Milone coasts and offense crushes in 11-0 win (updated)

WASHINGTON - On a night that their offense stayed in high gear, the Orioles made certain that their pitching and defense didn't shut down the operation.

Keeping everyone on the same page brought a much different result.

Nine of the first 15 Orioles batters reached against Aníbal Sánchez, three runs scored and a team still bruised from a four-game sweep in its home ballpark hit the road and kept hitting in an 11-0 win over the Nationals in D.C.

José Iglesias had a run-scoring double, single, RBI single, single and sacrifice fly over the first seven innings, Renato Núñez hit a three-run homer and veteran left-hander Tommy Milone did a superb impression of a stopper.

Milone retired 10 of the first 11 batters, escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fourth and turned in his first scoreless outing as a starter since Sept. 2, 2015 with the Twins. He allowed three hits in six innings, walked none, struck out three and threw 61 of 90 pitches for strikes.

The fake crowd couldn't be silenced, no matter what was happening. Same with an Orioles offense that broke out last night against the Marlins and only had another loss to show for it.

Milone was making his third start of the season. Thomas Eshelman cracks the rotation on Saturday and Sunday is TBD with left-hander John Means on the bereavement list.

Means returned home to be with his family after his father, Alan, passed away earlier in the week after a year-long battle with pancreatic cancer.

"I was texting with him a little bit today," manager Brandon Hyde said earlier today in his Zoom conference call. "Still a little bit unclear when he's going to return. Obviously, we're going to give him the time he needs to be with his family and we'll be in communication with him these next few days. But our hearts are heavy for him and his family and what they're going through. We're going to give him the time he needs."

Means' next turn falls on Sunday in D.C. and the Orioles could turn it into a bullpen game.

"We're going to wait to see how today goes," Hyde said, "and make some decisions probably sometime tomorrow."

Roster expansion with taxi squad players is done for road trips and apparently only if the team doesn't commute. The Orioles aren't spending the weekend in D.C. and can pluck players from their alternate camp site in Bowie.

"Since we're 45 minutes away if we need a transaction or get somebody here, it's just an easy call to have them come over," Hyde said.

The lineup didn't include Chance Sisco, who homered last night and was slashing .455/.647/.909 in 17 plate appearances before striking out in the ninth. Hyde started Pedro Severino behind the plate - he singled in the third and had an RBI double in the sixth and RBI single in the seventh - and Núñez was the designated hitter with Chris Davis at first base.

"He's going to get a lot of playing time," Hyde said. "I like the way both of those guys are swinging the bat. I'd love to play both of them. But I think that Chance is going to play a lot just like Sevie's going to play a lot. I'm going try to share at-bats as much as I possibly can. Use the DH like I have with Sevie a little bit, probably do that a little bit more with Chance. But I'd just love to see both of them in the lineup.

"That's another nice thing to have three catchers is I can pick a spot for Chance to come off the bench in a spot that I think is a good matchup for him, just like I've done with Sevie the last few games he hasn't played."

Hyde is going to play Iglesias at shortstop every night as long as health allows it. Otherwise, and this goes against Iglesias' baseball reputation, try to keep his bat in the lineup as the designated hitter.

The plus-plus defender has been exceptional at the plate. The four hits and sac fly left him 15-for-33 with seven doubles and six RBIs.

Still batting third with fewer fans laughing about it.

Iglesias followed Anthony Santander's double in the first inning with one of his own for a quick lead. Rio Ruiz, back in the lineup and at third base, walked to lead off the second, moved up on Davis' double and scored on Austin Hays' single into left-center field.

Davis came home on Hanser Alberto's fielder's choice grounder for a 3-0 lead. The Orioles loaded the bases on Iglesias' single and Núñez's walk, but Dwight Smith Jr. struck out on Sánchez's 47th pitch in two innings.

Davis also singled in the fourth for his first multi-hit game of the season. At that point he had collected three hits in his last four at-bats.

Ruiz was the only Orioles player in the lineup without a hit. The Orioles had 19 of them. They also left 14 runners on base.

Sánchez induced on two swings and misses among his first 39 pitches. The Orioles were on him right away.

Alberto, camped out in the leadoff spot, doubled to open the fourth and scored on Iglesias' single. Santander singled in the sixth, Iglesias greeted reliever Ryan Harper with a single and Núñez belted his fifth home run in seven games.

Smith and Severino doubled and the Orioles had 14 hits and an 8-0 lead. They had 18 hits and an 11-0 lead in the seventh, which included Alberto's second double of the night.

Milone, who had two stints with the Nationals, threw 20 of 29 pitches for strikes in two innings. He filled the bases in the fourth on two singles and a hit batter, but Josh Harrison grounded into a force.

Starlin Castro had his second hit of the game in the inning to make him 7-for-10 lifetime against Milone.

Rather than force Hyde into an early bullpen move, Milone retired seven in a row and became the first Orioles' starter to complete six innings. He's allowed one run, walked none and struck out 11 in his last two starts over 11 innings.

Travis Lakins Sr. retired the side in order in the seventh and David Hess, making his first appearance since the opener on July 24, got a force out and 6-5-3 double play in the eighth after a leadoff walk and single.

Three outs away from the collaborative shutout, Hess retired the side in order and wasn't rattled by the fake crowd erupting over a one-hopper to the mound.

Hyde on Milone: "That was outstanding and very similar to his last start. Very few locations missed. Saw a lot weak contact."

Hyde on rebounding from sweep: "It really starts with your starting pitcher, starting pitcher giving you a chance, scoring for him earlier, which we did. ... The next day's starter is really key and being able to score early for him after a tough few days was huge for us. The offense did a great job and Tommy took it from there."

Hyde on Iglesias' offense: "I don't think anybody expected that, but he did have a nice season in Cincinnati. ... We're still really early in this, but I like the way he's swinging the bat right now. I know he's in a good place. I've just got to keep him healthy."

Iglesias on offense: "The bat for me, it's been process the last several years. I feel comfortable. I think I can help this team in so many ways and the bat is one of them."