The Nationals are back home after a 3-3 road trip and Thursday’s off-day. It’s an odd setup for this four-game series before the Nats head back on the road to Miami: They’ll play these four games against the Mets on Friday-Monday this Mother’s Day weekend.

MacKenzie Gore returns to the mound to start this series for the home team. The young left-hander is 3-2 with a 3.65 ERA and 1.432 WHIP over his first seven starts. His 11.68 strikeout-per-nine-innings rate is fifth in the major leagues, thanks to two recent outings. He struck out nine over six innings on Saturday against the Diamondbacks, and he tied his career high with 10 strikeouts over six frames against these Mets two weeks ago in New York.

Tylor Megill will make his eighth start for the Mets, going 3-2 with a 4.33 ERA and 1.500 WHIP to start the season. Since starting the year 3-0 with a 2.25 ERA, the right-hander is 0-2 with a 6.05 ERA over his last four starts, with the Mets losing three of those games.

Since starting the season 1-6, the Nationals have played .500 ball with a plus run differential over their last 30 games. Meanwhile, the Mets have been reeling. Starting with that series at Citi Field in which the Nats won two of three, the Mets are 4-11 with a -34 run differential. Entering this weekend, the Nats are only 1 ½ games behind the Mets in the National League East.

NEW YORK METS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, MLB.com
Weather: Mostly cloudy, 83 degrees, wind 8 mph out to right-center field

SAN FRANCISCO – The Nationals have an opportunity today to win another road series and head home with a .500 road trip. They’ve been a .500 team away from D.C. the entire season to date, entering this one with a 9-9 record (as opposed to 6-12 at home). And they’ll have one of their best starters on the mound this afternoon at Oracle Park.

Josiah Gray opened this trip with a rare blah start in Arizona, allowing three runs and seven hits in only five innings. He would very much like to get back on track today with an outing more reflective of the way he’s pitched through the majority of the season’s first six weeks. The Nats would love to get six-plus innings out of the right-hander, but with most of the bullpen fresh and a day off Thursday, Davey Martinez should have the flexibility to manage the later innings however he likes.

Sean Manaea starts for the Giants, and Martinez has a few changes to his lineup against the left-hander. CJ Abrams gets a rare day off (on the heels of a shaky performance Tuesday both at the plate and in the field), so it’s Ildemaro Vargas at shortstop. Keibert Ruiz also gets a well-deserved day off, his first of the trip, so it’ll be Riley Adams behind the plate. And Stone Garrett is back in left field against the left-hander, with Jake Alu coming off the bench following an 0-for-4 performance in his major league debut.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Where: Oracle Park
Gametime: 3:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 58 degrees, wind 15 mph out to center field

NATIONALS
RF Lane Thomas
2B Luis García
DH Joey Meneses
3B Jeimer Candelario
CF Alex Call
1B Dominic Smith
LF Stone Garrett
SS Ildemaro Vargas
C Riley Adams

SAN FRANCISCO – Don’t look now, but the Nationals have won 10 of their last 17. They’re 15-20 overall. They’re one game behind the Phillies, 1 1/2 games behind the Marlins, two games behind the Mets. Sure, it’s still early May, and there’s a whole lot that can still go wrong (or right), but this is unquestionably a better position than almost anyone envisioned this team being in at this moment.

The Nats will look to keep the good vibes rolling tonight in the middle game of this series against the Giants, hoping Patrick Corbin can pick up where he left off last time out. In far and away his best start in a long time, Corbin carried a one-hit shutout into the eighth inning against the Cubs before finally fading. He did so by pounding the strike zone, tunneling his fastball and slider to make them look the same coming out of his hand and keeping the opposing hitters off balance.

The Nationals would love to give Corbin an early lead like they did for Jake Irvin on Monday night. They’ll see what they can do against veteran Giants right-hander Logan Webb, trotting out the same lineup as the series opener with one notable exception: Jake Alu makes his major league debut, batting ninth and starting in left field.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Where: Oracle Park
Gametime: 9:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 57 degrees, wind 16 mph out to center field

NATIONALS
RF Lane Thomas
2B Luis García
C Keibert Ruiz
DH Joey Meneses
3B Jeimer Candelario
1B Dominic Smith
CF Alex Call
SS CJ Abrams
LF Jake Alu

SAN FRANCISCO – After a wild weekend in Arizona, what’s in store for the Nationals here in San Francisco? Oracle Park isn’t exactly a home run haven, so they may not want to count on hitting ninth-inning bombs again this week. But with all the room out there in the gaps, this could be a big series for doubles and triples.

Jake Irvin takes the ball for his second career start, having acquitted himself well in his debut against the Cubs. Irvin will need to be a bit more efficient this time around and try to avoid the four walks he issued last time out. He would also do well not to plunk the Giants’ leadoff man on his very first pitch.

The Nationals go up against veteran right-hander Anthony DeSclafani, who has been quite good so far this season. He enters 3-1 with a 2.13 ERA and a ridiculous 30-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio in six starts. He tossed eight scoreless innings in Houston last time out, which of course is no small feat.

As Davey Martinez revealed after Sunday’s game, the Nats have made a roster move: Victor Robles officially was placed on the 10-day injured list today with back spasms, with utility man Jake Alu promoted from Triple-A Rochester for the first time in his career. With Robles sidelined, expect to see a lot of Alex Call in center field and Stone Garrett in left field, but we’ll see if Alu or Ildemaro Vargas get any time in the outfield as well.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Where: Oracle Park
Gametime: 9:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 57 degrees, wind 14 mph out to center field

PHOENIX – The Nationals once again find themselves needing to win a series finale to avoid a three-game sweep. This is the fifth time already this season it’s happened, but the good news is they’re 3-1 in such matchups, having beaten the Braves, Guardians and Pirates. Only the ridiculously hot Rays managed to pull off a three-game sweep against them.

So they’ll try to make it 4-1 this afternoon when they face the Diamondbacks one last time at Chase Field, this time with the roof closed. The dry air has been good for a power-starved lineup: Luis García, Keibert Ruiz and Lane Thomas have all homered in this series. Unfortunately, Arizona also has hit three homers, including Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s game-tying blast to lead off the bottom of the ninth Saturday night.

We’ll have to see if Kyle Finnegan is used as closer again today, should the situation present itself. Davey Martinez certainly has an easy out if he wants to sit Finnegan, citing the four games in five days he has pitched. Would he instead go to Hunter Harvey, who has had two days off after pitching back-to-back-to-back days, for his first career save? Stay tuned.

Trevor Williams gets the start, and the right-hander will be looking to pick up right where he left off Tuesday night when he tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings against the Cubs at Nationals Park. He’s opposed by Diamondbacks right-hander Ryne Nelson, who in six starts this season owns a 6.39 ERA and 1.516 WHIP.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Where: Chase Field
Gametime: 4:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Roof closed

PHOENIX – Would you believe every run the Nationals have scored the last two days came on a home run? It’s true. Now, they’ve only scored five total runs in that time, and they did so via three homers (Lane Thomas’ three-run blast, Alex Call’s walk-off, Luis Garcia’s solo shot). But this team that typically scores only via singles and doubles hasn’t done so since Wednesday.

They’ll try to change that reversal of fortunes tonight, hoping for more success against the plate against the Diamondbacks’ Tommy Henry than they had against Merrill Kelly in the series opener. Henry, a 25-year-old lefty, is making his 12th big league starts. Through his first 11, he owns a 5.56, 1.482 WHIP and a very low 1.54 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Suffice it to say, this should be a pitcher the Nats can have some success against. (Key word: should.)

It may not take a whole lot of offense to emerge victorious tonight, if MacKenzie Gore can return to form after struggling his last start. The left-hander gave up four runs on seven hits and needed 102 pitches just to record 12 outs against the Cubs, an uncharacteristic performance. Gore intended to work on some things during the week. We’ll see if he’s able to put that into practice tonight against the Arizona lineup.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Where: Chase Field
Gametime: 8:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 85 degrees, wind 9 mph left field to right field

NATIONALS
RF Lane Thomas
2B Luis García
DH Joey Meneses
C Keibert Ruiz
LF Stone Garrett
1B Dominic Smith
CF Victor Robles
3B Michael Chavis
SS Ildemaro Vargas

PHOENIX – Hello from the Valley of the Sun, where the temperature is only topping out in the 80s this weekend. Which means the roof at Chase Field will be open both tonight and Saturday. Around here, that’s a huge win.

Speaking of huge wins, the Nationals are coming off a big one over the Cubs to cap a solid homestand. They’ll try to keep their winning ways alive on the road, where they’ve been a much better team so far this season.

The good news: They’ve got Josiah Gray on the mound for tonight’s series opener against the Diamondbacks. The bad news: They almost certainly don’t have either Hunter Harvey or Kyle Finnegan in their bullpen after those guys each pitched the last three days. Quality innings from Gray will be key tonight, and then someone else from Davey Martinez’s bullpen will have to close it out.

A lineup that started to show signs of power back home will hope for more of that in the warm, dry air here. This has always been a good hitter’s park, and it’s even more so when the roof is open. The Nats will try to hit some balls in the air tonight against Arizona right-hander Merrill Kelly.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Where: Chase Field
Gametime: 9:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 79 degrees, wind 12 mph left field to right field

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

The Orioles will try tonight to claim their seventh consecutive series, two short of the club record set in 1968.

They fell behind 3-0 last night and registered their 10^th comeback victory of the season to improve to 20-9, the second-best record in the majors. They’ve won five of their last six games, 12 of 14 and 16 of 20.

Austin Hays and Gunnar Henderson are out of tonight’s lineup.

Kyle Stowers is playing left field and batting fifth. Ramón Urías is the third baseman, with Adam Frazier at second base.

Ryan Mountcastle is the designated hitter after homering twice last night, and Ryan O’Hearn is playing first base.

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

The Orioles will try to improve to 10-0 in series openers tonight when they visit the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

Manager Brandon Hyde is keeping Austin Hays in the leadoff spot against a left-hander, with Cedric Mullins lowered to ninth.

Jorge Mateo is batting fifth again. James McCann is the designated hitter. Gunnar Henderson is the third baseman.

Mullins has a .458 average with runners in scoring position that ranks seventh in the majors among batters with a minimum 15 plate appearances.

Mateo is trying to become the first Oriole to score a run in eight straight games since Mullins in 2021, according to STATS. Mateo’s 21 runs this season are the most through the first 23 games since Trey Mancini scored 22 in 2019.

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

One month into the season, we can pretty much divide Nationals games into two categories: Games started by Josiah Gray and MacKenzie Gore, and games started by everyone else. That doesn’t mean those other games haven’t been interesting, or that the others haven’t pitched well at times. But clearly Gray and Gore starts are the most significant events this team has right now, and most of them have lived up to the hype.

Gray did his part Sunday, allowing one run over six innings to defeat the Pirates. Gore gets his shot tonight when he takes the mound for the series opener against the Cubs. The lefty is coming off a dominant outing in New York in which he struck out 10 and allowed only one run in six innings. Gore faces a new challenge tonight in a Chicago lineup that leads the National League in batting average, on-base percentage and OPS, while ranking second in runs scored.

The Nats lineup will hope to have some success against left-hander Drew Smyly, who nearly made some major history himself two starts ago when he carried a perfect game against the Dodgers into the eighth inning until it was broken up by a little dribbler in front of the mound and Yan Gomes’ inexplicable decision to bowl over his pitcher in pursuit of the ball.

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, 58 degrees, wind 13 mph out to center field

NATIONALS
LF Alex Call
2B Luis García
3B Jeimer Candelario
DH Joey Meneses
C Keibert Ruiz
RF Lane Thomas
1B Dominic Smith
CF Victor Robles
SS CJ Abrams

DETROIT – The string of opposing left-handed starters ended at three today, and so did Joey Ortiz’s time in the majors.

Ortiz was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk, with outfielder Kyle Stowers rejoining the Orioles for their series finale in Detroit. Ortiz went 2-for-8 with four RBIs while making three starts at second base.

The Orioles optioned Stowers on April 9 to give him more consistent at-bats. He was 0-for-4 with two walks in three games.

Stowers was batting .293/.427/.569 (17-for-58) with a double, five home runs, 17 RBIs, 13 walks and 17 strikeouts in 17 games with the Tides.

Manager Brandon Hyde is batting Stowers fourth today and playing him in right field. Ryan O'Hearn is the designated hitter.

You won’t believe this, but it’s raining again here in the nation’s capital. I know, I know. Nobody could’ve predicted that. Actually, everyone predicted it, and that’s why today’s series finale between the Nationals and Pirates is very much up in the air. The problem: This is the Pirates’ only trip here this season, so they have to do everything they can to try to play this game today, lest they make them make another trip here on a common off-day later in the year.

The Nats desperately need a quality start from Josiah Gray after a doubleheader mess Saturday in which Davey Martinez had to burn up most of his bullpen. Gray has been very good, of course, since his first start of the season. He’ll be challenged to hold down this surprisingly potent Pittsburgh lineup, though, today.

The Nats also desperately need some production from a lineup that scored four total runs in 18 innings Saturday (and one of those was Dominic Smith’s garbage-time homer in the bottom of the ninth with his team trailing 16-0). They’ll face a tough right-hander in Johan Oviedo, who enters with a 3.03 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 29 2/3 innings.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Rain, 61 degrees, wind 7 mph in from right field

NATIONALS
LF Alex Call
2B Luis García
C Keibert Ruiz
DH Joey Meneses
3B Jeimer Candelario
1B Dominic Smith
RF Lane Thomas
SS CJ Abrams
CF Victor Robles

The Nationals had a chance to win the opener of today’s doubleheader but couldn’t take advantage of their scoring opportunities and then watched as their “B” bullpen gave up the lead late. They’ll hope to jump out to a lead in tonight’s second game against the Pirates, giving Davey Martinez reason to turn to his “A” bullpen to close it out.

Chad Kuhl gets the start against his former team. Emotions will be high for the right-hander, but the Nationals need him focused on throwing strikes and avoiding the walks and high pitch count that plagued him in Minnesota one week ago. With Kyle Finnegan, Hunter Harvey and Mason Thompson all fresh, they need only five decent innings from Kuhl to put themselves in position to win.

The lineup includes a few changes from the opener. Lane Thomas takes a seat, with Alex Call shifting to right field and Victor Robles returning to the lineup in his familiar center field position. Keibert Ruiz will catch and bat fifth after backup Riley Adams did a nice job in his place this afternoon, collecting two hits and throwing out a would-be basestealer.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. PITTSBURGH PIRATES (Game 2)
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Cloudy, 69 degrees, wind 5 mph right field to left field

NATIONALS
RF Alex Call
2B Luis García
3B Jeimer Candelario
DH Joey Meneses
C Keibert Ruiz
1B Dominic Smith
LF Stone Garrett
SS CJ Abrams
CF Victor Robles

After a getaway night game in New York, the Nationals arrived back in Washington early Friday morning, then watched it rain pretty much nonstop all day and night. Here’s guessing they weren’t terribly disappointed to learn the opener of their series against the Pirates was postponed nearly four hours before scheduled first pitch.

The downside: The two teams will play a day-night doubleheader today, beginning with the originally scheduled 1:05 p.m. tilt. The Nats decided to keep Patrick Corbin on the mound for this one and hold Chad Kuhl for the 6:05 p.m. nightcap. The Pirates did the opposite, having Rich Hill (Friday night’s scheduled starter) take the opener, with Vince Velasquez pushed to the night game.

Corbin has delivered back-to-back quality starts, going six innings each time and allowing two earned runs (four total) to the Guardians and then three earned runs to the Twins. The left-hander has hardly been spectacular, but he’s at least giving his team a chance, which is all they can reasonably ask of him at this point.

Hill, meanwhile, remains an ageless wonder. The 43-year-old lefty sports a 2.12 ERA over his last three starts, continuing a stunning trend by the Pirates' unheralded rotation. That staff has delivered 14 quality starts over the last 16 games, and one of the starts that didn’t meet the qualification was Hill’s last outing, in which he allowed only one run over five innings. If you’re wondering how in the world Pittsburgh has stormed out to a National League-best 18-8 record, that’s how.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. PITTSBURGH PIRATES (Game 1)
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Cloudy, 66 degrees, wind 4 mph in from center field

NEW YORK – Here we go again: For the second straight series, the Nationals have put themselves in position to earn their first three-game sweep since June 14-16, 2021, when they took three straight at home against the Pirates. It’s also the second straight series they’ll have this opportunity on the road, this time at Citi Field against the Mets, who entered this series only a half-game out of first place in the National League East. The Nats last swept a three-game road series Aug. 23-25, 2019 against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

Trevor Williams will look to become the fourth straight Nats starting pitcher to turn in a quality start and fifth in the last six games. He’ll also be doing so while taking the mound at Citi Field for the first time since signing a two-year, $13 million contract with the Nats this offseason.

Williams is off to a strong start with his new team. He’s a respectable 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA and 1.078 WHIP over his first four starts, completing at least five innings each time out and allowing no more than three runs per start.

The Nationals offense will be tasked with facing their first left-hander of this series in Joey Lucchesi. The 29-year-old made his first major league start since recovering from Tommy John surgery last year on Friday in San Francisco, completing seven shutout innings and allowing just four hits and two walks while striking out nine in a win over the Giants.

Victor Robles is the only Nationals regular to have faced Lucchesi ahead of tonight, going 4-for-8 with a solo home run. Meanwhile, Dominic Smith gets a day off and Stone Garrett will DH against Lucchesi, moving Joey Meneses to first base. And Luis García takes tonight off, but it’s Michael Chavis playing second base instead of Jeter Downs.

DETROIT – The Orioles take their 16-8 record, second-best in the American League, to Comerica Park for the start of a four-game series, and they have Joey Ortiz making his major league debut at second base.

Ortiz, 24, was recalled this morning from Triple-A Norfolk, with infielder Terrin Vavra optioned. The fourth-round pick in 2019 out of New Mexico State is batting .359/.389/.500/.889 in 16 games with Norfolk, with five doubles, two triples and eight RBIs. He’s a plus-defender who plays shortstop, second base and third base.

Vavra also can play the outfield, and his removal from the Orioles roster seems to indicate that Austin Hays’ bruised right hand is improving. Hays is on the bench again tonight but he’s avoided the injured list.

The Tigers are starting three consecutive left-handers in the series, if the weather permits it: Joey Wentz, Eduardo Rodriguez and Matthew Boyd. Ortiz is a right-handed hitter.

Bringing up Ortiz also gives the Orioles some infield insurance after Jorge Mateo recently sat with a sore right hip and Gunnar Henderson appeared to hurt his right hand yesterday after diving for a line drive, though he stayed in the game.

NEW YORK – If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Davey Martinez hasn’t really followed that motto through this season’s first 22 games, still tinkering with his lineup to find the right combination while also keeping matchups in mind on any given night.

The Nationals have used 20 different batting orders through the first month of the season. Early on, it was largely due to the high volume of opposing left-handed starters they faced, causing Martinez to switch around the order a lot.

The only time the manager has trotted out the same lineup for back-to-back games was on April 14-15 against the Guardians and on April 16 and 18 against the Guardians and Orioles, all four against opposing right-handed starters.

Tonight’s second game against the Mets will mark the third time the Nationals will trot out the same lineup for consecutive games, with Alex Call leading off, Luis García remaining in the second spot, Jeimer Candelario hitting third, Joey Meneses batting cleanup, and Keibert Ruiz, Dominic Smith, Lane Thomas, CJ Abrams and Victor Robles following.