WASHINGTON — The Washington Nationals welcome the Baltimore Orioles to town for a three-game series Tuesday and welcome reliever Kelvin Herrera to an already formidable bullpen.
The Nationals struck far in advance of the trade deadline Monday Adidas Vincent Trocheck Jersey , acquiring the Kansas City Royals’ closer for three minor leaguers. Herrera is 14-for-16 in save opportunities this year with a 1.05 ERA.
The 28-year-old right-hander joins a late-inning group that includes set-up men Ryan Madson, 38, Brandon Kintzler, 33, and closer Sean Doolittle, 31.
“For the front office to send a message to us this far ahead of the deadline, to try to get us some help in the bullpen, I think it’s one of those situations where in April and May, the bullpen as a whole had a really heavy workload,” Doolittle told the Washington Post. “You saw Madson and Kintzler land on the DL because of that. It’s almost their way of saying, ‘Here’s some help. Here’s some reinforcements.'”
Madson allowed two home runs in Sunday’s loss to Toronto and Kintzler is out with a right forearm flexor strain.
Doolittle picked up the save Monday against the Yankees in the completion of a suspended game and has succeeded in 19 of 20 chances, posting a 1.37 ERA.
“For me, we have an all-star closer right now,” manager Dave Martinez said. “So (Herrera) will be asked to do some different things.”
On Monday, the Nationals and Yankees finally completed their two-game series from May 15-16, splitting the two games.
Washington (38-32) won the suspended game, which resumed in the sixth-inning with score tied 3-3. Rookie Juan Soto, who had not yet made his major league debut when the game originally began in May, clubbed a two-run homer to give Washington a 5-3 win.
New York won the second game 4-2 behind Sonny Gray and scoreless one inning stints from four relievers as the Nationals went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
Baltimore (20-50) sends David Hess (2-3, 4.13) to the mound Tuesday against Jefry Rodriguez (0-0, 0.00).
The Orioles travel down the Baltimore-Washington Parkway on a rare high following Sunday’s 10-4 win over the Miami Marlins.
Baltimore had dropped nine games in a row and had lost 11 straight at home, tying the club record.
The Orioles hadn’t scored more than five runs since a 9-3 win over the White Sox on May 24 in Chicago, a span of 20 games.
“It was difficult for everyone,” Sunday’s starting pitcher Dylan Bundy told the Baltimore Sun. “We know what we are capable of, and we’re not doing it right now. It was one of those days where we performed the way we should.”
The Orioles collected 14 hits, six for extra bases. Third baseman Jace Peterson matched his career high with four RBIs, including a two-run homer. Mark Trumbo hit a solo homer and had an RBI-double for Baltimore, which had scored four runs or fewer in 18 of its past 19 games.
“Usually when the team’s struggling as a whole, the pitchers get a little more comfortable on the other side, and they cruise through some of those innings,” Trumbo told the Sun. “It’s important to try and kind of peck away. I’d like to see a whole lot more games that look like this going forward. I think everybody would.”
Hess had been solid before allowing five runs in 3 1/3 innings in his last start Adidas Evgenii Dadonov Jersey , a loss to Boston. He faced the Nationals May 30 and took the loss despite allowing just one run on four hits over six innings.
With starters Stephen Strasburg and Jeremy Hellickson on the disabled list, Rodriguez, 24, will make his first major league start. He is 5-3 with a 3.31 ERA in 13 starts for Double-A Harrisburg.
CLEVELAND – Two-time Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber, who is pitching like he wants to add a third Cy Young to his resume, will be on the mound Friday night as the Cleveland Indians begin a nine-game homestand with the opener of a three-game series against the Minnesota Twins.
Kluber (10-2, 1.99 ERA) has gone six starts, 41 innings and 168 consecutive batters since he last walked a hitter. His last walk came over a month ago, on May 8.
In six starts since then, Kluber is 5-0 with a 1.09 ERA, 46 strikeouts and no walks in 41 innings. Kluber this season almost has more wins than walks. He has 10 of each.
One of those 10 wins came against the Twins, on April 17, a 6-1 victory in which Kluber pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run and five hits with six strikeouts and two walks.
How good has Kluber been this year? His ERA in his two losses and his two no-decisions is 2.30. He could very easily be 14-0.
His two losses were by the scores of 2-1 and 3-2. The score in one of his no-decisions was 3-2. In the other no-decision, the Indians were winning 2-0 in the seventh inning when Kluber was removed from the game.
In 20 career starts against Minnesota, Kluber has a record of 9-5 with a 3.21 ERA.
Cleveland returns home after going 4-3 on a trip to Detroit and Chicago, although the Indians have scored just eight runs in their last three games.
“We’ve been scuffling to score some runs the last few days,” Indians manager Terry Francona said.
The Twins come to Cleveland having just lost two of three games in Detroit.
Kluber’s mound opponent of Friday will be right-hander Kyle Gibson (1-4, 3.45). Gibson’s only win came in his first start of the season, on March 31. Since then, he is 0-4 but with a decent 3.75 ERA.
Gibson’s biggest problem has been a lack of run support from his teammates. In Gibson’s 13 starts, the Twins have scored an average of 3.6 runs per game.
Gibson’s last start against Cleveland came June 3 when he received no decision in a 7-5 Minnesota win. In that game, Gibson pitched 5 2/3 innings, giving up two runs and two hits with seven strikeouts and two walks. In 14 career starts against Cleveland, Gibson is 2-6 with a 5.60 ERA.
Minnesota’s lineup for Friday’s game will have a different look after the Twins on Thursday optioned struggling third baseman Miguel Sano to Class A Fort Myers. After hitting .264 with 28 home runs and 77 RBIs last year, Sano this year was batting .203 with seven home runs and 27 RBIs, and he had struck out in nearly half (66) of his at-bats (148).
“He needs to be the guy we think he can be. He’s not there right now,” Twins manager Paul Molitor told MLB.com. “We have to take a step backwards here and determine the steps moving forward.”
The Twins are also expected to activate first baseman Joe Mauer off the disabled list on Friday. Mauer has been sidelined since May 18 with a neck strain. The Twins will announce another roster addition to replace outfielder Jake Cave, who was optioned to Triple-A Rochester on Thursday.
