O's game blog: Orioles are 10-8 this year against the NL

The Orioles may have been fortunate to win a game last night where they made three errors and allowed six walks. But still they posted a 4-1 victory over Washington in the opener of a three-game series at Nationals Park.

The Orioles improved to 74-76 with their sixth win in the last nine games and ninth in their past 13 games. They improved to 24-27 in the first game of a series and to 10-8 versus National League teams in 2015.

Manny Machado recorded his 500th career hit on Tuesday night. According to STATS, Machado (at 23 years, 78 days) became the youngest player to record 500 hits in Orioles history. The previous youngest was Eddie Murray (23 years, 197 days). Among active players, he became the seventh-youngest with 500 hits.

On the mound tonight, right-hander Chris Tillman (9-11, 5.19 ERA) pitches against Nationals right-hander Max Scherzer (12-11, 2.90 ERA).

Over his last six starts, Tillman is 0-4 with an ERA of 7.76. He has pitched 5 2/3 innings or fewer in four consecutive starts. His last win was Aug. 17 against Oakland. In 14 road starts, Tillman is 4-5 with a 5.40 ERA.

Tillman did not get a decision on July 10 when he faced Washington at Camden Yards. He went six innings allowing eight hits and two runs. He is 0-0 with an ERA of 4.37 in four career starts against the Nats.

Scherzer went 10-7 with an ERA of 2.11 in 18 starts in the first half. Since the All-Star break he is 2-4 with a 4.32 ERA in 12 starts. He has allowed 1.8 homers per nine innings in the second half.

Scherzer bounced back from a tough stretch to allow just two runs over 15 innings in his past two starts - both against Miami. In seven starts before that, he went 0-3 with a 5.79 ERA and the Nationals went 2-5 in those games.

Scherzer was the 2013 American League Cy Young Award winner when he went 21-3 with a 2.90 ERA against Detroit. He took a loss last October against the Orioles in the American League Division Series when he gave up five runs in 7 1/3 innings.

The Orioles have hit 200 homers this season. They are the only team in the major leagues with 200 or more homers in each of the past four seasons. They are 10 home runs shy of their fourth straight season of at least 210 homers. The last team to hit 210 or more in four straight seasons was the Philadelphia Phillies (2006-09).

Since April 29, the Orioles bullpen leads the American League and ranks third in the majors with a 2.89 ERA. In that same time, Baltimore relievers have held opponents to a .232 batting average, fifth-best in the majors.