After mashing four more home runs, to lead the majors with 153, the Orioles opened the second-half with a 9-1 romp over Texas last night. They improved to 59-38 and could open a two-game lead atop the American East with another win tonight.

Lefty Nestor Cortes allowed six runs in 4 1/3 innings this afternoon as the New York Yankees (59-41) lost 9-1 to Tampa Bay. The Yankees are now 17-20 in AL East games. They have lost 9 of 14 games and are 9-19 since June 15.

The Orioles ended the first half going 1-5 on a homestand and had lost five of six, six of eight and seven of 10 heading into the Texas series. Now they are 10-13 since June 21 with Friday's win.

Anthony Santander hit two of their four homers, driving in five runs. With his first home run last night, Santander reached 25 home runs and he's the ninth player in O's history to do so in at least three straight seasons. He matches Frank Robinson (1969-71), Lee May (1976-78), and Manny Machado (2015-17), and trails Eddie Murray (1982-85) and Rafael Palmeiro (1995-98), who did so in four consecutive years, Chris Davis (2012-17) and Cal Ripken, Jr. (1982-87), who had six, and Adam Jones (2011-17), who hit at least 25 homers in seven straight years. He now has 15 multi-homer games, eighth-most in club history.

Since the start of June, Santander is slashing .280/.322/.640 (45-for-161) with five doubles, one triple, 17 home runs, 24 runs, 34 RBIs, and 11 walks across 41 games. His 17 homers and 103 total bases are the most in MLB during that span, while his 23 extra-base hits are tied with teammate Gunnar Henderson for the most in the AL in that time.

ARLINGTON, Texas – Kyle Stowers walked through the outfield early this afternoon, pausing to chat with a few teammates. He returned to the clubhouse, put on his street clothes, grabbed his backpack and headed out the door again.

Stowers was optioned for the second time this season, the predictable counter move to Heston Kjerstad’s reinstatement from the seven-day concussion injured list.

The Orioles recalled Stowers on May 13, optioned him June 19 and brought him back July 13 after Yankees closer Clay Holmes drilled Kjerstad on the ear flap and emptied both dugouts and bullpens.

The movement and roster construction have limited Stowers to 37 plate appearances with the Orioles. He’s 11-for-36, including a pinch-hit single off Holmes Sunday that fueled a three-run rally and walk-off win.

That’s the only at-bat for Stowers during his return to the majors. He was a defensive replacement last night.

Cade Cavalli hoped all along to make his return from Tommy John surgery in June. And if not June, at least by July. But as the clock continues to tick and the right-hander still finds himself waiting to restart the latest phase of his extensive rehab program, it has become clear the Nationals are only going to be able to get a handful of big league starts out of their 2020 first-round pick before season’s end.

Cavalli, who had elbow ligament replacement surgery in March 2023, has made only three official minor league rehab starts, none since June 21 for Single-A Wilmington. In the month since that outing – he tossed three scoreless, hitless innings – he has been sidetracked both by the flu and a period in which he experienced “dead arm” when he threw.

The dead arm period, which manager Davey Martinez revealed for the first time today, prompted the Nats to further delay Cavalli’s throwing progression.

“We just wanted to keep him down, and honestly slow him down a little bit,” Martinez said. “He had that dead arm for a little while. And him being sick, we just didn’t want to push him. … It’s one of those things, he’s so young and he’s a big part of our future. We want to make sure we do everything right for the kid. We talked to him. He was in agreement. He wanted to take a little bit of a break, and then we’ll go from there.”

Cavalli, who turns 26 next month, remains in D.C. with the Nationals. He’s scheduled to go to West Palm Beach, Fla., next week and start his progression all over again, throwing off flat ground, then off a mound, then against live hitters before he goes on another rehab assignment.

The Orioles have made the following roster moves:

• Reinstated OF Heston Kjerstad from the 7-day concussion Injured List.
• Optioned OF Kyle Stowers to Triple-A Norfolk.

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Orioles reinstated outfielder Heston Kjerstad from the seven-day concussion list today and optioned outfielder Kyle Stowers to Triple-A Norfolk.

Kjerstad had a full workout yesterday and was cleared to play. He’s in right field tonight.

Stowers is 11-for-36 with four doubles and a home run in 19 games with the Orioles. He had one at-bat after replacing Kjerstad on the roster, and his single off Clay Holmes ignited Sunday’s ninth-inning rally against the Yankees that produced a walk-off win.

Anthony Santander is the designated hitter tonight. Ryan O’Hearn is playing first base and Ryan Mountcastle is on the bench.

Colton Cowser is in left field and Cedric Mullins is in center. Ramón Urías is playing third base, with Jordan Westburg at second.

Though it got way more interesting in the top of the ninth than it needed to be, the Nationals’ 8-5 victory over the Reds on Friday night was a very good way for them to open the second half of the season. They got sustained offense, including a pair of home runs from two positions where they’ve desperately needed more offense. They got a very good start out of Patrick Corbin. And they actually supported him for a change and earned him his first win since May 10.

Now there’s an opportunity to clinch a weekend series win and really get the second half to a positive start. It starts with MacKenzie Gore, who needs some positive performances himself right now. The left-hander allowed four or more runs in four of his last five starts, turning a 3.26 ERA into a 4.01 ERA at the break. He’s got to be more efficient and give himself a chance to go deep in the game, especially after the Nats used five relievers to pull off Friday’s win.

The Nationals lineup faces the Reds’ Nick Lodolo, who put together a very solid first half of his own, going 8-3 with a 3.33 ERA and 1.123 WHIP. The left-hander is facing the Nats for only the second time in his career, and the previous start took place back in 2022, when he allowed three runs over seven innings to a lineup that included a top four of César Hernández, Joey Meneses, Luke Voit and Nelson Cruz. Not a lot to be drawn from that performance.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. CINCINNATI REDS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Rain ending, 80 degrees, wind 9 mph out to left field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
RF Lane Thomas
1B Juan Yepez
DH Harold Ramírez
C Riley Adams
2B Ildemaro Vargas
LF James Wood
3B Trey Lipscomb
CF Jacob Young

For the first time since they drafted him No. 1 overall in 2022, you hear fans open to trading one of baseball’s best prospects in Jackson Holliday.

I don’t have a vote or say here in anything and neither do fans, but I do have an opinion. And I still see Holliday as an untouchable.

While he may have lost his No. 1 prospect status with some outlets, that is fine. He did go 2-for-34 with 18 strikeouts for the Orioles in April.

Once it started going south for him with the O's, it stayed that way.

He looked overmatched for whatever reason. This will sound like an excuse but some players coming up from Triple-A Norfolk agreed with an opinion that while Holliday was getting every pitch out of the zone called a ball against him in Triple-A with the ABS system, that changed in the majors. He seemed to be down 0-2 every at-bat. He took some pitches that may have been called balls by the computer but were strikes in the bigs. 

It was a busy return from the All-Star break for the Nationals on Friday.

Josiah Gray announced a partial tear in his right ulnar collateral ligament that will require season-ending surgery. First-round pick Seaver King and third-round pick Kevin Bazzell officially signed their contracts and were introduced as Nationals for the first time. And the Nats started the second half with an 8-5 win over the Reds that had some early fireworks and late dramatics.

With all the pregame news, some things said by long-time general manager Mike Rizzo were left by the wayside. But they were no less important for the Nationals in the grand scheme of things.

Rizzo spoke to members of the local media for 12 minutes after introducing two of his top four selections from this year’s draft. The topics varied, but in the spirit of the draft celebrations, started with the trade Rizzo made a week ago today to add another pick in the first night of the draft.

In a surprising move at the time, the Nationals traded right-hander Hunter Harvey to the Royals for third base prospect Cayden Wallace and a Competitive Balance A pick, which happened to be No. 39 overall. The Nats used that pick to select catcher Caleb Lomavita out of Cal.

ARLINGTON, Texas – Ryan O’Hearn dealt with the disappointment of losing the All-Star vote at designated hitter and failing to make the American League team as a reserve. He enjoyed the time home instead, got some rest and arrived at Globe Life Field ready for the second-half grind.

O’Hearn joined the viewership for the Home Run Derby and the game. He hung on every swing.

“Fun to watch all the way around,” he said yesterday. “Obviously, I would have loved to have been a part of it, but fun for me to watch our guys and pull for our guys, cheer for them on that big stage.”

Gunnar Henderson was the top seed in the Derby with 28 homers but hit only 11, the lowest total in the eight-player field.

O’Hearn has his own Derby experience going back to 2015 in the South Atlantic League while playing for the Lexington Legends in the Royals system.

The Nationals will open next season at home against a familiar foe.

Major League Baseball unveiled its 2025 schedule this afternoon, with the Nats hosting the Phillies on Opening Day, which falls on March 27. This will be the third time they’ve faced Philadelphia to open a season, though the first time since 2010.

After the three-game series against their division rivals, the Nationals go north of the border for a quick trip to face the Blue Jays in Toronto before coming right back home for six games against the Diamondbacks and Dodgers.

The Nats will embark on a pair of three-city trips, one of them crisscrossing the country, the other taking them to the three big league ballparks in Southern California. They make the unconventional Miami-Pittsburgh-Colorado trip from April 11-20, then have the more manageable Los Angeles-San Diego-Anaheim trio from June 20-29.

There are no three-series homestands on the schedule.

Orioles baseball No. 1 in prime time across the Baltimore DMA 

Viewership up over 35 percent 

Amplifying their first-place spot in the American League East, the Baltimore Orioles on MASN are dominating prime time, outpacing every other local broadcast station and cable network by a wide margin, according to the latest Neilsen ratings. Orioles viewership is up by double digits compared with the 2023 season as the team posted a 58-38 record in the first half of the 2024 campaign. 

The Orioles on MASN are averaging 100,000 viewers, per quarter hour, each night across the Baltimore DMA. This is an increase of more than 35 percent over the same period last season. The groundswell of interest is widespread, as the Orioles on MASN are by far the No. 1 viewed program in prime time across the entire demographic spectrum.   

“Marylanders love Orioles baseball, and they are coming to MASN every night to be a part of something special," said MASN senior executive John McGuinness. "This young team is talented, exciting and they play the game with the same grit and enthusiasm fans can appreciate and can identify with. Five Orioles just played in the MLB All-Star Game, the farm system is loaded – the future is indeed bright in Birdland. We expect viewership to only grow as the pennant races heat up.”

The All-Star Game has come and gone, but we’ve still got one more day left in the All-Star break. No baseball will be played today. Come back Friday evening for that, when the Nationals open of a six-game homestand against the Reds and Padres.

The halfway point of the season has already long since come and gone. The Nats have played 97 games, so remarkably there are only 65 left. But this will be the start of the ceremonial second half of the season, and there is plenty to still take place before the 2024 campaign is over.

Here’s a look at the top storylines the Nationals figure to face over the next 2 1/2 months …

HOW GOOD IS WOOD?
James Wood has now spent two weeks in the big leagues, and there was a big difference between those two weeks. Week 1 saw the top prospect take the world by storm, crushing balls well over 100 mph, drawing six walks with only seven strikeouts and producing a .320/.452/.480 slash line. Week 2 saw the league start to figure him out and saw Wood start to get out of his comfort zone, striking out 13 times without drawing a walk and slashing .179/.207/.179. It’s far too soon to draw any real conclusions, but 2 1/2 months from now, we should have a really good idea just how good Wood is. Can he make the necessary adjustments at the plate and start consistently squaring up the ball again? Can he start to look more comfortable in left field? Is he ready to be the face of this franchise, or is that process going to take a bit more time?

CAN THE YOUNG PITCHING HOLD UP?
There was so much to like about the Nationals’ young starting pitchers from April through June, but we started to see some cracks in the foundation the last two weeks. The question: Are these guys starting to wear down, and is that going to continue in the second half? It would not be surprising if that happens to the least experienced of the group, Mitchell Parker and DJ Herz. But MacKenzie Gore and Jake Irvin have been through this before, and both should know how to right their ships and stay strong through September. It’s going to be a real test for these guys, but it’s going to inform us a lot about their long-term viability.

The All-Star break offers a time for reflection, a chance to hit the pause button and consider everything that’s happened over the last 3 1/2 months. It’s a lot easier to think about the big picture when you don’t have a game to worry about from the night before or another coming the following day.

And when you take a step back and consider the big picture, you find a lot to be pleased about the Nationals’ first half of the season. There were breakthrough performances, the arrival of several rookies including one of the top prospects in the sport and ultimately a better record (44-53) than at this same point one year ago (39-58).

Which isn’t to say everything went swimmingly in NatsTown. There were disappointing performances from a number of players, disruptive injuries and sloppy play at times. This is a team that felt at times like it could be good enough to win more games than it lost, but the record suggests there’s still a way to go before that feels plausible.

So before we move on to what could be a very entertaining – and newsworthy – second half, let’s look back at the things that went right for the Nationals in the first half and the things that went wrong …

RIGHT: THE YOUNG STARTING PITCHERS
Even the most optimistic club official or fan couldn’t have predicted how well the quartet of Jake Irvin, MacKenzie Gore, Mitchell Parker and DJ Herz would pitch. (Many wouldn’t have even predicted Parker and Herz would be in the big leagues to begin with.) But this turned into the most important story of the first half. Combine their stats, and those four young starters delivered a 3.91 ERA and 1.238 WHIP while issuing only 2.5 walks per nine innings and surrendered slightly more than one homer per nine innings. And those numbers looked even better a couple weeks ago, before all four labored in their final outings leading up to the break. If they can return refreshed and get back to what they did throughout April, May and June, the Nats will have the makings of a strong rotation for years to come.

ARLINGTON, Texas – Corbin Burnes jogged from the American League dugout to the mound tonight to begin his warmup tosses, paused and conducted a television interview. He smiled, gave the network what it wanted and got down to business.

The 94^th All-Star Game remained a glamorized exhibition, but Burnes tried to find his competitive fire, tossing a scoreless first inning on 19 pitches and retreating to the clubhouse.

A one-out walk to Shohei Ohtani and Bryce Harper’s two-out double down the left field line extended Burnes’ stay. He fielded William Contreras’ grounder, threw to first and wrapped his arms around his former Brewers catcher as they converged along the line.

It truly is an exhibition.

“It was fun,” Burnes said before the AL's 5-3 win. “I wish I wouldn’t have walked Shohei, but it was fun. I mean, there’s really no words to express just the atmosphere playing around the best players in the game. I told them to be ready, I’m going to let them put it in play, so they were ready out there, and fortunately, we got out of it with a scoreless inning.”

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Orioles haven’t hosted baseball’s All-Star Game since 1993, the second year of Camden Yards' existence. Back when they wanted to show it off to the world.

They’re on the radar again, which promises nothing but keeps them in the conversation.

Commissioner Rob Manfred said this morning that the club has “definitely” expressed an interest in the Midsummer Classic. The next available date is 2027, after Atlanta next year and Philadelphia in 2026.

A new ownership group headed by David Rubenstein has made securing the event a priority.

“We hope by that time the stadium will be rehabilitated a bit, and therefore, we’d like to show it off,” Rubenstein said on March 28. “Once we have the rehabilitated Camden Yards, I think it would be a great time to then show it off. We’ll make sure we have it completed, though, but we are interested in it and I am familiar with the situation.”

The 2024 MLB Draft resumed today shortly after 2 p.m. as the clubs began making selections in round 11. Today the three-day draft will conclude with selections in rounds 11 through 20.

The Orioles will have one pick in each round today and they selected a lefty college pitcher in round 11.

Round 11 (No. 339) - O's took Louisville senior lefty Sebastian Gongora. This season over 15 starts he went 5-4 with a 6.14 ERA. Over 77 2/3 innings he allowed 86 hits with 29 walks and 89 strikeouts. He produced a 1.481 WHIP with a 3.4 walk rate and 10.3 strikeout rate.

He had a better season in 2023 at Wright State with a 3.17 ERA in 93 2/3 innings and a 22.4 strikeout rate. He was the Horizon League Pitcher of the Year.

Gongora is ranked as this draft's No. 353 prospect on the Baseball America Top 500.

The Baltimore Orioles made 10 selections on Day Three of the 2024 First-Year Player Draft, completing Rounds 11-20. This year, the Orioles selected 21 players overall: 11 pitchers and 10 position players, with 17 of the selections being college athletes and four from the high school ranks. The Orioles selected eight right-handed pitchers, three left-handed pitchers, four outfielders, two infielders, and four catchers.

RD             PICK             PLAYER               POS          B/T         HT         WT           DOB                     SCHOOL                           SCOUT

1                 22           Vance Honeycutt        CF            R/R         6-3       205         5/17/2003    University of North Carolina           Boyd

PPI              32            Griff O'Ferrall            INF           R/R        6-1       195        2/2/2003          University of Virginia                 O'Dowd

2                 61           Ethan Anderson          C              S/R        6-2       215        9/21/2003        University of Virginia                 O'Dowd

ARLINGTON, Texas – Corbin Burnes is having an All-Star experience that’s more like a flyby.

Burnes arrived in Dallas around 11 a.m. this morning and he’s boarding a flight back to Phoenix as soon as his start is over and he can shower and change clothes. The entire experience will last fewer than 12 hours if the plan is executed.

Get three outs and get back to his wife Brooke and twin daughters Charlotte and Harper.

Burnes is making his first career start among four consecutive selections to the All-Star Game. He’s the first Orioles pitcher to receive the honor since Steve Stone in 1980.

“It’s awesome to find out I was going to get the opportunity to start the game,” Burnes said. “There’s very few people that have gotten to start All-Star Games for the length that the All-Star Game’s been around. The join that group is special, and obviously there’s some pretty cool names that have been able to do it. Getting that opportunity to do that was awesome, and excited to get out there.”

The Washington Nationals selected 10 players on the third and final day of Major League Baseball’s 2024 First-Year Player Draft on Tuesday. President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo, Vice President, Amateur Scouting Danny Haas, Senior Director, Amateur Scouting Brad Ciolek, and Assistant Director and National Crosschecker, Amateur Scouting Reed Dunn made the announcements.

The Nationals opened Day 3 with the selection of left-handed pitcher Merritt Beeker from Ball State (Ind.) University in the 11^th round. The 2024 Mid-Atlantic Conference Pitcher of the Year, Beeker ranked tied for seventh in all of NCAA Division I with 128 strikeouts in 81.0 innings pitched. He went 9-3 with a 4.11 ERA in 15 starts during his junior season. Beeker spent two seasons at East Carolina University before transferring to Ball State.

In the 12^th round, Washington selected right-handed pitcher Alexander Meckley from Coastal Carolina (S.C.) University. Meckley opened the season 3-0 with a 2.60 ERA in his first five starts and recorded a total 57 strikeouts in 52.2 innings on the season. He pitched in 21 games and made nine starts in 2024.

 In the 13^th round, the Nationals selected left-handed pitcher Bryant Olson from Mercer (Ga.) University. As a junior in 2024, he led the Southern Conference with eight saves while striking out 39 batters in 26.2 innings. Olson transferred from Gordon State (Ga.) College where he recorded 97 strikeouts in 70.2 innings pitched as a sophomore in 2023.

Washington selected right-handed pitcher Yoel Tejeda Jr. in the 14^th round. Tejeda Jr. pitched one season for Florida State and went 1-2 with a 5.03 ERA in 12 games, making one start. He struck out 15 in 19.2 innings of work.

Eleven people have caught at least 100 games for the Nationals during their 20 seasons of existence in D.C., and that list includes a wide range of names and track records. There have been offensive-minded guys (Wilson Ramos, Kurt Suzuki). There have been defense-first guys (Jose Lobaton, Wil Nieves). There have been seasoned veterans who came here late in their careers (Ivan Rodriguez, Yan Gomes, Matt Wieters). There have been promising young players who came into their own here (Keibert Ruiz, Riley Adams, Jesus Flores).

What there have not been, however, are any true homegrown catchers. Of those 11 players who caught at least 100 games for the Nationals, only Brian Schneider was homegrown, and he was drafted by the Expos way back in 1995, a decade before the franchise relocated.

The most games caught by someone who was initially signed by the Nats: 80, by Pedro Severino, signed as a teenager out of the Dominican Republic in 2010. The most games caught by someone who was drafted by the Nats: 47, by Tres Barrera, their sixth round pick in 2016.

It’s not necessarily because the Nationals have done a bad job developing homegrown catchers. It’s because they’ve barely acquired any homegrown catchers in the first place. From 2005-23, they never used a first or second round pick on a catcher. They used only one third round pick (Jakson Reetz, 2014), two fourth round picks (Brady Lindsly, 2020; Derek Norris, 2007) and two fifth round picks (Spencer Kieboom, 2012; Adrian Nieto, 2008).

(Yes, technically speaking, Bryce Harper was a catcher when the Nats made him the No. 1 pick in the 2010 draft. But they immediately turned him into an outfielder and never once let him don the tools of ignorance during his eight seasons in the organization.)