O's game blog: O's and Nats in exhibition finale

The Orioles (1-1) play their third and final exhibition game tonight ahead of Friday's opener at Boston. The Birds travel to Washington to face the Nationals (1-1) at Nats Park. The club will hold a workout at Camden Yards tomorrow and then travel to Boston on Thursday for the start of that three-game series.

Washington won 4-2 over Baltimore last night at Oriole Park. O's right-hander Alex Cobb allowed two hits and two runs over four innings. He fanned five, including four of the first six batters. He gave up a two-run home run to Howie Kendrick in the fourth inning.

On offense the Orioles produced 10 hits, including three from shortstop José Iglesias, who has recorded 10 hits in 22 at-bats over eight games from spring training to summer camp games. Outfielder Anthony Santander went 2-for-2 in his first game action of camp.

The Orioles beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-1 on Sunday night, in a game that went 9 1/2 innings at Citizens Bank Park. Pedro Severino, Cedric Mullins, Pat Valaika and Ryan Mountcastle hit solo homers for the Orioles and Hanser Alberto added an RBI single. Right-hander Thomas Eshelman pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing four singles with one walk and five strikeouts.

Right-hander Kohl Stewart gets the start for the Orioles tonight. He's expected to be followed by right-handers Shawn Armstrong, Mychal Givens, Evan Phillips and César Valdez, plus lefty Rob Zastryzny.

Left-hander Patrick Corbin gets the start for the Nationals. He was signed to a six-year contract with the Nationals on Dec. 7, 2018. In his first year with the club he matched a career high with 14 wins, and his 3.25 ERA was the second-best of his career. Corbin is a two-time National League All-Star (2018, 2013). He previously spent seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks, going 56-54 with a 3.91 ERA.

Pitchers listed to follow Corbin tonight are right-handers Daniel Hudson, Tanner Rainey, Javy Guerra and Brandon Finnegan, along with lefty Sean Doolittle.

The Orioles currently have 56 of the allotted 60 players on their 60-man player pool. This includes nine of the Orioles' top 12 prospects per MLB.com: Adley Rutschman (No. 1), DL Hall (No. 3), Mountcastle (No. 4), Austin Hays (No. 5), Yusniel Diaz (No. 7), Michael Baumann (No. 8), Dean Kremer (No. 9), Keegan Akin (No. 11) and Hunter Harvey (No. 12). The Orioles are using the home of their Double-A affiliate, the Bowie Baysox, as their secondary camp site.

Milone to start Friday: O's skipper Brandon Hyde today named left-hander Tommy Milone as his opening night starter, Friday at Boston. Lefty John Means was slated to make that start, but will miss it due to arm fatigue. Hyde said Means played catch today and felt great and should not miss much time at all.

Signed by the Orioles to a minor league deal Feb. 13, Milone went 4-10 with a 4.76 ERA for Seattle in 2019. The Orioles are his eighth major league team. He has a career mark of 50-47 with a 4.47 ERA.

"I went up to him this afternoon before we got on the bus to come down here and asked him if he's ever made an opening day start before, knowing that he didn't," Hyde said. "He had a big smile on his face, kind of, where am I going with this? It is great to give people great news."

So the O's expected rotation for the Boston series looks like Milone, Cobb and then likely Wade LeBlanc.

Click here for more on Milone getting the ball Friday night.