The Nationals, of course, have some of the top position player prospects in baseball. But there are some arms that are impressing on the mound as well.

One of the best stories on the Nats farm this season is Brad Lord, a 2022 18th-round pick out of the University of South Florida.

After posting a 4.04 ERA and 1.328 WHIP in 27 games (17 starts) between Single-A Fredericksburg and High-A Wilmington last year, the right-hander has been one of the best starters in all of Minor League Baseball this season.

Lord earned his first promotion to Double-A Harrisburg after one scoreless start with Wilmington. In 12 starts with the Senators, he is 7-1 with a 1.55 ERA, 1.052 WHIP, 9.6 strikeouts-per-nine-innings rate and 3.40 strikeout-to-walk rate.

Last week, he produced his second-career double-digit strikeout performance with seven scoreless innings of two-hit ball and 10 strikeouts for his seventh win of the season.

The Orioles are tied with the Phillies for the second-best record in baseball after winning 101 games last season, and they’re getting noticed again by fans.

The first update in All-Star Game voting finds Adley Rutschman leading all catchers in the American League and Gunnar Henderson leading the shortstops. They were the Orioles’ first two selections in the 2019 draft.

Ryan Mountcastle is second to Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. among first basemen and Jordan Westburg is second to Cleveland’s José Ramirez among third basemen. Jorge Mateo and Ryan O’Hearn are fourth among second basemen and designated hitters, respectively.

Three Orioles outfielders show up in the results, as well: Anthony Santander is fifth, Colton Cowser is seventh and Cedric Mullins is 11^th.

In addition, Corbin Burnes has an excellent chance of making the AL team and could be named the starter.

The streak began, interestingly enough, with Mitchell Parker on the mound. It was June 6, the opener of a four-game series against the Braves, the Nationals reeling from a three-game sweep at the hands of the Mets.

Each of those losses to New York included a ragged performance by the Nats’ starter. So it was up to Parker, a rookie making his 10th career big league start, to reverse that trend. And though his team wound up losing that night, it wasn’t Parker’s fault. He allowed only two runs over seven innings, only four Atlanta batters reaching base against him.

Fast-forward 10 days, and Parker was back on the mound facing the Marlins, this time seeking a three-game sweep for the Nationals. And with six innings of one-run ball, he led his team to victory and continued a remarkable stretch of pitching by the entire rotation.

Over those 10 games, Nats starters have given up a total of nine earned runs. Not once have they been charged with more than two in any individual game. They’ve struck out a combined 55 batters while walking only 13.

“Everyone’s throwing well,” Parker said after Sunday’s win, the team’s eighth in nine games. “It’s contagious.”

In this season of progress, the Nationals are beginning to establish which quality opponents they can hang with. They’re also establishing which opponent they can dominate: the Marlins.

There should be no question at this point how these two division rivals stack up in 2024. With a 3-1 Father’s Day victory on South Capitol Street, the Nats improved to 7-0 against Miami. They’ve already clinched the season series, with six games still to play in September.

The Nationals have outscored the Marlins 48-18 for the season. They outscored them 15-2 this weekend, and the only two runs they surrendered came on infield singles.

"You've got to beat teams in your division in order to know where you're at," said manager Davey Martinez, whose team was a miserable 6-26 vs. Miami the last two seasons. "We've done that with them. ... It's the only way you're going to win your division, right? You've got to beat the teams in your division."

Suffice it to say, the pitching was exquisite, and today was no exception, with Mitchell Parker once again delivering a winning performance before the bullpen took over late.

The MRI on Jesse Winker’s right knee showed no structural damage, and the Nationals left fielder believes he can rejoin the lineup within a few days.

“It’s definitely nothing major, nothing that’s going to prevent me from playing,” he said. “I think I just need a couple days of rest.”

Winker hurt himself in the bottom of the first Saturday afternoon when he took a big turn around second base on Ildemaro Vargas’ single to left-center, then had to slam on the brakes and dive back into the bag, getting tagged out in the process. He remained in the game for two more innings but felt knee pain while in the field in the top of the third and decided to depart at the end of the inning.

“I slammed on the brakes and dove back, and I kind of lost my footing,” he said. “So it happened somewhere in there. But there was no pop, or anything I could point to. I just had some pain walking out to the outfield, but then I really felt it the first fly ball.”

The Nationals had Winker get an MRI on Saturday, so they’d have results in time to know if they needed to make a roster move in time for Sunday’s game. When that test came back clean, they felt comfortable proceeding with Winker remaining on the active roster, even if he can’t play for another few days. (The team has Monday off, then returns Tuesday to open a three-game series against the Diamondbacks.)

Reliever Jacob Webb mulled the latest injury that threatens to derail the Orioles, the sprained elbow ligament that might lead to surgery for Kyle Bradish, and pointed to a clubhouse full of players who rally in these situations.

“We’re pretty good at picking each other up,” he said.

Can be a starter or reliever. Can be a hitter. Brush it off and go play.

Grayson Rodriguez was the starter, allowing two runs in a season-high seven innings. Anthony Santander was the hitter, homering twice and finishing with four RBIs in the Orioles' 6-2 victory over the Phillies before an announced sellout crowd of 44,555 at Camden Yards.

Bryan Baker retired the side in order in the eighth and Craig Kimbrel struck out three batters in the ninth to improve the Orioles’ record to 46-24 and prevent a three-game losing streak that would have tied their longest of the season.

The first time he struck out Tim Anderson, it was merely a nice way to start the afternoon. The second time he did it, it was the continuation of an already impressive outing. The third time he did it, DJ Herz hopped off the mound, slapped his hand to his glove and floated all the way back to the Nationals dugout, where teammates and coaches alike couldn’t wait to greet the rookie left-hander with high-fives and hugs.

The third start of Herz’s major league career had just come to an end, and it included a standing ovation from the crowd of 25,637 at Nationals Park who just watched this previously unknown 23-year-old put together one of the most dominant and most efficient starts in club history.

With six innings of one-hit, zero-walk, 13-strikeout ball on 84 pitches in a 4-0 victory over the Marlins, Herz etched his name alongside some of the best pitching performances the Nats have ever witnessed.

"I think this outing, I wanted to control my body language a little more, be a little better with that," Herz said. "And the first five innings, it was perfect. And then I got the last strikeout, and I kind of had a little feeling that I was done and just let my emotions fly a little bit. It was awesome."

He’s only the fourth person to wear the curly W cap and strikeout out 13 or more batters without issuing a walk. Max Scherzer did it four times during his Hall-of-Fame career. Stephen Strasburg did it twice, including in his historic major league debut. And John Patterson did it during the inaugural 2005 season at RFK Stadium.

The Orioles placed starter Kyle Bradish on the 15-day injured list again today with an ulnar collateral ligament sprain in his right elbow – the same injury that led to a platelet-rich plasma injection in January and delayed his 2024 debut until May 2.

Left-handed reliever Nick Vespi was recalled for the fourth time, giving the Orioles an eight-man bullpen.

The rotation is down to five starters.

Bradish exited last night’s game after the fifth inning with elbow discomfort. He’s undergoing more tests.

I’ll have more on Bradish later today.

The Orioles' six-game stretch against the teams with the best records in the National League and American League continues under sunny skies this afternoon in downtown Baltimore. The Orioles (45-24) host Philadelphia (47-22) in the second of a three-game series at Oriole Park. They face the Yankees next week in the Bronx starting Tuesday night.

Last night's game featured a sellout crowd of 43,987 and a playoff atmosphere. A close game throughout that had a unique ending with a rain delay of one hour and 11 minutes before the 11th inning. When play resumed, Alec Bohm's two-run double off Jacob Webb gave the Phillies a 5-3 lead and win as the Orioles could not answer in the last of the 11th.

Baltimore came back three times to tie this game. Down 1-0 in the last of the third, Adley Rutschman's RBI double made it 1-1. Down 2-1 in the eighth, Anthony Santander's 15th home run tied it. Down 3-2 in the 10th, Cedric Mullins scored on a wild pitch and got his left hand in around the tag on a great slide to even the score 3-3. 

But the Orioles went 1-for-13 in the game with runners in scoring position and are 3-for-30 the last three games with RISP.

After an 8-1 win over Boston Friday night, the Yankees (50-22, .694) lead the Orioles by 3.5 games atop the AL East.

Seeking another right-handed bat to a lineup that has lacked for consistent production, the Nationals signed Harold Ramírez to a minor league contract today, with the understanding the veteran outfielder/first baseman could be called up to the majors in short order.

Ramírez, 29, owns a career .287/.325/.408 slash line in parts of six seasons with the Marlins, Guardians and Rays and was a highly productive member of Tampa Bay’s lineup last year with a .313/.353/.460 slash line in 122 games. But after slumping this season to a .589 OPS, Ramírez was designated for assignment and then released Friday.

The Rays owe Ramírez the bulk of his $3.8 million salary, and the Nationals now only responsible for a prorated portion of the major league minimum ($740,000) if he reaches the big leagues with them. He’s due to report to Triple-A Rochester and play for the Red Wings tonight, and if things go well he could be promoted in a week or so.

“We signed him to help us here, not Triple-A,” manager Davey Martinez said. “We want him here. But we’ve got to get him going. He hasn’t played in about seven, eight, nine days. I want to give him some at-bats before he comes up.”

Ramírez has played the bulk of his career at the two corner outfield positions while also serving as a regular DH, but he does have 39 games of experience at first base. Martinez mentioned all of those positions in listing where Ramírez could help them, then specifically suggested he could be a right-handed option for them in left field, which has been manned by the left-handed Jesse Winker most of the season.

The Orioles know the source of Kyle Bradish’s elbow discomfort. Next is figuring out what to do about it.

Bradish returned to the 15-day injured list this afternoon with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. He exited last night’s game after the fifth inning, underwent tests and received the unfortunate news.

A decision is pending on whether Bradish will undergo season-ending surgery or attempt to rehab the elbow. He received a platelet-rich plasma injection in January and made his 2024 debut on May 2.

“He’s still going to get tests done and see other doctors,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “It’s just the next day, so we’re not jumping to any conclusions, but he’s going to see other doctors and see what happens.”

John Means and Tyler Wells won’t pitch again in 2024 due to UCL damage. Means is wearing a brace on his left arm after undergoing a second Tommy John procedure and Wells is waiting to have his ligament repaired.

The Nationals and Marlins have played five times so far this season. The Nationals have won all five games. The combined score of those games: 41-17. It’s been a while since we’ve seen the Nats dominate an opponent to this extent. They’ll gladly take it.

The Nationals have pitched well against most clubs this year. They haven’t hit well against everyone, so that makes their offensive output against Miami particularly pleasing. And they’ll look to keep it going today against left-hander Trevor Rogers, who they beat in late April with three runs in five innings. Davey Martinez’s lineup looks a little different against the lefty. Ildemaro Vargas, Drew Millas and Trey Lipscomb are all in there, with Lipscomb starting at third base and Nick Senzel serving as DH for this one.

DJ Herz makes his third career start, his first against the Marlins, and the left-hander will be looking to complete five innings for the first time. With Josiah Gray (who tossed four strong innings in a rehab assignment at Double-A Harrisburg Friday night) inching closer to a return, each of Herz’s starts now become increasingly important as he tries to state his case to stay up here.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs MIAMI MARLINS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Mostly sunny, 84 degrees, wind 10 mph in from left field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
RF Lane Thomas
LF Jesse Winker
1B Joey Meneses
2B Ildemaro Vargas
DH Nick Senzel
C Drew Millas
3B Trey Lipscomb
CF Jacob Young

The Nationals are currently doing something they haven’t done in their nearly 20 years since relocating to D.C.: Running out a rotation with four left-handers.

Injuries to right-handers Josiah Gray and Trevor Williams have called for replacements, who just happened to be left-handers to make for a mostly lefty rotation that is rarely seen in baseball.

They are in the middle of a stretch where they have all four starting in succession. Three are scheduled to start against the Marlins this weekend started by MacKenzie Gore on Friday, and continuing with DJ Herz today and Mitchell Parker on Sunday.

It’s an ironic roster quick for manager Davey Martinez, who isn’t used to having too many lefties on his roster, starter or reliever.

“I couldn't even explain that really,” he said. “I sit back and go, 'How in the world did that happen?' But I like the ones we got, that's for sure. They're doing really well. Even DJ. I talked to him a little bit about the shape of his breaking ball. Right now, his changeup is good, his fastball is good. We worked out a little bit on the shape of his breaking ball. So when that starts coming around, he could really, really, really do well. So the other guys, they got no fear, right? I love them. They attack the zone. They're not afraid to throw their pitches when they need to, sliders or splits. They've been really good.”

As the Orioles began an important six-game stretch last night against the Phillies, the club with the best record in the National League and then the New York Yankees, the club with the best-record in the American League, it seems like a pretty important stretch of baseball.

How much will it say about how the Orioles will do the rest of this year? How much will it say about their chances to win this October?

Good questions that may not have answers right now. Success in this stretch doesn’t guarantee anything. But to see their team play well against two of MLB’s best will certainly make Birdland feel good.

How a good team stacks up against other good teams can be very important. Not just in the standings but for confidence. It can show a team that believes it can contend in October that they very well might be right.

So far this year the O’s have stacked up very well against good teams, a loss last night notwithstanding.

Craig Kimbrel was unaware of his exact proximity to Hall of Fame closer Lee Smith on one of baseball’s all-time lists until after his most recent appearance.

Kimbrel notched his 16^th save Wednesday by retiring the side in order in the ninth inning. He got a called third strike on Atlanta’s Jarred Kelenic, sandwiched by a ground ball and lineout.

Smith ranks third in saves with 478, followed by Francisco Rodríguez with 437 and Kimbrel with 433. But that wasn’t the specific chase.

Kimbrel and Smith were tied for third-most strikeouts by a reliever with 1,225 until an 0-2 heater froze Kelenic.

“Yeah, actually I found out afterward,” Kimbrel said. “Kind of wish I knew before. I would have probably saved the ball.”

DETROIT – Lane Thomas did say something when Emil Jimenez called a borderline pitch strike three on him in the top of the sixth Thursday afternoon. He said two words, which when combined, can make for quite the insult.

But Thomas insists he wasn’t directing those words at Jimenez and rather uttered them out of frustration at the strike three call. Which is why he couldn’t believe it when Jimenez immediately ejected him from the game.

“Looking back, what I said was nothing that I haven’t said in the past,” he said. “I just thought (the ejection) was a little quick. So I don’t know if he didn’t understand me, or what happened. But I definitely didn’t say anything towards him. That was the frustrating part for me, that it was that quick and not directed at him.”

The first ejection of Thomas’ career made for quite a scene, with Jesse Winker (who was on-deck) jumping in to defend his teammate, and then manager Davey Martinez pleading his case to Jimenez as bench coach Miguel Cairo and third base coach Ricky Gutierrez tried to make sure Thomas and Winker didn’t say or do anything else that could get them into even more trouble.

“I think it was a tough pitch, and I was just frustrated,” Thomas said. “I say stuff all the time, but it’s not directed at anyone. That’s what I told (crew chief Larry Vanover): ‘I don’t talk to you guys like that. I didn’t say anything out of my norm.’”

DETROIT – If they wanted to pull off their first six-game winning streak since the final week of the 2019 regular season, the Nationals were going to need not only quality work from Patrick Corbin in an unexpected start. They were going to need not only run production from their lineup. They were also going to need a set of relievers not accustomed to closing out close games to finish the job on a day when the usual suspects weren’t available.

So even though they got quality work for Corbin, and even though they got just enough offense to leave the game tied in the seventh inning, the Nationals did not get the critical last part of today’s required winning formula and emerged with a 7-2 loss to the Tigers.

Seeking a series sweep and the team’s first six-game winning streak in nearly five years, the Nats watched as relievers Derek Law and Robert Garcia combined to allow six runs in 1 1/3 innings, turning a tight game into a lopsided one.

In winning five straight games for the first time since June 2021, the Nationals leaned heavily on their top three late-inning relievers: Kyle Finnegan, Hunter Harvey and Dylan Floro. The domino effect of all that: None figured to be available for today’s series finale, leaving the fate of the game in the hands of others.

"Look, we rely on these guys throughout the whole year, and they've done really well," manager Davey Martinez said. "It just didn't happen today. ... It's just one game. We won the series. We get to home now and start a fresh one."

DETROIT – Since the moment he burst onto the scene in August 2022, Joey Meneses has been a mainstay in the Nationals lineup. Whatever days off he had, they were scattered, even as his production at the plate dipped.

And then 2 1/2 weeks ago, with Lane Thomas off the injured list and the team now having a bit of a glut of outfielders and first basemen, Meneses suddenly became a part-time player for the first time. He started only seven of the Nats’ 15 games from May 27-June 11, relegated to the bench and a couple of pinch-hitting opportunities.

“Obviously I would like to be on the field more often, but my numbers are not where we expect them to be,” said Meneses, whose OPS was down to .581 at the time, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. “I definitely respect the manager’s decision with that. I just have to be ready whenever he calls upon me to play, be ready to help the team out.”

All of a sudden, Davey Martinez is calling upon Meneses to play again. When Joey Gallo strained his left hamstring running out a ground ball Tuesday night, Meneses was thrust back into the daily lineup, back to playing first base regularly.

And in his first start since the Gallo injury, he delivered. Meneses went 2-for-4 with an RBI single and a key double that led to another run during the Nationals’ 7-5 victory over the Tigers.

DETROIT – The Nationals, as you know by now, have won five in a row for the first time since June 2021. They haven’t won six in a row since September 2019, when they closed out the final week of the regular season with eight straight wins, all of that a precursor to what happened in October. So that’s what's at stake this afternoon at Comerica Park.

Only two members of that 2019 team remain, and one of them starts today’s game. Patrick Corbin wasn’t supposed to pitch in this series, the Nats choosing to skip over the struggling left-hander’s turn in the rotation and bump him to Saturday against the Marlins. But with MacKenzie Gore dealing with a fingernail issue that will push him back to Friday night, the team decided to go ahead and have Corbin pitch today on seven days’ rest.

This is the only current major league park Corbin has never pitched in, so he’ll finally get to cross that off the list. More importantly, after using up his top relievers the last two nights to secure two wins, Davey Martinez is going to be working with a depleted bullpen this afternoon. In other words, this feels like a “give us six innings no matter what” kind of start for Corbin.

The Nationals lineup has done a very nice job supplying their pitching staff with run support so far in this season, so they’ll try to keep that up today against Casey Mize. The No. 1 pick in the 2018 Draft, Mize just hasn’t realized his potential yet, in large part because he missed nearly two years following both Tommy John and back surgery. He’s made 12 starts this year, and the results have been middling (1-4, 4.73 ERA, 11 hits per nine innings, only 5.9 strikeouts per nine innings).

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at DETROIT TIGERS
Where: Comerica Park
Gametime: 1:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 88 degrees, wind 16 mph in from right field

Catcher David Bañuelos sat at his locker yesterday like pretty much every other day this season. In the clubhouse but not on the active roster. With the Orioles but only sort of.

Bañuelos is becoming a taxi squad lifer.

The former fifth-round draft pick of the Mariners has appeared in only five games with Triple-A Norfolk, which is carrying catchers Maverick Handley, Blake Hunt and Connor Pavolony. Handley is on the seven-day injured list, which led to Pavolony’s bump from Double-A Bowie.

Hunt was acquired from the Mariners on May 22 for reliever Mike Baumann and catcher Michael Pérez, who spent a brief period on the taxi squad.

Bañuelos hasn’t played for Norfolk since May 16 after appearing in both ends of a doubleheader the previous day. His other games go back to March 30 and April 3.