ST. LOUIS – When Davey Martinez sent Harold Ramírez to the plate to pinch-hit for Jesse Winker in the top of the sixth tonight, it made perfect baseball sense. The Nationals, who had squandered bases-loaded opportunities each of the previous two innings, had yet another opportunity with the bags full in a tight ballgame. And with Cardinals manager Oli Marmol summoning left-hander Matthew Liberatore from the bullpen, of course Martinez would have the right-handed Ramírez bat for the left-handed Winker.

Ramírez proceeded to deliver the clutch hit the Nats had been seeking all night, sparking a seven-run rally that turned a tight ballgame at Busch Stadium into an eventual 14-3 rout. But it turns out the pinch-hit move by Martinez, though purely strategic in the moment, carried far more significance than anyone realized at the time.

Winker, who turned a minor league contract and a spring training invitation into a .793 OPS and a regular spot batting third for the Nats, was traded to the Mets for pitching prospect Tyler Stuart, the club officially announced Sunday morning.

Winker, who is due to become a free agent at season’s end and looked like the team's most logical candidate to be dealt prior to Tuesday’s major league deadline, wound up getting dealt in-game to a division rival for Stuart, a 24-year-old right-hander who was rated New York's No. 17 prospect by MLB Pipeline. The 6-foot-9 starter had a 3.96 ERA, 1.250 WHIP and 90 strikeouts with only 20 walks in 84 innings this season at Double-A Binghamton. He led all qualified full-season starters across the minor leagues last season with a 2.20 ERA split between Single-A and Double-A.

The trade couldn't officially be announced until both clubs received and approved medical info, which didn't happen until Sunday morning. But Winker was informed of the pending deal during the seventh inning Saturday night and spent the rest of the game making travel preparations while also returning to the dugout to enjoy the win with his now-former teammates.

ST. LOUIS – After a two-night stretch in which they drove in 24 runs with a flurry of clutch hits, especially late-game hits, the Nationals found themselves in need of just one more late this afternoon if they wanted to pull off a rare sweep of the Cardinals.

That hit proved far more elusive in the daylight than it did the previous two evenings. And that only set the stage for St. Louis to deliver the final blow this afternoon with an even rarer development.

Paul Goldschmidt’s leadoff homer off Dylan Floro in the bottom of the ninth propelled the Cardinals to a 4-3 walk-off win, leaving the Nats to be content with a series victory but not a weekend sweep against a quality opponent.

It was the first home run surrendered this season by Floro, and it came in his 51st appearance.

"If you keep the ball in the ballpark, that means you're giving up less runs, I guess," said the 33-year-old, whose ERA was down to 1.89 prior to that final at-bat. "I'm a groundball pitcher, so I take pride in that."

ST. LOUIS – As Jesse Winker was speaking to New York media members at Citi Field, Alex Call was unpacking his bags at Busch Stadium, taking over the locker Winker occupied only 12 hours earlier.

And next door in the manager’s office, Davey Martinez was filling out a lineup card with a new No. 3 hitter and a new regular designated hitter. At least for today. Who knows what else could change in the next two days before Tuesday’s trade deadline arrives?

“These guys get it. They know this is a tough time of year,” Martinez said. “But they need to do their job, as we all do. It stinks, because they lose a friend, a teammate. We lose a good player. But we gain something that might help us in the future.”

The Nationals traded Winker to the Mets late during Saturday night’s 14-3 thumping of the Cardinals, acquiring Double-A right-hander Tyler Stuart but losing one of their most consistent offensive players this season. They now have to try to replace a guy who delivered a .374 on-base percentage and .793 OPS in 101 games.

The plan, for now: Harold Ramírez takes over as the regular DH, hoping to pick up right where he left off Saturday night, when he went 3-for-3 with three RBIs as Winker’s in-game replacement. Ramírez, though, will bat sixth in today’s series finale against veteran right-hander Miles Mikolas.

The Orioles are in such a funk right now that they can’t catch a break or a popup.

Gunnar Henderson and Ramón Urías converged on a ball today in the second inning that should have stranded two runners in scoring position. Kyle Higashioka skied a four-seamer with the count full and Dean Kremer appeared to escape the jam.

A routine play except when a team is scuffling in pretty much every facet of the game.

Henderson and Urías collided, the ball popped out of the third baseman’s glove and the Orioles were down by two runs.

Urías couldn’t backhand Xander Bogaerts’ 102.1 mph grounder down the line in the third inning that was ruled a double and scored Jurickson Profar, another runner crossed in the fourth on Henderson’s throwing error, and the Orioles stayed behind until the finish in a 9-4 loss to the Padres before an announced crowd of 30,008 at Camden Yards.

ST. LOUIS – When the bottom of the eighth arrived Friday night at Busch Stadium, the Nationals and Cardinals knotted at 6-6, the visitors bullpen door swung open and Davey Martinez’s top setup man emerged: Robert Garcia.

This was the spot that had been reserved all season for Hunter Harvey, but the hard-throwing right-hander was dealt to the Royals just before the All-Star break. Martinez could have stuck with another righty, probably Dylan Floro or Derek Law, but he chose to use those veterans in the sixth and seventh.

So the assignment went to Garcia, the 28-year-old lefty with only 70 games of big league experience, even though only one of the three Cardinals due up bat left-handed. No problem, because Garcia promptly retired the side, striking out both right-handers to keep the game tied and ultimately set the Nationals up to win 10-8 in 10 innings.

“It’s something that I’ve worked towards, and it feels good that I’ve been given the opportunity to be put in that role,” he said. “It’s somewhere I see myself. I think I have very good stuff and have the ability to be in the later innings and take over that role.”

That’s the bet the Nats are making as they adjust bullpen roles on the fly. Harvey is now in Kansas City, Floro is a strong candidate to be traded as well before Tuesday’s deadline and Finnegan also could be had if any contender is willing to meet Mike Rizzo’s high asking price.

ST. LOUIS – If the Nationals’ response to getting no-hit Thursday was to score 10 runs Friday, what exactly does that mean we should expect tonight out of them? Your guess is as good as mine.

The Nats legitimately had a good night at the plate in the series opener against the Cardinals. It’s not just the 10 runs they scored. It’s the 11 hits, four of which went for extra bases. And it’s the eight walks they drew, a very uncommon total for this swing-happy bunch.

So they’ll look to use the same approach tonight against Kyle Gibson, who faces the Nationals for the second time this month. He managed to give up only three runs in five-plus innings July 7 in D.C., but that came via nine hits and two walks, including three doubles combined by Jesse Winker and Juan Yepez. Speaking of Yepez, he’s now slashing .375/.423/.609 in 17 games since joining the team, consistently providing sorely needed quality at-bats.

The Nationals are facing a familiar foe in Gibson, but the same isn’t true on the flip side. Jake Irvin didn’t pitch against St. Louis in that previous series, so perhaps that plays to his advantage. The right-hander needed a good outing in his return from the All-Star break after a rough stretch to close out an otherwise excellent first half. And he responded with seven innings of two-run, zero-strikeout ball against the Reds, an encouraging sign heading into tonight’s start.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Where: Busch Stadium
Gametime: 7:15 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Chance of rain, 79 degrees, wind 7 mph right field to left field

Two days ago the Orioles had a 6-0 lead and almost lost. Last night they held an early two-run lead, were tied in the ninth and lost 6-4 to the Padres in the opener of a three-game series.

The Orioles (61-42) still lead the American League East by two games over the Yankees as both clubs keep losing often lately.

The Orioles have lost four of five, nine of 13 and 11 of their past 17 games. Since June 21 they are 12-17 with a -41 run differential.

The Yankees have lost five of six games and are 2-5 since the All-Star break (the O’s are 3-4). Since June 21, New York is 9-19 with a -16 run differential.

San Diego (56-50) has a six-game winning streak after Friday’s 6-4 victory and they have outscored their opponents 34-8 in those games.

Jorge Mateo has his left elbow in a brace and no further updates on his health.

Mateo suffered a transient dislocation Tuesday in a collision with shortstop Gunnar Henderson during a 6-3 loss to the Marlins. He needs to undergo further testing but the Orioles are waiting for the swelling to go down.

“It was a difficult moment when I saw and felt my arm bend that way,” Mateo said via team interpreter Brandon Quinones. “Yeah, just a difficult moment for me, for the team, for my family.”

Surgery is a possibility but the medical staff is collecting more information.

“We still don’t have anything concrete,” Mateo said. “We’re still waiting for the team to ultimately make a decision and see what happens from there.”

Jordan Westburg and Ryan Mountcastle are on the bench this afternoon and Connor Norby is at second base, as the Orioles continue their series against the Padres.

Colton Cowser is in left field and Heston Kjerstad is the designated hitter.

Adley Rutschman is catching. He’s 8-for-64 (.125) this month.

Anthony Santander, who’s in right field, has hit six home runs in his last eight games and leads the club with 29, one more than his 2023 total.

Cowser has a career-high seven-game hitting streak. He’s 10-for-24 during that stretch.

A normal day at Camden Yards would have led the visiting media to Manny Machado’s locker. He would have been the most interesting story. And eventually, I would have remembered that Connor Norby was making his home debut.

But mostly Manny.

Machado’s arrival in Baltimore, his second in a Padres uniform, is bound to conjure memories of his departure. Rumors surfacing of his pending trade to the Dodgers during the 2018 All-Star game in D.C. For me, a text message from a team official stating that the deal wasn’t done despite reports to the contrary, and he was right.

Machado knew that he was a goner and had a member of the public relations staff summon the beat writers to a private area at Nats Park for goodbyes and a group photo. Away from the other writers who surrounded his locker and got nothing substantial.

I’ll never forget Machado thanking us for understanding that he was “different.” He wasn’t always the easiest player to cover, but he appreciated the relationship that developed.

We have seen the Orioles go 20-9 this year versus the American League East. We have seen them produce nine straight winning months, the longest current active streak in the majors. Since the start of 2023, Baltimore is 162-102 (.614), and that is the best win percentage in the majors in that span.

In the span of four series in June we saw the Orioles sweep four in a row at Tampa Bay and win consecutive series against Atlanta, Philadelphia and the New York Yankees.

But since they capped that four-series run by beating the Yankees 17-5, it has turned for the worse. And the Orioles can't seem to turn it back.

Since June 21 they look nothing like a playoff team. They have two five-game losing streaks in this stretch and in their most recent five games, they are 1-4.

That is a mark of 12-17 and a -41 run differential since that June day.

ST. LOUIS – MacKenzie Gore probably wouldn’t have looked at this kind of start – six runs allowed over five innings – and found positives to focus on at any other point this season. But this is where the Nationals left-hander is these days, searching for some good developments to cling to during what has been one of the toughest stretches of his career.

“Look, today wasn’t good. But it was better,” he said. “I’m trying to figure this whole thing out and stop the bleeding here. We’re going to. But it obviously wasn’t great today.”

Taking the mound Friday night hoping to snap a run of four substandard performances over his last five starts, Gore didn’t really do that, as evidenced by his final line. But his night did start off on a high note, with only 24 pitches thrown over two scoreless innings. And it ended on a high note as well, striking out Dylan Carlson with a runner in scoring position to close out a scoreless fifth.

The trouble is what took place in between, especially during a nightmare third inning.

That frame began with Gore allowing the first five Cardinals batters he faced to reach and ultimately score. He walked No. 9 batter Michael Siani. He surrendered a two-run homer to Masyn Winn. He allowed singles to Willson Contreras and Alec Burleson. And then he served up a three-run homer to Nolan Arenado to complete the sudden rally and ensure this would go down as another poor start.

ST. LOUIS – They overcame another subpar start from MacKenzie Gore, clawing their way from back from a three-run deficit to pull even with the Cardinals in the seventh.

And thanks to four scoreless innings from their bullpen, the Nationals gave themselves a chance to finally take the lead in the 10th. At which point Jacob Young came through with the biggest hit of his young career.

Young laced a three-run triple to right with two outs in the top of the 10th, the big blow the Nats desperately needed to complete their 28th come-from-behind win of the year, this one by the final score of 10-8 at a stunned Busch Stadium.

One night after getting no-hit for the second time in a calendar year and getting shut out for the 12th time this season, the Nationals cracked double-digits for only the seventh time in 2024.

"It's in the past. Turn the page," said Juan Yepez, who came through with three hits and two RBIs against his former team. "Just be aggressive and trust our talent. Swing hard, put the ball in play and play for the team. I think that's what we did, and that's how we got the win."

ST. LOUIS – The Nationals sent Eduardo Salazar down to Triple-A on Tuesday, saying they wanted to see the right-hander back in the big leagues before long. Turns out it took only three days to bring him back.

The Nats recalled Salazar from Rochester this afternoon, permitted to make such a move because he is replacing an injured teammate, in this case Jordan Weems, who was placed on the 15-day injured list with right shin splints.

Pitchers normally are required to spend 15 days in the minors after getting optioned, but exceptions are made for doubleheaders and injuries. And in this case, the Nationals were able to get the exemption because of Weems’ injury, which he made club officials aware of earlier this week.

Owner of a 6.59 ERA and 1.683 WHIP in 40 appearances, Weems was roughed up by the Padres for five runs in one inning of relief Wednesday after starter Mitchell Parker was pulled after only three frames. Manager Davey Martinez said he noticed Weems struggling to push off the mound, and when asked about it, the 29-year-old admitted he has dealt with pain in his shin on and off since last season.

“Last year, it was pretty bad,” said Weems, who still had a 3.62 ERA and 1.207 WHIP in 51 games. “This year, it just kind of continued to get worse and worse. It felt like it was a good time to just give it a blow, instead of letting it get to the point where I do get something like a stress fracture or something like, where you could really be out for a while.”

ST. LOUIS – The Nationals couldn’t have asked for a better start to their homestand. And then they couldn’t have asked for a worse conclusion. They swept the Reds, then they were swept by the Padres, including Dylan Cease’s no-hitter Thursday afternoon. All that just to finish 3-3 for the week.

It’s a new day, though, and the Nats are back on the road, with a six-game trip beginning tonight in St. Louis and extending through Tuesday’s trade deadline in Phoenix.

The Nationals just faced the Cardinals a few weeks ago in D.C., losing three of four, the first of those losses an 11-inning affair. In that game, they jumped all over Sonny Gray for five runs in three innings. Luis García Jr. was the offensive star of the night, going 4-for-5 with a homer, and he’ll hope for similar results in tonight’s rematch with Gray.

Speaking of rematches, MacKenzie Gore gets another crack at the Cardinals after giving up five runs on six hits and five walks in only 3 1/3 innings during that series. That was the first of three subpar outings by Gore, who has totaled only 10 innings in those games while seeing his pitch counts skyrocket. The left-hander hasn’t minced words about his performances. It’s time for him to right the ship, and he knows it.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Where: Busch Stadium
Gametime: 8:15 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 84 degrees, wind 6 mph in from right field

After never happening in the team’s 18-year existence since relocating to Washington, D.C., in 2005, the Nationals have now been no-hit twice in less than a calendar year.

Two weeks from the one-year anniversary of Michael Lorenzen’s no-hitter against the Nats at Citizens Bank Park, Dylan Cease repeated the feat for the Padres in a 3-0 win in front of 20,755 fans, who saw history while sticking out a 1-hour, 16-minute rain delay at Nationals Park.

After being outscored 16-3 through the first two games this week, the Nats had the challenge of facing Cease for the second time this season. He held the Nats scoreless over seven innings of one-run, one-walk ball while striking out 10 on June 26

Entering today riding a 13-inning scoreless streak, the right-hander extended it to 22 frames by no-hitting the Nationals. It was the first no-hitter of his career and second in Padres franchise history after Joe Musgrove's no-hit the Rangers on April 9, 2021.

Cease kept the Nats off-balance with a great mix of his slider and triple-digit fastball. He got a total of 18 swings and misses with 11 coming against the slider, which he threw 53 percent of the time. And because of the Nats’ aggressive approach, his pitch count remained relatively low throughout the start for his second dominant outing against Washington in a month.

MIAMI – In desperate need of a win today in the series and road trip finale at Miami, the Orioles hit a bunch of early homers and watched ace right-hander Corbin Burnes deal on the mound for most of his day.

It was a combination that has worked before and looked like it would again today.

It looked like it could and would be easy, but it was not.

The O's let leads of 6-0 in the fourth, 6-1 in the eighth and 6-3 in the ninth get away. The game moved to the 10th inning.

O's closer Craig Kimbrel allowed a one-out infield single and walked the next two hitters to load the bases in the home ninth with the O's up three. Then shortstop Gunnar Henderson bobbled a grounder off the bat of Jazz Chisholm Jr. and it was 6-4. A sac fly by Xavier Edwards made it 6-5 and when Josh Bell singled to right, the game was tied. Yennier Cano replaced Kimbrel and recorded a strikeout to deny Miami a walk-off win and send the game to the 10th.

MIAMI – Infielder Jorge Mateo is going to miss “a significant amount of time” according to O’s manager Brandon Hyde. Just how much time and if he will need a surgical procedure, it’s too soon to know.

“It’s going to be awhile,” Hyde said pregame today. “Right now it’s so swollen and sore that they are going to take some time to get the swelling out. And then he’s going to get some second opinions and we’re going to have some other doctors take a look at it. But, it’s going to be a significant amount of time.

“Too soon (to know about a procedure). They have to get the swelling out first and then make a determination.”

Mateo went on the 10-day injured list this morning, retroactive to yesterday, with a left elbow subluxation. Infielder/outfielder Connor Norby was recalled from Triple-A for his second stint this year with the club.

The O’s also today recalled right-hander Bryan Baker, who was just optioned out yesterday. He can return early if replacing an injury player and they optioned Chayce McDermott back to Norfolk after his MLB debut last night.

These things have a way of working themselves out. It’s more than just a catchy phrase suitable for stitching on a pillow.

Connor Norby was blocked at second base until he wasn’t. Injuries open doors and Norby is walking through one of them.

Jorge Mateo’s elbow injury is going to keep him off the active roster for an extended period. It’s called a “subluxation,” which is a partial dislocation. It corrected itself somewhere between Gunnar Henderson’s leg and the ground last night as they pursued a ball headed toward center field.

The Orioles haven’t determined whether Mateo needs surgery, but at least it isn’t a full dislocation. I’m not a doctor, but partial doesn’t seem quite as serious. However, it's a lot more than a mere 10-day absence.

In the meantime, here’s Norby, the No. 5 prospect in the organization who hit .297 with 21 doubles, a triple, 16 home runs, 57 RBIs and a .908 OPS in 80 games with Triple-A Norfolk but couldn’t get an extended stay in Baltimore. In pre-Mike Elias years, he would have been playing every day after probably receiving the organization’s Minor League Player of the Year Award. But it’s 2024 and the system is much deeper, making it harder for players like Norby to climb out of it.

The Nationals introduced two more draft signings this morning after announcing two of their top four picks last week in Seaver King and Kevin Bazzell and their second pick in Caleb Lomavita yesterday. And the two were the Nats’ only selections out of high school in this year’s draft.

Second-round pick Luke Dickerson out of Morris Knolls High School in New Jersey and 15th-round pick Sir Jamison Jones out of St. Rita High School in Illinois both officially signed their first professional contracts with the Nationals.

“It's been an honor getting drafted and everything,” Dickerson said during an introductory press conference with both draft picks. “Just being able to celebrate those times with my family and everything. And just getting to work, I'm super excited.”

“First off, I just want to thank God for putting me in this situation,” Jones said. “I've been extremely happy over the past couple of weeks and just glad that I'm here and I can show what I have. I'm ready to get the work and just start on a long career hopefully, Lord willing.”

Dickerson, a shortstop with a commitment to play at the University of Virginia, signed for $3.8 million, which is a record number for a non-first-rounder since Major League Baseball’s Draft pool system began, per a source familiar with the terms. That is more than $1.5 million more than the $2.122 million slot value for the 44th overall pick.