{"id":653,"date":"2026-05-18T06:04:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T06:04:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=653"},"modified":"2026-05-18T06:04:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T06:04:36","slug":"nationals-orioles-a-series-between-rivals-managed-by-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=653","title":{"rendered":"Nationals-Orioles: A series between rivals, managed by friends"},"content":{"rendered":"

Craig Albernaz and Blake Butera have known each other for more than a decade. This weekend, they faced off as MLB managers for the first time.<\/strong><\/p>

Read more Caitlin Clark has 21 points and 10 assists to lead Fever to 89-78 win over Storm<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Nationals Manager Blake Butera is a longtime friend of Orioles counterpart Craig Albernaz. (Lynne Sladky\/AP)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

There was a time, not too long ago, that Baltimore Orioles Manager Craig Albernaz and Washington Nationals Manager Blake Butera dreamed of one day working on the same major league staff.<\/p>\n

That seemed possible even as recently as October, when Albernaz was hired to be the Orioles skipper. But four days later, Butera took the Nationals job, and suddenly the two were regional competitors.<\/p>\n

On Friday morning, before they faced each other for the first time in their new roles, they sat in Butera\u2019s office catching up. They hugged when exchanging lineup cards before Friday\u2019s game, then put their friendship aside and played the first of two three-game series this season. After Butera\u2019s Nationals won Friday and Saturday, Albernaz\u2019s Orioles dealt them a 7-3 defeat Sunday to prevent a sweep.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall, happy with how the series went,\u201d Butera said. \u201cObviously, want to win every game, but taking two out of three against this team is pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike on Friday, when the Nationals used three relievers in the ninth to stave off the Orioles\u2019 comeback attempt in a 3-2 victory, or on Saturday, when a seven-run seventh secured a 13-3 blowout, there was no spark in the finale. Miles Mikolas came in from the bullpen with two outs in the second, then gave up four runs in 5\u2154 innings. Still, his ERA (6.91) slipped under 7 for the first time this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot a ton of excuses, just didn\u2019t feel great,\u201d Mikolas said. \u201cI\u2019m looking a little bit out of my rhythm the first couple of innings \u2014 you know, having a hard time putting the ball where I wanted to \u2014 but made some adjustments and much better those last three innings.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Miles Mikolas allowed four runs but still brought his season ERA down. (Nick Wass\/AP Photo\/Nick Wass)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Jacob Young got the Nationals on the board with a home run in the second, and Daylen Lile scored on a sacrifice fly from Keibert Ruiz in the fourth. Washington had other chances but managed only one more run, an RBI single from CJ Abrams in the seventh that bounced off Pete Alonso\u2019s glove and across the infield. The Nationals went 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 men.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought we did a good job of getting hits. We just couldn\u2019t have that big inning today,\u201d Butera said.<\/p>\n

Before they were first-time managers, Butera and Albernaz were chasing their dreams in the minors. The two met in 2015 when Butera, a 35th-round draft pick that year, was playing for Princeton, then the Tampa Bay Rays\u2019 rookie-level team, and Albernaz was his coach. Two years later, Butera gave up on his goal of playing and moved to the dugout. Albernaz, who was managing at low Class A Hudson Valley, hired him as his bench coach in 2017, and their friendship blossomed.<\/p>

Read more Bickerstaff says Pistons will learn from their blowout loss in Game 7 against the Cavaliers<\/a><\/p>\n

They remained in contact as they went on to other jobs. Albernaz was tapped for major league roles, first with the San Francisco Giants and then with the Cleveland Guardians. Butera remained with the Rays, working as a minor league manager and later their farm director.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just super genuine,\u201d Butera said of Albernaz. \u201cHe isn\u2019t going to change who he is because of the title. He\u2019s the same person when he was a minor league hitting coach as he is a major league manager today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe describes me as genuine?\u201d Albernaz said. \u201cThat\u2019s one way to put it. I like that. I feel the same way. He\u2019s genuine, he\u2019s real, he\u2019s consistent.\u201d<\/p>\n

They have leaned on each other while navigating the highs and lows of leading big league teams for the first time, FaceTiming once or twice a week and texting in between calls. Albernaz even called Butera after he was hit in the jaw by a line drive earlier this season.<\/p>\n

Albernaz still can\u2019t eat solid food and has lost 12 pounds since the incident just over a month ago, and Butera advised him to stay in the clubhouse or the other side of the dugout this weekend, just in case.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s getting old \u2014 his reactions aren\u2019t as quick anymore,\u201d Butera joked.<\/p>\n

Each manager has had their own challenges, beyond getting hit in the face. In Baltimore, the Orioles entered the season with high expectations after finishing below .500 in 2025 and getting swept out of the playoffs the two previous years. With Alonso and other major additions, they were supposed to be a contender for the American League East title. Instead, they are 21-26.<\/p>\n

And while Butera claims that he always knew the Nationals had this in them, most can agree that the team is playing better than predicted. Reaching .500, as they did Saturday, was a big enough deal for Washington that Butera opened his postgame news conference with a thank you to the fans for coming out and sticking by the team. The Nationals still have far to go, as evident in Sunday\u2019s loss, but they are making progress.<\/p>\n

With the series behind them, Butera and Albernaz can go back to being friends \u2014 until next month, at least, when the two will face each other again in Baltimore.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just so proud of him,\u201d Albernaz said. \u201cIt\u2019s awesome seeing what he\u2019s doing.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Mitchell scores 26 and the Cavaliers rout the Pistons 125-94 in Game 7 to reach the East finals<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Craig Albernaz and Blake Butera have known each other for more than a decade. This weekend, they faced off as MLB managers for the first time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":650,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nNationals-Orioles: A series between rivals, managed by friends - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=653\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nationals-Orioles: A series between rivals, managed by friends - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Craig Albernaz and Blake Butera have known each other for more than a decade. This weekend, they faced off as MLB managers for the first time.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=653\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-18T06:04:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0bc5a6554e76dbdf87cc8c66ed36d387-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=653#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=653\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Nationals-Orioles: A series between rivals, managed by friends\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-18T06:04:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=653\"},\"wordCount\":981,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=653#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/0bc5a6554e76dbdf87cc8c66ed36d387-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=653#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=653\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=653\",\"name\":\"Nationals-Orioles: A series between rivals, managed by friends - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=653#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=653#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/0bc5a6554e76dbdf87cc8c66ed36d387-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-18T06:04:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=653#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=653\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=653#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/0bc5a6554e76dbdf87cc8c66ed36d387-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/0bc5a6554e76dbdf87cc8c66ed36d387-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Washington Nationals manager Blake Butera watches batting practice before a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Friday, May 8, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo\\\/Lynne Sladky)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=653#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Nationals-Orioles: A series between rivals, managed by friends\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Moving Insider USA\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Nationals-Orioles: A series between rivals, managed by friends - Moving Insider USA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=653","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Nationals-Orioles: A series between rivals, managed by friends - Moving Insider USA","og_description":"Craig Albernaz and Blake Butera have known each other for more than a decade. This weekend, they faced off as MLB managers for the first time.","og_url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=653","og_site_name":"Moving Insider USA","article_published_time":"2026-05-18T06:04:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1707,"url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0bc5a6554e76dbdf87cc8c66ed36d387-scaled.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=653#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=653"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03"},"headline":"Nationals-Orioles: A series between rivals, managed by friends","datePublished":"2026-05-18T06:04:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=653"},"wordCount":981,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=653#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0bc5a6554e76dbdf87cc8c66ed36d387-scaled.jpg","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=653#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=653","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=653","name":"Nationals-Orioles: A series between rivals, managed by friends - Moving Insider USA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=653#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=653#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0bc5a6554e76dbdf87cc8c66ed36d387-scaled.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-18T06:04:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=653#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=653"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=653#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0bc5a6554e76dbdf87cc8c66ed36d387-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0bc5a6554e76dbdf87cc8c66ed36d387-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1707,"caption":"Washington Nationals manager Blake Butera watches batting practice before a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, Friday, May 8, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo\/Lynne Sladky)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=653#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Nationals-Orioles: A series between rivals, managed by friends"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/","name":"Moving Insider USA","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/#\/schema\/person\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com"],"url":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}