to finish the season healthy without being shut down early.

The Nats have been closely monitoring the workloads of MacKenzie Gore, Jake Irvin, Mitchell Parker and DJ Herz. Each has exceeded his previous career high in innings pitched, with three weeks still to go this season.

We’ve reached the final three weeks of the season, which means the Nationals are looking at a week of home games, then a week of road games, then one last week of home games before heading out for the winter. There are a bunch of contenders on the schedule, though, including two more games with the Braves, who come to town tonight.

Atlanta is right in the thick of the race for the final wild card berth with the Mets (who the Nats face next week at Citi Field), trailing by one game entering tonight’s opener. If the Braves make it, they’ll do so on the strength of their pitching (which has been excellent) and not their hitting (which has not, in large part due to injuries).

Among their best starters, of course, is Reynaldo López, who gets the ball tonight. The former Nationals prospect has a 2.04 ERA and more than a strikeout per inning in 23 starts, and he’s pitched well against the Nats twice already this season (three runs over 12 innings). A lineup that didn’t do much Sunday against Pirates flamethrower Jared Jones faces another stiff test tonight.

Don’t overlook what MacKenzie Gore has done against the Braves, though. The young lefty has made three head-to-head starts this season, and he allowed one earned run in each of them. He’s on a roll here down the stretch as well, with three straight outings of two runs or less allowed in six innings, with an outstanding 19-to-2 strikeout-to-walk ratio to boot.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs ATLANTA BRAVES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 80 degrees, wind 6 mph in from left field

BOSTON – Coby Mayo is starting at third base tonight at Fenway Park and Jackson Holliday returns to the lineup at second base.

Cedric Mullins is batting second again.

James McCann is catching, with Adley Rutschman serving as designated hitter.

Albert Suárez needs to bounce back from his last start, when he allowed six runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings against the White Sox. He surrendered three home runs to tie his career high, and Chicago snapped a 12-game losing streak.

Suárez shut out the Red Sox over six innings on Aug. 18.

Josiah Gray may not have made much impact on the field this year, but his continued impact off the field earned the Nationals right-hander another cherished honor.

Gray on Monday was named the Nats’ nominee for the 2024 Roberto Clemente Award, given out annually by Major League Baseball to the player who “best represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, community involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the field.”

It’s the second straight year Gray has been nominated for the Clemente Award, the winner of which will be unveiled during the World Series. The league’s annual Roberto Clemente Day will be held Sept. 15, at which time the right-hander will be honored at Nationals Park prior to the team’s series finale against the Marlins.

After making his first All-Star team in 2023, Gray looked poised to take another bit step forward in his career when he was selected by manager Davey Martinez as the team’s Opening Day starter this spring. Gray, though, wound up making only two starts before reporting elbow pain. Sidelined for three months as he attempted to rehab through the injury and rejoin the rotation, he ultimately learned he had torn the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow and underwent both Tommy John surgery and an internal brace procedure July 24 in Dallas. He’s expected to miss the majority of the 2025 season.

The 26-year-old has remained with the club during the early stages of his rehab, and he remains active in his off-field pursuits. As player ambassador to the Nationals’ Youth Academy, he is a regular visitor to the Southeast D.C. facility and has established charitable endeavors to help fund its programs.

The Orioles and Major League Baseball today announced that catcher JAMES McCANN has been named the Orioles’ 2024 nominee for the esteemed Roberto Clemente Award. The most prominent individual player award bestowed by MLB, the Roberto Clemente Award, presented by Capital One, is the annual recognition of a Major League player from each club who best represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, sportsmanship, community involvement, philanthropy, and positive contributions, both on and off the field.

The Orioles will join Major League Baseball in honoring the 23^rd annual Roberto Clemente Day on Sunday, September 15, as they take on the Detroit Tigers at 12:05 p.m. ET at Comerica Park. This commemorative day was established by Major League Baseball to honor Clemente’s legacy and to officially acknowledge local club nominees of the Roberto Clemente Award. As part of the league-wide celebration, the Roberto Clemente Day logo will appear on the bases and official dugout lineup cards, all players will wear a ‘21’ patch on their jersey, and a special tribute video will be played in ballparks. Once again this season, each team’s Clemente nominee will wear ”21” on their uniform, joining players and uniformed personnel from Puerto Rico, previous nominees, and those who have worn “21” on prior Roberto Clemente Days.

The Orioles will recognize McCann in a special on-field ceremony on Saturday, September 21.

Since joining the Orioles prior to the 2023 season, McCann has emerged as a cornerstone of community support in Baltimore, earning him a nomination for the prestigious Roberto Clemente Award. His unwavering dedication to community service is a family affair, with McCann, his wife Jessica, and their twin boys actively contributing to their communities year-round. This past offseason, the McCann family donated 50 pairs of shoes to Church of the City’s Wrap Around Closet in Nashville, Tenn. supporting children in foster care.

Earlier this season, the Orioles announced their adoption of Harlem Park Elementary Middle School, aiming to foster a lasting relationship and support students from pre-k all the way through their entry into the workforce. McCann eagerly embraced this partnership, actively engaging with Harlem Park students and staff at Friday home game batting practices, proudly donning a Harlem Park-branded t-shirt. His involvement extended to the classroom as well, where he visited PE classes to teach baseball skills and inspire students to pursue their dreams with perseverance. To further support Harlem Park, McCann and Jessica provided Harlem Park students with essential items such as backpacks, clothing, and shoes for the new school year, underscoring their dedication to fostering the growth and success of Baltimore’s youth.

PITTSBURGH – CJ Abrams’ first at-bat Sunday afternoon was shaping up to look a lot like so many of his at-bats over the last two months.

Leading off the Nationals’ series finale against the Pirates, the slumping shortstop aggressively went after Jared Jones’ first pitch of the day – a 99 mph fastball over the plate – and could only manage to foul-tip it. He got another 99 mph fastball on the next pitch, this one up and away, and swung through it altogether, leaving himself in an 0-2 hole.

And then Abrams turned what looked like another wasted at-bat into one of his best in a while. Recognizing an 0-2 slider from Jones, he stayed back on the pitch and blasted it 416 feet to right-center field for a leadoff homer.

“It was big,” he admitted afterward. “You’ve just got to believe in yourself when you’re up there at the plate. Keep working, and good things happen.”

Abrams has needed to tell himself that a lot during the last two months. What had been a brilliant first half, culminating in a spot on the All-Star team, has since turned decidedly disappointing.

The outs were coming more easily to Corbin Burnes. Early traffic on the bases had thinned. He was back on his familiar roll.

And then it stopped.

Even a brief pause can be costly for a team that can't offer much support.

Burnes hung a slider to Jonny DeLuca in the sixth inning, and the resulting two-run homer broke a scoreless tie. One pitch would decide the outcome because another day passed with the Orioles left searching for their offense and in recovery mode following a 2-0 loss to the Rays before an announced crowd of 29,519 at Camden Yards.

The Orioles are 82-62 overall, 24-24 since the break and 4-3 this month. They went 3-3 on a homestand that began with three games against the Rockies, owners of the second-worst record in the majors.

PITTSBURGH – Patrick Corbin was going to throw 100 pitches this afternoon, no matter how many innings it required, no matter how many runs scored along the way. One day after Davey Martinez had to push his bullpen to the absolute limit to secure a doubleheader sweep over the Pirates, it was time to pay the bill. Martinez was going to have to stick with Corbin, hoping the long-suffering lefty could at least give his team a chance.

He did not. Corbin gave up four runs during a laborious bottom of the first, stayed out there another five innings because he had to, and the Nationals slogged their way through a 7-3 loss that featured very few encouraging moments for the visitors.

It may not have mattered much if Corbin pitched well, because the Nats lineup looked feeble most of the afternoon against Jared Jones. The Pirates’ other flame-throwing rookie right-hander gave up two early runs but completely locked in after that and retired the last 16 batters he faced before departing at the end of the seventh. Reliever Jalen Beeks would extend that streak to 19 before Carmen Mlodzinski gave up back-to-back hits to James Wood and Andrés Chaparro in the ninth, at which point it was too late.

"That kid (Jones) settled down a little bit," Martinez said. "His fastball was electric. His breaking ball was pretty good. ... We just couldn't get nothing going offensively until late in the game. And it just wasn't enough."

Then again, the Nationals could be excused for struggling to summon up much energy after expending so much to pull off Saturday’s impressive doubleheader sweep, especially when they trailed throughout this game.

PITTSBURGH – What a Saturday day and night that turned out to be at the ballpark. The Nationals swept their doubleheader against the Pirates, putting together a no-hit bid in the opener and then storming back to score four runs with two outs in the ninth to win the nightcap. It took just about everything out of them to pull that off, especially a bullpen that was pushed to the limit with four guys (Kyle Finnegan, Derek Law, Jacob Barnes, Robert Garcia) each appearing in both games.

So with that in mind, there’s no question what Patrick Corbin’s objective is today: Pitch deep into the game. It doesn’t matter how many runs he gives up, Corbin is going to top 100 pitches for certain, preferably completing at least or even seven innings in the process. And if the Nats find themselves in a position to win at that point, it’ll be up to Davey Martinez to figure out how he wants to manage the late innings.

Some run support would be nice, but the Nationals lineup faces a stiff challenge today. No, they’re not facing Paul Skenes, but don’t sleep on their other rookie right-hander. Jared Jones hasn’t received the same hype as Skenes, but he throws nearly as hard and he’s enjoyed success in his first big league season, striking out more than a batter per inning. Jones did miss more than two months with an injury, but he still reached the seventh inning last time out against the Cubs, so fatigue doesn’t appear to be a concern.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Where: PNC Park
Gametime: 1:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 66 degrees, wind 10 mph out to left field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
LF James Wood
DH Andrés Chaparro 
2B Luis García Jr.
C Keibert Ruiz
3B José Tena
RF Dylan Crews
1B Joey Gallo
CF Jacob Young