O's game blog: A new homestand begins as O's host Nats for two

The Orioles lost to the Rays on Sunday 2-1 as they failed to complete a three-game sweep, which would have been their sixth series sweep of the year.

Now the Orioles go from playing an American League East team – and they have had a lot of success within their division this year – to playing a National League East team. And they have a losing record this year versus NL squads.

The Orioles took two of three over the weekend from the Rays to be 8-2 against them in 2024. They are now are 26-13 versus AL East teams.

The Orioles are 14-18 versus NL teams and they lost their past three series against the NL, going 0-3 versus the Cubs and 1-2 each against the Marlins and Padres. The Orioles are 4-6-1 this season in series against the NL clubs.

Tonight the Orioles host the Nationals to start a two-game series and six-game homestand. The Red Sox come to town on Thursday night.

The Nationals (54-65) are 3-3 their past six games and 5-5 in the last 10. They went 2-8 in the 10 games before that. They are 26-33 on the year in road games.

The O’s played two games at Nats Park on May 7-8, losing the first game 3-0 and winning the second by 7-6. In the series opener, Trevor Williams and four relievers teamed on a three-hitter with 12 strikeouts. The next night the O’s got homers from Gunnar Henderson, Ryan Mountcastle and Anthony Santander in the win.

The Orioles are 56-40 all-time against the Nats and they have won eight of the last nine games between the teams. Manager Brandon Hyde is 17-9 against Washington. The O's won all four games last year in the season series. 

Lefty Trevor Rogers (2-10, 4.71 ERA) will make his 24^th start of the year, his third with the Orioles and his first at home for the Birds.

Rogers is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in his two Baltimore starts. On Aug. 1, he gave up five runs in 4 1/3 innings at Cleveland. On Aug. 7, he allowed seven hits and three runs (two earned) in five innings at Toronto. The O’s went 1-1 in those games.

Dating to June 9, Rogers has allowed two earned runs or less in nine of his past 11 starts – the first nine were with Miami. He is 1-3 with a 3.75 ERA in this span. His teams are 6-5 in those 11 games.

Rogers has faced the Nats twice this year, going 0-2 with a 3.75 ERA and 1.083 WHIP over 12 innings. In 10 career games, all starts, versus the Nationals, he is 3-4 with a 3.35 ERA and 1.283 WHIP.

Righty Jake Irvin (8-10, 3.76 ERA) will be making his 25^th start tonight for Washington. Over 139 innings, he has a 1.122 WHIP and has averaged 2.1 walks and 7.7 strikeouts per every nine innings.

The Nats’ fourth-round pick in the 2018 draft, he has an ERA of 7.59 his past two games versus Milwaukee and San Francisco.

But over the full year, he has allowed two earned runs or less 15 times with four scoreless starts and 13 quality starts. The Nats are 10-14 in his outings and Irvin has never faced the Orioles.

The Orioles are playing .644 ball (56-31) this season against American League opponents and .438 ball (14-18) versus the National League. The Orioles are the only major league team this season with a winning percentage at least 200 points higher against league opponents compared to interleague play.

Gunnar's wild ride: Gunnar Henderson has six multi-hit games, with four games of three hits, over his past 11 games. But the other five games he went hitless, going a combined 0-for-19. It all adds up to a .356 batting average (16-for-45) over the 11 games with a homer, five RBIs and a .941 OPS. Henderson had back-to-back three-hit games to end the road trip.

At 70-49 (.588), the Orioles lead the AL East by a half-game over the Yankees. And the Birds are tied for the best record in baseball with the Guardians and Dodgers. Since the start of 2023, Baltimore is 171-110 (.609), the best winning percentage and the most wins in the majors during that period.