NEW YORK – Only in 2024 can a day like this one seem eerily routine to the Orioles.

They lose a reliever to the paternity list, which is a simple swap by calling up another arm for temporary service. They lose a starter to the injured list, which is much harder to overcome and keeps happening to them. This team could field an impressive rotation out of shelved pitchers.

The level of adversity threatens to rise above their heads, but they suit up again, jog onto the field and take care of their business.

A night after enduring Francisco Alvarez’s walk-off home run and animated celebration, the Orioles jumped out to an early lead against the Mets and evened the series with a 9-5 victory before an announced crowd of 34,225 at Citi Field.

Knock down this team and it pops back up.

After they suffered a walk-off 4-3 loss to the Mets last night, the Orioles take the field tonight needing to win two straight to take this series at Citi Field before they return home.

The Orioles (73-53) take the field tonight a half-game behind the first-place Yankees (73-52) who begin a home series tonight with the American League Central-leading Guardians (72-52).

Last night's defeat, the Orioles' fourth walk-off loss of 2024, was their third loss in four games and fifth in their last eight. The Orioles are 15-15 since the All-Star break. 

The Birds fell to 23-18 in series openers and to 11-9 when that series opener was a road game.

The Orioles are 12-13 in July and 8-9 in August. They are 58-33 versus AL teams, but just 15-20 against the National League.

NEW YORK – The number of pitchers on the Orioles injured list has grown to eight, including five starters.

Health issues are prevalent throughout baseball, and the Orioles are maintaining their status as shining and painful examples of it. Seemingly at every turn.

Zach Eflin is experiencing some inflammation in his right shoulder that landed him on the 15-day injured list this afternoon. He was supposed to take the ball for Wednesday afternoon’s series finale against the Mets.

The move is retroactive to Saturday.

“Hopefully it’s just short term,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “After his start his shoulder was a little bit sore. It had been getting better the last few days, and so we were kind of hopeful, but also a little bit concerned about it. He had to make the start tomorrow and had him come out and throw a little bit today. We just feel like the right thing to do right now is to give him a little bit extra time with the shoulder.

NEW YORK – Another injury is forcing the Orioles to change their rotation and curse their luck.

Zach Eflin, with four quality starts and wins in his four appearances with the Orioles, went on the 15-day injured list this afternoon with right shoulder inflammation. Left-hander Cade Povich was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk.

Eflin felt some soreness after his last outing and it didn’t improve to the point where he could stay on the roster. The starter for Wednesday is TBD, with manager Brandon Hyde saying Corbin Burnes wouldn’t get the assignment on normal rest.

Povich started Saturday, allowed two runs in a career-high 6 1/3 innings and was optioned. He’s eligible to return because he’s replacing an injured player.

The Orioles also placed left-hander Keegan Akin on the paternity list today and he’s left the team to be with his wife for the birth of their second baby.

NEW YORK – The rain delay lasted only 10 minutes tonight, and the Orioles fell behind quickly as well after the tarp was peeled back and rolled. An offense that was laboring again covered for Trevor Rogers, who didn’t make it out of the fifth inning.

The rally happened fast, with a balk from David Peterson scoring Ryan Mountcastle in the seventh and Ramón Urías hitting a game-tying homer on the next pitch.

The ending also came suddenly.

Francisco Alvarez homered off Seranthony Domínguez with one out in the bottom of the ninth to give the Mets a 4-3 victory over the Orioles before an announced crowd of 26,874 at Citi Field.

The Yankees are idle tonight and lead the Orioles (73-53) by a half-game.

Can we call one series away from Baltimore a road trip? If we can, the Orioles' next road trip begins tonight at Citi Field with the first of a three-game series against the Mets. That is followed by one series at home against the Astros before the next two-series trip begins a week from tomorrow at the Dodgers.

The Orioles and Yankees are once again tied for the top spot in the American League East with both at 73-52 (.584). They are tied for the best record in the American League and tied for second-best in the majors, with the Phillies first at 73-51 and the Dodgers also at 73-52. It's tight at the top!

The Orioles' 4-2 win on Sunday allowed them to split a four-game series with the Red Sox and go 3-3 on their homestand. The Orioles went 12-13 in July and are 8-8 in August. They are 15-14 since the All-Star Game.

At 64-60, the Mets are in third place, nine games out in the National League East, and chasing the final NL wild card spot. It is currently held by the Braves (66-58) with the Mets next up, two games behind them.

The Mets are 3-2 the last five games but 3-6 the last nine. They have lost 12 of 21 games. They are 15-14 since the break, same as the Orioles.

NEW YORK – Former major league reliever Andrew Miller visited the Orioles clubhouse this afternoon at Citi Field. He isn’t making a comeback. He was here on business with the players’ union.

Miller’s career with the Orioles was brief, a mere 23 games in the regular season in 2014 and five more in the playoffs that resulted in 7 1/3 scoreless innings. He’s a reminder of much better bullpen days with Miller, Zack Britton, Darren O’Day, Brad Brach and Tommy Hunter.

Craig Kimbrel spent a portion of his pregame this afternoon throwing in the 'pen, doing more tinkering with his delivery and hoping to figure out why he can’t regain a first-half form that made him an All-Star candidate.

“I think it’s a little bit mechanical, so he’s just out there trying to work on some things. And it sounds like it really went well,” said manager Brandon Hyde.

“With where we are with our bullpen here, we’re gonna need guys to step up, and we need him to, as well.”

NEW YORK – Austin Slater is leading off tonight at Citi Field and Eloy Jiménez is the designated hitter, as the Orioles go right-handed heavy with their lineup against the Mets.

Colton Cowser is in center field, one of three left-handers to avoid the bench, and Anthony Santander is in right.

Trevor Rogers is making his fourth start with the Orioles. He’s 0-2 with a 7.53 ERA and 1.884 WHIP in only 14 1/3 innings.

Overall, Rogers is 2-11 this season with a 4.89 ERA and 1.571 WHIP in 24 starts. He faced the Mets on July 21 and allowed one earned run and two total in 4 2/3 innings. He has a 3.35 ERA in nine career starts against them and a 2.73 ERA in six starts at Citi Field.

Pete Alonso is 3-for-20 with two home runs.

The Orioles honored Corbin Burnes on Friday with his own bobblehead night. He appreciated the gesture and took one home.

It just wasn’t anything new to him.

Teams have come up with the idea to doll up Burnes pretty much at every level after Little League.

“I’ve had a bunch of bobbleheads,” he said. “I had two or three in Milwaukee, I’ve had a couple in the minor leagues. My college (St. Mary’s of California) did one this year at the basketball game they had. I have quite a few Corbin Burnes bobbleheads in the office.”

Burnes isn’t a rabid collector, one hint being that he isn’t exactly sure of the number while pitching for the Brewers.

PHILADELPHIA – The Nationals have made progress this year, no doubt.

For the most part, the young pitching staff has made strides. CJ Abrams was an All-Star. Jacob Young is the favorite to win the National League Gold Glove Award in center field. Luis García Jr. and Keibert Ruiz are having strong second halves. And a crop of newly acquired young talent is getting their shot at the major league level.

Plus, the Nats now boast a top-five farm system, per Baseball America, that has depth at the lower levels of the minor leagues and top prospects nearing their big league debuts.

But although they were on pace to eclipse their 71 wins from last year for much of this season, after last night’s brutal 13-3 loss to the Phillies they have the same record after 122 games as they had in 2023: 55-67.

And last night’s loss underscored the next step the Nats need to take to get where they want to be.

NEW YORK – The Nationals entered Thursday’s matinee finale in Queens needing a win against the Mets to avoid the three-game sweep. More importantly, they needed a win to slow down their two-week slide before the finale series of the first half.

It’s been a mostly positive first half of the season for the Nationals, who have surpassed some preseason expectations, thanks in large part to some impressive performances by their young players.

They reached .500 in late April for the first time since July 2021. And they hovered around that mark for the next couple of months, sometimes even slipping into a wild card spot. But starting with a three-game sweep in San Diego in late June, the Nats have started going in the opposite direction, losing 12 of their last 16 entering today’s game.

Make that now losers of 13 of their last 17 games and five straight to fall 10 games under .500 after a 7-0 shutout loss to the Mets in front of an announced crowd of 25,710 at Citi Field.

The Nationals offense continues to slog through these weeks leading up to the All-Star break. They scored too late in Tuesday’s loss. They scored two early Wednesday, but none after that. And they didn’t score at all today.

NEW YORK – The Nationals need a win today, plan and simple. After trending in the right direction for most of the first half, they are heading the opposite way going into the All-Star break. A win to avoid a sweep at Citi Field and a couple more in Milwaukee wouldn’t be a cure-all. But it would be a good way for the team to enter the break and perhaps get back on track to start the second half.

MacKenzie Gore was beaten around in his last start for five runs on six hits and five walks in just 3 ⅓ innings against the Cardinals. But in his start before that, he held the Mets to just one run while getting eight strikeouts in 5 ⅔ innings. So he’ll try to avoid what happened to Jake Irvin the other night and continue his success against New York.

David Peterson goes for the Mets this afternoon in another rematch of starting pitchers from last week’s series in D.C. The lefty was charged with two runs on seven hits in 6 ⅓ innings against the Nats. He was similarly effective in his previous start, holding the Pirates to two runs but only completing 4 ⅓ innings.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at NEW YORK METS
Where: Citi Field
Gametime: 1:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB Network (out-of-market only), MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, DC 87.7 (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Mostly sunny, 87 degrees, wind 14 mph out to right-center field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
RF Lane Thomas
LF James Wood
DH Jesse Winker
C Riley Adams
1B Juan Yepez
2B Luis García Jr.
3B Trey Lipscomb
CF Jacob Young

NEW YORK – Davey Martinez needed to shake up his lineup. For the most part, it hasn’t been getting the job done as is over the past couple of weeks. Sure there were a few offensive outbursts here and there, but it definitely needed a kickstart to be more consistent.

So what did the Nationals manager do against Mets right-hander Luis Severino? He stacked the first five spots in the batting order with four left-handed hitters and one switch-hitter. And although it was actually the right-handed hitters at the bottom of the lineup that helped give the Nats an early lead, a disastrous sixth inning led to a fourth straight loss.

The Nats fell to the Mets 6-2 in front of an announced crowd of 24,887 at Citi Field, who got very loud during the bottom of the sixth.

With a 2-1 lead, Patrick Corbin returned to the mound to give his team at least one more inning and keep the lead intact. He had been effective up until that point at only 65 pitches, but the third time through the heart of the Mets order proved too much for the veteran lefty to handle.

Three straight hits tied the game at 2-2 and that was enough for Martinez to go to the bullpen to try to keep this one close. In came Derek Law, who has struggled with inherited runners this season, with two runners in scoring position and no outs. What could have been predicted came to fruition.

NEW YORK – James Wood’s movement up the Nationals lineup continues today as he gets bumped up to the No. 2 spot against Mets right-handed starter Luis Severino. In fact, all of the Nats’ left-handed hitters moved up the order for tonight’s second game of this three-game set in Queens.

To face Severino, who held the Nats to one run on seven hits, no walks and four strikeouts over eight innings a month ago, manager Davey Martinez is putting lefties CJ Abrams, Wood, Jesse Winker, Keibert Ruiz (switch-hitter) and Luis García Jr. in the first five spots in the order. That does mean some guys have to move down.

Lane Thomas, who has hit second in 48 of his 63 games, moves down to sixth in the lineup for the first time this season.

“I just wanted to get our lefties up there against Severino, all of them up there, and see if we can score early,” Martinez said during his pregame media session. “I bumped Lane down a little bit just to take his mind off some stuff. Gotta get him ready to hit the fastball again. He's a little late, so I just wanted to get some other guys up there.”

The Nats struggled against left-hander Jose Quintana last night and have struggled to score early lately. They haven’t scored first in any of their last three games.

NEW YORK – The Nationals are hoping to start tonight’s game like they finished last night’s. Down 6-0 going into the eighth, they hit two two-run home runs and scored a fifth run over the game’s last two innings. And by doing so, they made the Mets use four relievers, including closer Edwin Díaz, in a game they should have run away with.

The Nats will try to jump on Luis Severino early. The veteran right-hander has been solid in his first season pitching for the other New York team, going 5-3 with a 3.83 ERA and 1.200 WHIP over his first 17 starts. One of those starts came against the Nats, not last week but a month ago. Severino held them to one run on seven hits, no walks and four strikeouts over eight innings.

Patrick Corbin takes the mound for the Nats. He opposed Severino in that June 5 game at Nationals Park with very different results. The veteran left-hander gave up six runs on seven hits and three home runs in just 5 ⅓ innings while taking the loss. He’ll at least try to do what Jake Irvin did last night and provide some length.

If this game gets into a battle of the bullpens, the advantage could be in the Nationals’ favor given how many relievers the Mets had to use last night while the Nats only used Jordan Weems to cover the last two innings. However, the Mets did make a couple of roster moves this afternoon to bolster their bullpen, including placing former National Reed Garrett on the 15-day injured list with right elbow inflammation and activating right-hander Phil Maton, who they acquired from the Rays yesterday in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at NEW YORK METS
Where: Citi Field
Gametime: 7:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, DC 87.7 (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 79 degrees, wind 21 mph out to center field

NEW YORK – What Jake Irvin did against the Mets on Independence Day was nothing short of special. In what turned out to be a career highlight, the right-hander struck out eight over eight shutout innings of one-hit, one-walk ball on 99 pitches.

The task for the 27-year-old tonight: A similar performance to provide the Nationals bullpen some much-needed rest and give his team a chance to win for just the second time since that spectacular outing.

Eight scoreless innings is a lot to ask anyone, nonetheless a young pitcher facing the same team in back-to-back starts. And while Irvin was able to provide the Nats some length, he and the bats weren’t able to overcome a rough second inning and another dominant start by Jose Quintana in a 7-4 loss to the Mets in front of an announced crowd of 31,243 at Citi Field.

“He wasn't as sharp," said manager Davey Martinez. "His breaking ball wasn't as sharp. He fell behind a couple of hitters and made some mistakes just by location. But all in all, he gave us some innings that we needed. So it's just one of those days.”

Irvin only gave up one hit and one walk over eight innings last week against the Mets. He matched that in the first three batters he faced tonight, including a two-bag error on a pickoff attempt to move leadoff man Francisco Lindor to third base. But he got out of the first with a comebacker and strikeout, needing 21 pitches to complete the frame.

NEW YORK – After a 3-5 homestand, the Nationals cannot get back to a .500 record before the All-Star break next week. But they’ll have this six-game road tip to end the first half of the season and get close before a much-needed break. For reference, these Nationals are five games better than they were at this point in the season last year.

And look who they’ll face to start this road trip: An old friend in the Mets, who the Nats split a four-game series with in D.C. last week. And look who will take the mound against the Mets: Jake Irvin, who pitched one of the best games we’ve seen from a Nationals pitcher on Independence Day. The right-hander struck out eight over eight innings of one-hit, one-walk ball. Now he’ll have the challenge of facing the same New York lineup in back-to-back starts.

And look who will take the mound for the Mets: Jose Quintana. who opposed Irvin last week. The veteran left-hander held the Nats scoreless over seven innings with four hits, three walks and only one strikeout.

Do we have another pitchers’ duel on-deck for the opener of this three-game series or will the offenses exact their respective revenge?

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at NEW YORK METS
Where: Citi Field
Gametime: 7:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, DC 87.7 (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Cloudy, 83 degrees, wind 13 mph out to center field

All morning, he waited, knowing he was likely to be summoned at some point before the end of the game. Davey Martinez was just waiting for the right moment to signal Jesse Winker to step to the plate.

“He was biting at the bit, I can tell you that,” Martinez said. “He said: ‘I’ll be ready.’ Oh, I know you’ll be ready.”

Winker has been one of the Nationals’ most consistently productive offensive players this season, and in recent weeks he has become their regular No. 3 hitter. But that’s mostly against right-handers. And with the Mets starting three lefties during this week’s four-game series, that meant a lot of time sitting on the bench and waiting for the call.

Thursday’s series finale featured left-hander Jose Quintana on the mound for New York, so it was the right-handed Harold Ramirez batting third and serving as designated hitter. But the moment Mets manager Carlos Mendoza pulled his starter and inserted righty Adrian Houser for the bottom of the eighth, Winker knew his name was about to be called.

“You’re kind of just watching the game, paying attention and seeing when a moment might arise,” he said. “And then you go and prepare and talk a gameplan. I talked to (assistant hitting coach) Chris Johnson about a quick gameplan, went up and just tried to barrel a ball.”

More than three months into this season, it has become clear the Nationals trust Jake Irvin. And with the stars perfectly aligned today, they trusted their young right-hander more than ever before.

And thanks to one – and only one – big hit from his teammates, Irvin and the Nats emerged victorious on Independence Day in the nation’s capital.

Irvin completed eight innings for the first time in his career, allowing one hit, one walk and nothing else on a day when the Nationals bullpen was severely depleted and needed everything it could get from the 27-year-old starter. And when Jesse Winker blasted a pinch-hit homer in the bottom of the eighth, they had the only run they needed to pull off an inspired, 1-0 victory over the Mets.

"That was unbelievable, it really was," manager Davey Martinez said. "We definitely needed that."

Held to four singles by New York starter Jose Quintana, the Nationals finally broke through in the bottom of the eighth against reliever Adrian Houser. With a right-hander finally on the mound, Martinez sent Winker up to pinch-hit for Harold Ramírez, then watched the veteran blast a 1-0 curveball to right-center for the day’s first and only run and some long-awaited support for his starting pitcher.

Boy, did the Nationals need that win Wednesday night. After dropping five straight to the Mets to begin the season, then falling behind 5-0, they stormed back to win 7-5 thanks to the offensive heroics of Luis García Jr. and James Wood and a really impressive job by an overworked bullpen.

The domino effect of that, though: You have to assume Robert Garcia, Hunter Harvey and Kyle Finnegan are all going to be unavailable for this morning’s series finale, none of them able to pitch for the fourth straight day. If this game is close late, Davey Martinez is going to have to rely on some different relievers for a change.

A long start out of Jake Irvin would help the cause tremendously, and Irvin has shown an ability to do that this year. He has completed at least six innings 12 times in 17 starts, and he has reached the seventh twice. If he can keep his pitch count manageable, you wonder if Martinez will push the right-hander a bit more than usual today.

After finally facing a right-hander Wednesday, the Nats will be going up against a lefty again today in veteran Jose Quintana. Given how well Wood has handled southpaws so far, you have to think he’ll remain in a prominent spot in the lineup.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS vs. NEW YORK METS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 11:05 a.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv, MLB Network (outside D.C. market)
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 88 degrees, wind 5 mph out to center field