O's game blog: O's host Nats in Oriole Park exhibition game

With four days left before opening night, the Orioles will play their only home exhibition game tonight at Oriole Park. The Orioles (1-0) host the Washington Nationals (0-1). The same clubs meet at Nats Park on Tuesday night.

The Orioles beat the Phillies 5-1 in game that went 9 1/2 innings last night 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.

The Nationals lost to the Phillies 7-2 at home on Saturday. Max Scherzer allowed six hits and seven runs over five innings. Jake Noll hit a solo homer for Washington.

These two teams met once during Grapefruit League play, with the Nationals winning 5-3 on March 3 in West Palm Beach. The clubs will meet six times during the regular season, with the Nationals visiting Oriole Park from Aug. 14-16 and the Orioles going to Nationals Park for a series from Aug. 7-9.

O's right-hander Alex Cobb gets tonight's start. He is about to begin the third season of a four-year contract with the club. Last year, he was limited to three starts and went 0-2 with a 10.95 ERA. He began the year on the injured list and had hip and knee procedures in June. Because he has thrown so few innings in the last year, manager Brandon Hyde said Cobb is a bit behind the other starters. Hyde wants him to pitch four innings tonight and then Cobb will be lined up to start the season's second game, on Saturday at Boston.

Others listed to pitch tonight for the Orioles include left-handers Rob Zastryzny, Richard Bleier and Paul Fry and right-handers Travis Lakins Sr. and César Valdez.

Right-hander Stephen Strasburg gets the start for the Nationals. In the 2019 regular season, he went 18-6 with a 3.32 ERA over 33 starts. He led the National League in wins and innings (209) and finished second in the NL in strikeouts (251). He finished fifth in voting for the Cy Young Award and 15th in voting for the NL MVP.

Strasburg was a playoff hero as the Nationals won the World Series. In six postseason games, he went 5-0 with a 1.98 ERA. He walked four and fanned 47 in 36 1/3 innings. He went 2-0 with a 2.51 ERA on his way to being named the World Series MVP in the Nats' win over Houston in seven games.

The Nationals also list right-handers Erick Fedde, Will Harris, James Bourque and Ryne Harper to pitch tonight, along with lefty Sam Freeman.

Hyde told reporters this afternoon that left-hander John Means feels better today but his opening day start on Friday remains very much in jeopardy. If he can't go, Hyde named Wade LeBlanc, Tommy Milone and Eshelman as possible replacements.

We'll also have another game blog here tomorrow night before the final exhibition game.