The Nationals are back in town at last for what could be an awfully eventful homestand. It begins tonight with the opener of a three-game series with the Cardinals, and a fun rematch of a famous game in franchise history. Remember the last time Aníbal Sánchez faced Miles Mikolas? That would be Game 1 of the 2019 NLCS. No word if Ryan Zimmerman plans to come out of retirement for one night so he can make a diving catch at first base and keep a no-hit bid alive.

Anyways, the Nats return from a successful series in Los Angeles, having won two of three. Now they face a good Cardinals club that in theory could leave town with a new right fielder. (Sorry, just telling you what’s within the realm of possibility at this point.)

Davey Martinez is sticking with Victor Robles in the leadoff spot, with the aforementioned Juan Soto batting third ahead of Josh Bell and Nelson Cruz. Ehire Adrianza gets another start at third base instead of Maikel Franco, the third time that’s the been the case in the last week.

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Chance of storms, 81 degrees, wind 7 mph out to left field

NATIONALS
CF Victor Robles
2B César Hernández
RF Juan Soto
1B Josh Bell
DH Nelson Cruz
LF Yadiel Hernandez
SS Luis García
C Keibert Ruiz
3B Ehire Adrianza

ST. LOUIS – The Orioles know how easily momentum in baseball can be lost. How it’s defined as the next day’s starting pitcher.

Injuries also can wreck it. They're like black ice for a team attempting to speed toward respectability.

A recent surge left the Orioles only four games below .500 heading into tonight, where they ran into Cardinals right-hander Miles Mikolas after scratching another player from their lineup.

It proved to be too much for them.

The Cardinals packed a home run and three doubles into the second inning against Spenser Watkins, piled on in the fourth and led throughout in a 10-1 win over the Orioles at Busch Stadium.

Behind a better-than-expected rotation, a bullpen that ranks seventh in the league in ERA, a defense that leads the American League in double plays and a rejuvenated offense, the Orioles have gotten on a roll. They will look to keep it going tonight and win a series if they get a victory at St. Louis.

With Tuesday’s series-opening 5-3 win over the Cardinals, the Orioles have won three in a row, five of six and seven of their past 10 games. They are 10-9 over the last 19 games and ended a four-game road losing streak last night.

It was another good night for the starting pitching as rookie Kyle Bradish allowed just two runs over seven innings with 11 strikeouts. He threw 90 pitches and had a 45 percent whiff rate on his slider. After Harrison Bader hit a two-run inside-the-park homer in the sixth, Bradish proceeded to strikeout the side and then fanned two more batters in the seventh inning.

The O’s have gotten four consecutive quality starts and now have seven for the season. In the four games, O’s starters have an ERA of 2.39 allowing seven earned runs over 26 1/3 with just one walk to 24 strikeouts.

O’s starting pitchers rank seventh in the AL with an ERA of 3.75. Those starters have allowed two earned runs or less in 23 of Baltimore’s 30 games. The team ERA is 2.50 during the O’s 5-1 run.

ST. LOUIS – Ramón Urías is out of the Orioles lineup for tonight’s game against the Cardinals.

Urías was a late scratch last night due to discomfort in his abdomen, which he noticed in batting practice.

Chris Owings is the shortstop, with Rougned Odor at second base and Tyler Nevin at third.

Jorge Mateo also is on the bench.

Cedric Mullins recorded his 100^th career RBI last night and had a season-high four hits. He has three home runs in his last six games and six extra-base hits in his last seven.

On Monday morning, less than two hours before that 12:05 p.m game in Baltimore when I had an interview with Kyle Bradish in the Orioles clubhouse, the right-hander was looking ahead to his next start. It would come the next day at St. Louis.

We didn’t know then how good it would go, but Bradish said simply he learned a lot in his second start against the Twins and was looking forward to outing No. 3.

“Just need to keep challenging hitters and not try and get too fine," he said. "It’s the big leagues and keep doing what I am here for. I had some good innings in both those first two starts and definitely gives me some reassurance that I am supposed to be here."

Further reassurance was delivered against the Cardinals last night. A seven-inning outing with no walks and 11 strikeouts. A 90-pitch gem against a playoff-caliber opponent playing in front of over 33,000 home fans. He showed tremendous poise after a two-run inside-the-park homer threatened to unravel five excellent innings on just 58 pitches.

But Bradish didn’t let that happen. This game would not get away from him or the Orioles.

After a very successful homestand – one where they went 6-4 – the Orioles begin a two-city road trip tonight in St. Louis. The Birds lost the first game of each series of the homestand, but won the first and third series of three games each, taking the last two against the Red Sox and Royals. In between those, they lost the first two games versus the Twins, but won the last two to split that four-game series.

So the Orioles are now 4-4-1 in series for the season, going 3-1-1 at home and 1-3 on the road. While they are 9-7 overall at home this year, the Orioles have lost 10 of 13 road games. They went 0-3 against Tampa Bay, 1-3 at Oakland, 2-1 versus the Los Angeles Angels and 0-3 at New York against the Yankees.

Tonight the Orioles (12-17) play the Cardinals (16-12) to start a three-game series and six-game trip that will also take them to Detroit. Baltimore plays at new Busch Stadium for the first time tonight, with the last trip to St. Louis coming in 2003. The Orioles are the only major league club yet to play at this ballpark.

The Orioles and Cardinals last met June 16-18, 2017 at Oriole Park, with the O’s taking two of three. The series featured 22 combined home runs with Baltimore hitting nine in the final two games. Trey Mancini had a monster series in ‘17, batting .462/.462/1.154 (6-for-13) with one double, one triple, two home runs, four RBIs and five runs scored in the three games.

Outfielder Austin Hays, after going 12-for-21 during a six-game hitting streak, now ranks among major league leaders since April 15 in hits (tied for first, 32), batting average (second, .386), OPS (fourth, 1.037), total bases (tied for fourth, 49), on-base percentage (tied for fourth, .447), doubles (tied for fifth, eight) and slugging percentage (seventh, .590). Hays reached base safely in nine consecutive appearances from his single in the sixth inning on May 5 through his double in the third inning of Game 2 on Sunday. He recorded seven hits and two walks during that stretch, which covered parts of three games. Hays became the first Oriole to reach in at least nine straight plate appearances since Cedric Mullins reached in 11 straight from June 4-6, 2021.

ST. LOUIS – Austin Hays remains the cleanup hitter and is playing right field tonight at Busch Stadium, where the Orioles open a three-game series against the Cardinals.

Per Orioles public relations, Hays ranks among major league leaders in the following categories since April 15:

* Tied for first in hits with 32
* Second in batting average at .386
* Fourth in OPS at 1.037
* Tied for fourth in total bases with 49
* Tied for fourth in on-base percentage at .447
* Tied for fifth in doubles with eight
* Seventh in slugging percentage at .590

Anthony Santander is in left field tonight.

Ramón Urías is the second baseman and Tyler Nevin is starting at third.

The Orioles finally made it to St. Louis.

The charter wasn’t delayed, as far as I know. I’m referring to how they haven’t traveled there since 2003 and are getting their first look at New Busch Stadium, which opened three years later.

Games in April 2020 were canceled due to the pandemic, which led to regional travel and a missed opportunity.

Better much later than never.

Manager Brandon Hyde has experienced plenty of baseball in St. Louis while a coach on the Cubs staff. He enjoys the atmosphere and has described it to his players.