The rain was heavy and relentless. As the puddles grew deeper on the tarp at Nationals Park Captain Munnerlyn Jersey , the Baltimore Orioles were left to wonder if their bid for a rare road victory would be thwarted by, of all things, the weather.

During a season in which very little has worked in their favor, the Orioles withstood a long rain delay to beat the Washington Nationals 3-0 Wednesday night.

Baltimore led 2-0 after four innings when play was stopped. After a wait of 2 hours, 43 minutes, the game resumed with a few hundred fans from the announced crowd of 32,153 sprinkled around the lower seating bowl.

Mark Trumbo homered for Baltimore, and Andrew Cashner and four relievers combined on a five-hitter in a game that ended long after midnight.

”It was nice,” Trumbo said. ”I’m glad that we actually kept the game going. Had we not been able to, it might have been a wash. But it ended up being pretty big for us.”

Baltimore ended a six-game losing streak to Washington that began last May, won for only the fourth time in 20 games and improved the majors’ worst road record to 10-28.

This one was worth the wait.

”It’s never easy, especially when you get over the hour mark, two-hour mark,” Trumbo said. ”Then you have to restart. It’s almost two games in one, so, great job by our guys tonight.”

The Nationals managed only two hits following the delay, both in the ninth inning.

”It happens. You can’t do anything about the rain,” manager Dave Martinez said. ”You’ve got to come out and get yourself ready to play. I’m not going to make any excuses.”

The rain delay cut short a solid pitching performance by Cashner Christian McCaffrey Jersey , who allowed three hits and no walks over four innings in his return from an 11-day stay on the disabled list with back spasms.

Miguel Castro (2-2) followed with two hitless innings, Darren O’Day pitched a perfect seventh and Zach Britton got four outs.

Brad Brach allowed the Nationals to load the bases with two outs in the ninth before striking out Mark Reynolds .

Trumbo hit a two-run homer in the second inning off Gio Gonzalez (6-4), and for a while it appeared the drive would be washed out by the rain.

”One pitch. That was the whole game,” Gonzalez lamented. ”That was it.”

Indeed, it all ended well for the Orioles, who added a run in the sixth when Adam Jones doubled off Shawn Kelley and scored on a sacrifice fly by Danny Valencia .

BRYCE STRUGGLES

Nationals OF Bryce Harper went 0 for 4, dropping his batting average to .209.

Martinez said Harper has been working hard with batting coach Kevin Long, and the manager expects the five-time All-Star to end his prolonged slump with a flourish.

”He’s going to hit. I know he’s going to carry us for a month or two or for whatever,” Martinez said.

WAITING FOR DAVIS

Now in the third year of a seven-year, $161 million contract, Baltimore’s Chris Davis is batting .150 with four homers and 15 RBIs in 57 games. He last played on June 11, when he went 0 for 5 with three strikeouts against Boston.

Since then, Davis has been working on his swing and improving his mental outlook. His return appears imminent.

”A couple of days,” manager Buck Showalter said. ”We’re pretty close to it.”

OH, BROTHER

With Cashner coming off the DL, the Orioles optioned infielder Corban Joseph to Double-A Bowie. That ended the 24-hour, feel-good story of Corban and catcher Caleb Joseph as brothers on the same team.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Orioles: 3B Tim Beckham (core surgery) went 1 for 4 with 3 strikeouts in a rehab game with Triple-A Norfolk. … RHP Chris Tillman (back) began his rehab assignment by giving up three runs in two innings for Class A Aberdeen.

Nationals: Martinez said patience is the key in awaiting the return of RHP Stephen Strasburg (shoulder). ”We’re really going to take our time and make sure he’s 100 percent,” the manager said. … 1B Ryan Zimmerman (oblique) is taking grounders and some swings. … C Matt Wieters (oblique) caught in the bullpen but is not yet running at full speed.

UP NEXT

Orioles: Kevin Gausman (3-6 Greg Mancz Jersey , 4.48 ERA) pitches the finale of the three-game series Wednesday night.

Nationals: Max Scherzer (10-3, 2.06) tries to avoid his first three-game losing streak since August 2015.

—


DeMarcus Cousins will be ready to play at some point this season.

And when he is, the two-time defending NBA champions will be waiting.

Adding a fifth All-Star to their already glitzy lineup, the Golden State Warriors have come to terms with Cousins on a one-year, $5.3 million deal – not the biggest money move on Day 2 of the NBA free agency period, but the most intriguing. The low-risk, high-reward deal was confirmed by two people who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because nothing can yet be signed.

”5 All-Stars on 1 team…. wow,” Charlotte’s Frank Kaminsky wrote on Twitter.

Indeed, that is the case for the Warriors, who will be adding Cousins to a lineup that includes All-Stars Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, as well as a former NBA Finals MVP in Andre Iguodala.

The Warriors, predictably, were thrilled by a move that gives them a player who averaged 25.2 points last season before getting hurt and has averaged 21.5 points and 11 rebounds for his career.

”The 3rd splash Brother,” Curry tweeted.

The rest of the league, they didn’t seem so thrilled.

Philadelphia’s Richaun Holmes mused on Twitter if the NBA could veto the signing, much in the way then-Commissioner David Stern blocked a Chris Paul trade to the Los Angeles Lakers in 2011. And New York’s Enes Kanter couldn’t resist poking some fun at the league’s current commissioner.

”Adam Silver has agreed to a Mid Level Extension with the Golden State Dre Kirkpatrick Jersey , league sources tell ME,” Kanter wrote.

The Warriors lost center JaVale McGee to LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday as part of the flurry of moves on Day 1 of free agency, and it took general manager Bob Myers less than a full day to replace McGee with Cousins.

The Lakers kept the moves going Monday, adding Rajon Rondo – once a playoff rival of James, and now someone who will be giving him the ball.

A person with knowledge of the negotiations confirmed to AP that Rondo had agreed to sign a one-year contract with the Lakers for $9 million. Like Cousins, Rondo was part of the New Orleans Pelicans last season. To help replace the Cousins void, the Pelicans agreed to a two-year deal worth about $18 million with former Lakers big man Julius Randle, who will now pair with his fellow Kentucky product Anthony Davis in the New Orleans frontcourt.

So in less than 24 hours, not only did the Lakers lure James out of Cleveland, but they added two players who were longtime antagonists in his annual quest to win the Eastern Conference, first by agreeing to a deal with Lance Stephenson on Sunday night and then moving Monday to convince Rondo to join what will be his sixth different NBA franchise.

James is back on vacation while the Lakers are busy building a roster around him.

”For him, it’s just business as usual,” former Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant said of James during a Monday appearance on ESPN’s ”The Jump.” ”He’ll come to work. He’ll work hard every single day. I’m really excited for our young players, because they get a chance to watch him work up close and so I think that speeds up their learning curve. … I think it’s just important for `Bron just to be himself and continue doing what he’s been doing.”

After just over $1 billion in new contracts were agreed upon starting late Saturday night and through the official first day of free agency Sunday – with James going to the Lakers, Durant staying in Golden State, Chris Paul staying in Houston and Paul George staying in Oklahoma City, among other news – the dollar figures cooled off a bit for Day 2.

The intrigue didn’t stop, especially when the Warriors landed Cousins – basically with the money that Durant didn’t take by structuring his deal as a two-year deal with an option year.

”Got to Love the NBA Michael Irvin Jersey ,” Orlando’s Wesley Iwundu tweeted.

Also Monday, Derrick Favors agreed on a $36 million, two-year deal to stay with the Utah Jazz. Upon hearing that news, his teammates Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert reacted by quickly posting similar requests on Twitter – that being that Favors finally grabs a dinner check.

He can do that now, and then some.

JJ Redick is back with the Philadelphia 76ers, agreeing to a one-year deal worth about $12 million. Redick averaged 17.1 points and shot 42 percent from 3-point range last season with Philadelphia, when he made $23 million.

With James out of the Eastern Conference, Philadelphia believes it can make a run at getting to the NBA Finals. So does Boston – which, coincidentally, gave away the No. 9 jersey that Rondo used to wear there Monday by completing the long-expected signing of Brad Wanamaker, a guard who comes to Boston after spending the last seven seasons in Europe.

Wanamaker played his college ball at Pitt, and is coming off being selected MVP of this year’s Turkish League finals.

Anthony Tolliver changed teams again, this time going back to one of his former stops – Minnesota, which will sign him to a one-year deal worth $5.75 million. Tolliver has played for nine different franchises, and spent last season with Detroit.

The Pistons added Jose Calderon, who will reunite with his former coach Dwane Casey. Calderon signed a one-year deal for the veteran minimum of about $2.4 million. Calderon was with James in Cleveland last season.

So he’s leaving Cleveland – and so is the massive banner showing James and bearing the phrase ”We Are All Witnesses.” The 10-story banner in downtown Cleveland is scheduled Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk Jersey ,