Matt Wieters on returning to the O's and series with the Nationals

After missing two games while on paternity leave, Matt Wieters is back in the Orioles lineup tonight. He's catching and batting seventh.

Wieters and his wife, Maria, welcomed the birth of their second son, Micah, on Saturday night.

"It is nice to be back with the guys and get back to playing baseball," Wieters said. "You appreciate your wife and women a lot more, but it also makes you appreciate being in the lockerroom and being around the guys too. But it was nice that I was able to be home and kind of maximize as much time with the little guy before we had to go on the road."

Wieters rejoins an O's team that lost the last three games against Houston by a combined score of 32-13. The Orioles are just 1-5 on this homestand and 16-20 since the All-Star break.

Wieters said the team's even keel nature - never getting too high off a win or low on a loss - could serve it well now.

"Yeah, we're just playing today," he said. "I know yesterday was probably not much fun with sitting around and then not able to get a win, but today is a new day. Walking around talking to the guys, everyone is fine every time you walk in here. It is just about playing today."

Wieters also is expecting right-hander Dylan Bundy to bounce back fine from his last outing. On Wednesday night, Bundy gave up five runs and nine hits over 4 1/3 innings versus Boston. His ERA had been 1.84 his previous five starts.

"He'll be fine," Wieters said. "His mentality, right after that game he was fine when he came out. You are going to have days like that. Sometimes when you have good stuff, you will give up runs and sometimes when you don't have good stuff you are not. It is a funny game. Once you grip the concept that is about the preparation that you put it into more than the results, it's a big step for a young pitcher to learn."

Wieters was asked about another year of Orioles-Nationals games. Since the Nats moved to Washington in 2006, the Orioles lead the all-time series 33-23. The O's have won the season series the past four years, going 14-6 versus the Nats since 2012.

"Yeah, it brings out the competition on both sides," Wieters said. "On top of that we share the same channel half the time and you see it when you go home and flip the TV on. So, you want to be able to win those games and that's a good team over there. That gets your focus up. We have to be ready to go and we'll have to play well."