ATLANTA – Austin Hays is out of the Orioles’ lineup again tonight while waiting for the gash to heal on his right middle finger. He’s wearing a soft splint on it.

“It’s improved a little bit more,” he said. “We’re still just trying to be careful with it so we don’t turn it into something worse. But the same, day-to-day. Just trying to give it that little bit of extra time and make sure it’s fully ready to go. But still available off the bench if opportunity shows up where I need to be there.”

Hays was hit on the finger by Corey Kluber’s 88 mph sinker, and a cut opened on the inside knuckle beneath the bruise. The Orioles had it cleaned out Wednesday.

A blood blister formed when the ball caused the finger to get pinched against the bat, and the cut was discovered.

“There was just no way to know that it was there before,” Hays said. “At that point, we couldn’t put stitches in it. It’s not something that needs to be stitched. It just needs to heal and close up a little bit. But it’s right there.”

ATLANTA – Catcher Luis Torrens has joined the Orioles in Atlanta and is added to the 26-man roster for tonight’s series opener against the Braves.

In a corresponding move, first baseman Ryan O’Hearn was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk.

O’Hearn appeared in nine games and went 5-for-19 (.263) with a .634 OPS, one double and six RBIs.

Torrens, who’s wearing No. 13, gives the Orioles a third catcher and reduces the risk of putting Adley Rutschman and James McCann in the same lineup. He’s also a right-handed bat for the bench.

Rutschman and McCann could pair up again tonight with Atlanta starting left-hander Max Fried.

KANSAS CITY – After the top of the third today, the Orioles were enjoying an 8-1 lead against the Kansas City Royals and former teammate Jordan Lyles. Maybe this would be their rare laughter - a blowout with no late game or even mid-game drama.

Nope.

By the end of the Kansas City fourth, the Royals were hitting rookie right-hander Grayson Rodriguez hard and their 8-1 deficit was now just 8-6. There was nothing to laugh about now. Would the O’s even hold on and get another series win before heading to Atlanta?

Nope, also.

Or so we thought.

The Nationals are enjoying the last three games at home after entering this homestand with a sub-.500 record on South Capitol Street and having dropped two of three to the Pirates over the weekend and the series opener to the Cubs on Monday.

But it all came together these last three days in the forms of a 4-1 win Tuesday, a 2-1 win yesterday and a 4-3 win this afternoon, this one delivered by Alex Call’s walk-off home run down the left-field line to send the announced crowd of 18,577 home happy.

The win was the Nationals’ third in a row and sealed their third series win in their last four matchups. It was also completed in 1 hour and 55 minutes, the third-fastest game in the majors this season.

Coming up for his fourth at-bat, Call had already had an eventful day. Starting in center field for Victor Robles, he made a spectacular diving catch to rob Dansby Swanson of a hit in the seventh and preserve a strong outing by Patrick Corbin. But at the plate, he was less fortunate with an 0-for-3 start and two hard lineouts to third baseman Patrick Wisdom.

That’s why you always look to the next one.

KANSAS CITY – The Orioles had won three in a row, five of six, 12 of 14 and 16 of their past 20 games until they were shutout for the first time this year, 6-0 last night at Kansas City. 

So Baltimore (20-10) play the series finale at Kauffman Stadium this afternoon and it is their fifth rubber game of the year. They lost their first two – at Boston and home vs. the New York Yankees. But have won the last two at the Chicago White Sox and home against Boston.

The Orioles are 11-6 on the road and 4-2 on this 10-game trip. They are 7-2 in their past nine road games and are 4-1 in road series.

Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez (1-0, 4.07 ERA) gets the ball this afternoon and he takes a 14-innings scoreless streak into this start. The streak started in the second inning April 16 at Chicago versus the White Sox. It continued in five-inning outings twice against Detroit, once at home and once on the road. His last outing was Game 2 of the doubleheader Saturday at Detroit, when he pitched five scoreless with nine strikeouts and 91 pitches.

In those past two outings, he has allowed seven hits in 10 innings with four walks and 15 strikeouts, allowing a .194 batting average and .525 OPS. He is 1-0 with a 2.40 ERA in three starts vs. teams from the AL Central.

KANSAS CITY – Outfielder Austin Hays is out of the Orioles lineup for the second day in a row and he did not play at all in the game last night. But Hays said he was available then and is today as well as he continues to deal with a bruised right middle finger. He initially injured the finger on a bunt attempt in the recent home series versus Boston.

“We’re just letting the finger have a day or two to heal a little better," Hays said this morning in the Baltimore clubhouse. "Some lingering things going on there from when it got hit. Just making sure I’m going to be healthy for this next stretch coming up. Our training staff has done a great job of keeping me in there and taking care of it. We’re just giving it a day or two, but I’m available for the game and was available to hit last night. Took some swings in the cage to be ready if I needed to swing in a pinch-hit situation. I’m available but we’re just trying to manage this right now.”

Does the finger still bother him when hitting?

“We have been wrapping it. Just have some tape on there. Once the training staff gets it covered and wrapped up, it’s not too painful," he said. 

Hays said he is very positive about this issue moving forward.

The Nationals will look to win this four-game series against the Cubs this afternoon on South Capitol Street after taking the last two games. A win will also give them a winning homestand. They’ll hop on a flight tonight and embark on a six-game West Coast road trip to Phoenix and San Francisco after finishing with Chicago.

Patrick Corbin will take the mound for his seventh start of the season, fifth at home, bringing his 1-4 record, 5.74 ERA and 1.660 WHIP. The numbers still don’t impress, but Corbin has been better so far this year in keeping the Nationals close. He has departed the game with his team ahead, tied or within two runs in five of his six starts, and he has turned in quality starts in two of his last three outings with a much better 4.15 ERA over those games.

The Cubs will activate Jameson Taillon from the injured list to start for the visitors. The veteran right-hander went down with a groin strain after only three starts, going 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA and 1.357 WHIP. He’s 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA over five career starts against the Nats and 0-1 with a 3.32 ERA over three starts at Nationals Park.

Today will be the Nats’ last chance on this homestand to improve their record at Nationals Park. Overall, they’re 5-12 at home while actually playing above-.500 ball on the road with a 7-6 record. They’re 3-3 so far on this homestand.

CHICAGO CUBS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, MLB.com
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 58 degrees, wind 9 mph in from left to right field

Jake Irvin had a solid major league debut Wednesday for the Nationals.

It wasn’t anything too spectacular, nor was it expected to be. A promising pitcher in his own right, he didn’t come with the pedigree of his former University of Oklahoma teammate Cade Cavalli. And his debut definitely didn’t come with the pomp and circumstance that surrounded the debut of Stephen Strasburg, who remains the last starting pitcher to make his major league debut with the Nationals and earn the win back in June 2010.

But Irvin’s start against the Cubs was still encouraging enough that the Nationals are going to keep him around for a little while longer, though not fully committing to him making another start in the big leagues.

“Yeah, we're gonna keep him around,” manager Davey Martinez said of Irvin during his pregame media session ahead of Thursday’s afternoon finale against Chicago. “We haven't decided yet what we're gonna do for that starter's spot. But if he's here till then, he'll get a chance to start again.”

The 26-year-old right-hander pitched 4 ⅓ innings last night and gave up just one run on two hits and four walks while striking out three, all looking. He threw 81 pitches, 45 strikes, after throwing 82 pitches, 52 strikes, in his previous start for Triple-A Rochester last week. That was his best start with the Red Wings before getting the call to Washington, striking out six and allowing two runs over 5 ⅓ innings.

The Orioles are sending Grayson Rodriguez to the mound this afternoon in Kansas City while trying to claim their seventh series.

Rodriguez is working on regular rest after starting Game 2 of Saturday’s doubleheader in Detroit and earning his first major league win with a career-high nine strikeouts. He hasn’t allowed a run in 14 straight innings going back to Chicago.

Austin Hays is out of the lineup again today. He also didn’t pinch-hit last night, with manager Brandon Hyde choosing Ryan McKenna to bat for Kyle Stowers.

Hays recently returned after bruising his right middle finger on an attempted bunt.

Stowers is in left field again today. Adley Rutschman is the designated hitter.

KANSAS CITY – If a formula for producing one of the best records in baseball so far has been to hold your own against the best teams and clean up on losing records clubs, the Orioles are doing a pretty solid job in following the script.

They may have gone off script for a night, being shutout 6-0 by Kansas City last night, as the Royals (8-23) ended a 10-game home losing streak that fell a game short of the franchise record.

But the Orioles have played four series to date against teams with current winning records and they are 6-6 in the 12 games against Boston, the New York Yankees and Texas, going 2-2 in series.

But they are 14-4 through Tuesday’s games against clubs with current losing records, going 5-0 in series. That is a .778 win percentage and that will help a team get into the playoffs. So will a 20-10 record and a .667 overall win percentage that, if maintained through the full year, amounts to 108 wins.

But as noted previously here, the May schedule is about to get more challenging for the team, with series looming against Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, Toronto and New York.

With two on and nobody out in the top of the ninth Wednesday night, Kyle Finnegan’s thoughts hearkened back 12 days prior, when he faced an identical situation and lived to tell about that.

That cold night in Minnesota, Finnegan pitched his way out of a jam by getting a lineout and then a 5-4-3 double play, preserving a one-run victory for the Nationals. This time, he pulled it off thanks to a fielder’s choice on a bunt, then a 6-4-3 double play, preserving another one-run victory.

“I found myself there a couple times before this year,” Finnegan said. “Knowing that I’ve gotten out of it before helps a lot. And we’ve been turning so many double plays behind us, you know you’re never really out of it.”

Look at Finnegan’s 2023 totals to date, and it’s easy to believe he’s having a disastrous season. His ERA is 6.00. His WHIP is 1.583. He has surrendered three homers in only 12 innings.

That doesn’t accurately reflect his true performance to date, though. Most of those lofty numbers were the direct result of one awful appearance on April 4 against the Rays, when he was roughed up for five runs while recording only one out, surrendering all three of those homers.

Jake Irvin did his part in his major league debut to give the Nationals a chance to win. His teammates then did just enough to actually emerge with the win.

CJ Abrams drove in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the seventh for the second straight night, and the Nats bullpen tossed 4 2/3 innings of scoreless ball following Irvin’s solid-if-abbreviated first career start to beat the Cubs, 2-1, and ensure at least a split of this four-game series.

Called up from Triple-A Rochester to make his debut five years after the organization selected him from the University of Oklahoma in the fourth round of the draft, Irvin survived some occasionally erratic command to hold Chicago’s lineup to one run before departing with one out in the fifth.

The 26-year-old right-hander was rated the Nationals’ 20th-best prospect by MLB Pipeline. He wound up outperforming several far more highly touted pitchers who have come and gone over the years, and gave club officials enough reason to want to see more of him.

"This is something you dream of since the day you pick up a baseball," he said. "I'm on top of the world. And props to the team, man. The guys played great behind me."

The Nationals have their utility man back in the dugout tonight, with Ildemaro Vargas activated from the 10-day injured list about 3 1/2 weeks after he jammed his left shoulder making a diving play in the field.

Vargas rejoins the team after a brief rehab stint with Triple-A Rochester, where he appeared in three games and went 1-for-10 at the plate.

“I watched some of his swings last night,” manager Davey Martinez said. “I know he struck out, but he hit some balls hard. He felt good. He said he had no pain whatsoever.”

The 31-year-old infielder hurt himself April 9 in Colorado when he jammed his shoulder while making a play at second base against the Rockies. He finished the game but was in significant pain the following day, so the Nationals placed him on the IL and called up Jeter Downs to fill his role on the bench.

Downs, 24, wound up appearing in only one game during his three weeks on the big league roster, and that came late in Saturday night’s blowout loss to the Pirates. A onetime top prospect of the Dodgers and Red Sox, he was claimed off waivers this winter by the Nationals, who intended to have him play every day at Triple-A and see if he could recapture the form that made him so coveted he was a key piece in the trade that sent Mookie Betts from Boston to Los Angeles.

There’s nothing quite like a major league debut, especially when the guy debuting is a starting pitcher. No, Jake Irvin isn’t a top prospect in the Nationals organization, and his start tonight isn’t as significant as Cade Cavalli’s debut last summer. But it’s still a big deal for any pitcher who was drafted, developed and moved up the organizational ladder to see his dream come true and start a big league game.

Irvin is no kid; he’s 26 years old, drafted in the fourth round in 2018 out of the University of Oklahoma (where he was teammates with Cavalli, by the way). He missed the 2021 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery but was healthy throughout the 2022 campaign, reaching Double-A Harrisburg. The Nats added him to the 40-man roster this winter, and now they’ve called him up after five starts at Triple-A Rochester.

Irvin isn’t the only addition to the Nationals’ roster for tonight’s game. Infielder Ildemaro Vargas has been activated off the 10-day injured list, his left shoulder now healed. To make room for both players, Jeter Downs and Cory Abbott were optioned back to Rochester.

The Nats will be looking to make it two in a row against the Cubs, who have veteran Marcus Stroman on the mound. The 32-year-old right-hander has been excellent so far, with a 2.29 ERA and a 1.047 WHIP through his first six starts of the season.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. CHICAGO CUBS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Chance of rain, 53 degrees, wind 14 mph left field to right field

Closer Félix Bautista of the Baltimore Orioles has been voted the American League Reliever of the Month for April, and All-Star closer Josh Hader of the San Diego Padres has been voted the National League Reliever of the Month for April.

Bautista earned his first career Reliever of the Month Award and became just the second Orioles pitcher to win the award since its inception in 2005, joining Jim Johnson (May 2012).

Félix Bautista, Baltimore Orioles (@felixbautista_20)
• The 27-year-old made 14 appearances and went 2-1 with seven saves in eight opportunites and a 1.42 ERA. In 13.2 innings pitched, he permitted five runs (two earned) on nine hits with seven walks and 25 strikeouts.
• His seven saves tied for third in the AL and were tied for fifth across the Majors.
• The Dominican Republic native struck out 25 of his 58 total batters faced, and his 16.46 strikeouts per nine innings leads all Major League pitchers with at least 13.0 innings pitched.
• The Orioles won 13 of the 14 games in which Bautista appeared, including each of the last 12.
• Bautista, who stands 6’8” and 285 pounds, recorded at least one strikeout in 13 of his 14 appearances, and registered multiple strikeouts in nine of his appearances. In addition, he registered a hitless outing in seven of his games pitched.
• The right-hander closed out his award-winning month with saves in back-to-back appearances on Thursday and Saturday at Detroit, and did not allow a hit in either contest.

When it came time to decide who to summon from their farm system to start tonight’s game against the Cubs, the Nationals had options. They could’ve gone with someone with considerable big league experience (Wily Peralta), modest big league experience (Paolo Espino) or minimal big league experience (Cory Abbott, Joan Adon).

In the end, they went with zero big league experience.

That’s right, when they take the field this evening, the Nationals will be led by Jake Irvin, a 26-year-old right-hander making his major league debut. It’s a debut most assumed would come sometime this season but few figured would come this soon.

“His last outing, he pitched really well,” said manager Davey Martinez, referencing the two runs Irvin allowed in 5 1/3 innings for Triple-A Rochester one week ago. “He’s stretched out to about 90 pitches. So we’re going to give him an opportunity to come out here and start for us tomorrow, and see what he does and see where he goes.”

A fourth round pick in the 2018 draft out of Oklahoma – where he was rotation mates with 2020 first round pick Cade Cavalli – Irvin is the organization’s 20th ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline. He missed all of the 2021 season following Tommy John surgery and split last season between Single-A Wilmington and Double-A Harrisburg.

One-plus months into this season, Davey Martinez’s offensive philosophy has become pretty well established, certainly when it comes to his regular 8-9-1 hitters: If CJ Abrams gets on base and there’s an opportunity to play for one run, Victor Robles and/or Alex Call will probably be asked to bunt.

It happened twice tonight, in both the third and fifth innings, and the end result of all that was one run. One that was made possible only because of an error on Robles’ sacrifice bunt attempt in the third.

As such, when Abrams, Robles and Call came back to the plate in the bottom of the seventh, this game was now tied. This time, each was allowed to swing away. And lo and behold, would you guess what happened next? Each delivered a clutch hit, combining to drive in three runs and propel the Nationals to a cathartic, 4-1 victory over the Cubs.

"It's nice to bunt, but you think about giving up outs," Martinez said when asked what made the strategy in the seventh different from the third and fifth. "At that particular moment in the seventh, I said: Hey man, we need to put some runs on the board. And they're swinging the bats well. So you give them a chance to swing. And they came through, which was awesome."

Abrams’ single to right, which brought Dominic Smith home from second, provided the go-ahead RBI. Robles’ infield single, a sharp chopper to third that ate up Patrick Wisdom, kept the rally going. And Call’s double to the gap in left-center brought both of his teammates home and provided the entire dugout reason to celebrate a three-run rally.

On the heels of an impressive 4-2 road trip to Minnesota and New York, the Nationals have sputtered back home. They’re currently 1-3 against the Pirates and Cubs and in danger of assuring another losing homestand if they can’t get things together quickly.

A victory tonight would certainly help. And some offense would certainly help make that more possible.

The Nats were held to one run on six hits Monday night by Drew Smyly and a couple of relievers. They’ll need to be better against Hayden Wesneski, who enters with a 5.24 ERA but has actually pitched quite well in two of his last three starts. The 25-year-old right-hander held the Athletics to one run over seven innings, then held the Padres to one run over five innings last week. He’s averaging only 75.8 pitches per start, so he probably won’t be around too long tonight, if the Nats can make him work a bit.

Trevor Williams gets the ball for the Nationals, facing one of his former teams for the second straight outing. The right-hander had maybe the worst of his starts to date in New York last week, allowing four runs on nine hits over five innings, a performance that kind of got lost in the shuffle because of CJ Abrams’ late grand slam and Mason Thompson's struggles after that during a 9-8 loss to the Mets.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. CHICAGO CUBS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Chance of rain, 56 degrees, wind 11 mph left field to right field

The identity of the Nationals’ starting pitcher for Wednesday’s game against the Cubs remains a mystery, but Davey Martinez insists the big reveal is coming.

“We’ll announce it after the game,” the manager said this afternoon. “Let’s get through today first.”

Here’s what we do know:

* The Nationals already needed a fill-in starter to account for Friday’s rainout and Saturday’s doubleheader, which created six games in five days on the schedule.

* They’ll need to account for more than just a fill-in start after Chad Kuhl landed on the 15-day injured list with a right foot ailment, though Kuhl’s spot in the rotation won’t come up until Monday in San Francisco.

No two players recover from the same injury in the same amount of time. Sometimes, one player doesn’t recover from the same injury suffered twice in the same amount of time.

At the moment, though, it’s taking a few members of the Nationals organization longer to return from the injured list as anyone probably hoped when the season began.

Atop that list is Corey Dickerson, the veteran outfielder who strained his left calf April 1 and doesn’t appear close to coming back.

Dickerson, signed over the winter for $2.25 million to be the Nationals’ starting left fielder, hurt himself in the second game of the season and hasn’t made it back yet. Though he has been able to hit and playing with no issues, he has not been cleared to run yet.

“This is recurring for him: He did it last year,” manager Davey Martinez said. “This is the same spot. So we want to make sure it’s completely gone.”