BALTIMORE — Don Mattingly and Buck Showalter have a long association with each other Jimmy Graham Jersey , going back to their days as minor league teammates with the New York Yankees.

Their relationship continued from 1990 to 1995 when Showalter coached and then managed Mattingly during his final six seasons with the Yankees, culminating in New York’s first playoff appearance since 1981.

These days, both are presiding over last-place teams.

Things are better for Mattingly’s Miami Marlins, who go for a three-game sweep Sunday at Camden Yards over Showalter’s Baltimore Orioles, who are on a nine-game losing streak.

The Marlins opened the series with a 2-0 victory and followed by getting two homers to center field from J.T. Realmuto in Saturday’s 5-4 win.

Realmuto drove in four runs and posted his fourth multi-homer game for the Marlins (28-43), who are 8-4 in their last 12 games and within striking distance of the fourth-place New York Mets in the National League East.

“JT’s been great on both sides defensively and offensively calling the game, everything about him’s been great,” Mattingly told reporters.

Realmuto missed the first three weeks of the season with a bruised back but is hitting .309 with nine home runs and 26 RBIs.

Meanwhile, Baltimore is on its longest losing streak since also dropping nine straight in July 2011 when Showalter was in his first full season at the helm.

The Orioles (19-50) also tied the 2007 club record with their 11th straight home loss. Their next setback will give them a double-digit losing streak for the first time since May 26-June 5, 2010 — two months before Showalter took the job.

Manny Machado is doing his part for the worst team in baseball by hitting .308 with 18 homers and 52 RBIs. He drove in two runs Saturday and Jonathan Schoop homered.

Chris Davis, who is batting .150 with 86 strikeouts, has yet to see an at-bat in the series and could sit again Sunday for the Orioles, who own a .225 team average.

“I’d love to get back Chris Davis that we all know he’s capable of,” Showalter told reporters Friday. “It hasn’t been there this year http://www.cardinalsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-christian-kirk-jersey , but with kind of a new approach and some new things you’re trying, all of a sudden you do it.”

The Orioles lost 50 of their first 68 games for the first time since 1988 when they opened with 21 straight losses. Baltimore also is 28 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees in the American League East.

On a team with a 4.88 ERA, Dylan Bundy (4-7, 3.66 ERA) is the closest thing to an ace for Baltimore. Bundy turned in eight scoreless innings when he allowed three hits Monday in Baltimore’s 2-0 loss in 12 innings to the Boston Red Sox.

Bundy’s last start occurred after he pitched seven sharp innings in a 1-0 victory over the New York Mets on June 6 at Citi Field.

Monday was the fourth time this season that Bundy did not allow a run.. He has not given up a run in 17 innings since Washington’s Mark Reynolds homered off him in the fourth inning on May 29.

“You could say that (it’s a good run),” Bundy told reporters. “Body feels good, arm feels great. Just taking the ball every five days and trying to give our team a chance to win.”

Sunday is Bundy’s first career appearance against the Marlins. In seven (six starts) interleague games, he is 4-2 with a 2.39 ERA.

Trevor Richards (1-3, 4.41 ERA) will make his eighth career start for Miami after his first career victory.

Richards picked up his first win Tuesday when he allowed one run and two hits in six innings of a 3-1 win over the San Francisco Giants.

On a team looking for young pitching, Richards has been among the more positive developments. Richards, undrafted out of Drury College, was Miami’s minor league pitcher of the year in 2017 in at two levels and made his major league debut April 2.

In his seven starts, Richards has allowed three runs or fewer five times and owns two scoreless outings on April 14 against the Pittsburgh Pirates and April 25 at the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“He’s been a good story, he’s thrown the ball well,” Mattingly told reporters. “Obviously http://www.cardinalsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-mason-cole-jersey , pitcher of the year last year in the minor leagues, really good reports on his makeup and how he works, competes, and pays attention, so it’s good to see guys like that have success.”

NEW YORK — When Bryce Harper went down the ground for the second time after being hit by a pitch Tuesday night, the Washington Nationals feared the worst, especially with how much injuries have impacted them.

It turned out there was not a long-term injury to fear for their superstar, just some initial pain.

After getting hit by pitches in the back of the left elbow and on his left foot Tuesday, Harper is expected to play Wednesday when the Nationals conclude their two-game series with the New York Yankees.

“Oh yeah, he’s in there,” Martinez said.

Harper reached base four times, but it was his final two appearances that caused the most angst for the Nationals, who mustered five hits and opened the series with a 3-0 loss.

In the fifth, he dropped to the ground after being hit on the left elbow by CC Sabathia’s 90.1 mph sinker. Three innings later http://www.cardinalsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-chase-edmonds-jersey , an 88.8 mph slider from Dellin Betances hit him on the foot and off his big toe, creating some numbness.

“I was really worried,” Martinez said. “He started walking off the field. The good news is he’s walking off the field, He came in a few minutes ago and said he was fine.”

Harper’s exit occurred on a night when the Nationals tied a franchise record by getting shut out in consecutive games for the 12th time since moving from Montreal following the 2004 season. Their scoreless drought is at 19 innings and they have eight hits in the last two games.

Harper batted third and played right field Tuesday. He batted two spots ahead of Daniel Murphy, who was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in his season debut after missing the first 63 games recovering from right knee surgery.

Murphy started at designated hitter and will likely do so again Wednesday.

“His timing could have been off,” Martinez said. “I know he’s going to hit.”

The Yankees opened the series by getting two homers from Didi Gregorius, who has three of their 14 multi-homer games this season. Gregorius homered at home for the first time since April 25 and is hitting .286 (10-for-35) in his last nine games after hitting .151 (14-for-93) in 22 games in May.

While Gregorius is starting to rebound from a tough month, Gary Sanchez is in a massive slump and did not start Tuesday. He is not expected to start Wednesday, giving him three days off.

Sanchez is enduring the first significant struggles of his career and spent time figuring a way out of a prolonged slump that has shrunk his batting average to .190, though the Yankees think he will get rolling again.

“The one thing he never loses is his confidence, because he’s such a gifted hitter,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said before the series opener. “He wants to get in there and get it going; he expects to get it going.”

He is hitless in his last 11 at-bats and is 2-for-29 with 10 strikeouts over his last seven games.

Sanchez has yet to heat up in a season when he started 2-for-36 but on May 19-21 he went 4-for-10 in two games, raising his average to a season-high .231. Since those games, Sanchez is 4-for-53.

“Maybe I’m over-thinking this a little too much http://www.falconsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-calvin-ridley-jersey , that’s why I’m missing those pitches I usually don’t miss,” Sanchez before Tuesday’s game. “I swung at some pitcher’s pitches. Maybe (I’m a) little bit in between.

“But I feel good. I know if I stay healthy, it won’t reflect what I should be hitting. I’m sure I’ll get through this.”

If Boone started Sanchez Wednesday, it would have been as the designated hitter since Sonny Gray is starting.

During the road trip, Gray allowed one run in 14 innings during wins over Baltimore and Toronto. Against teams with losing records, he is 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA but against teams with winning records, he is 1-4 with a 7.61 ERA in five outings.

Last Wednesday, Gray turned in his first scoreless start since becoming a Yankee when he allowed two hits in eight innings during a game that Yankees won in the 13th.

Gray made two starts for Oakland Athletics against the Washington Nationals. In those outings, he allowed six runs on 10 hits in 14 innings.

Since Jeremy Hellickson and Stephen Strasburg are on the disabled list, Washington has an opening in its rotation for Wednesday and it will be filled by Erick Fedde, who will be called up from Triple-A Syracuse for his second start this season.

Fedde allowed three runs on five hits in 5 2/3 innings as a fill-in starter against the San Diego Padres on May 23. Fedde is 0-2 with an 8.14 ERA in four career starts for the Nationals.