WASHINGTON – The three-game series against the Nationals passed without Blaze Alexander cracking the Orioles’ lineup. He pinch-hit for Colton Cowser in the opener and played center field, and he replaced Coby Mayo at third base yesterday in the eighth inning.

Alexander is one of the club’s hottest hitters this month, going 11-for-29 and slashing .379/.400/.448 in 13 games. He batted .177 with a .460 OPS in his first 25.

The .848 OPS in May ranked third on the team yesterday behind Samuel Basallo’s .982 and Pete Alonso’s .855.

Alexander credits assistant hitting coach Brady North with a suggestion that might have turned around his season.

“I went back to some stuff I was doing last year,” Alexander said.

“It was before a game and he’s like, ‘Hey, have you ever tried like forward pressure?’ It was something that just kind of like clicked in my head. Yeah, forward pressure on your leg. I’m kind of pushing forward here, but as soon as he said that it kind of clicked and it was like, well, that’s something that I know I can repeat.

“I think that’s helped out a lot. Honestly, the first at-bat I did that, I hit a double the other way, and then from there, it just feels repeatable. I know how to hit that way, and just kind of how I’m feeling right now.”

Alexander offered a demonstration at his locker, getting into his stance with an imaginary bat and putting more weight on the front leg. No lift.

“I was leg kicking kind of early on, and like messing, too, with getting my foot down, but I was trying to kind of hang in that backside,” he said. “But now instead of like hanging back here, I’m forward pressure pushing on this leg so then it’s just like, I’m almost pushing off of it.”

It’s a visual thing. Just hearing it might come across as complicated.

“It’s just something I did, I’d say, the last three years hitting, and then this offseason, obviously, trying to drive the ball in the air and get into the back hip stuff,” Alexander said. “But as soon as he said that, it’s like a light bulb went off in my head and it was like, hey, I know how to hit this way, I’ve had success this way. It’s showing up.”

Jackson Holliday ditched his leg lift as a timing mechanism, but Colton Cowser has started to use it. Heston Kjerstad stopped using the kick after working out with Holliday over the winter, but video of his RBI single yesterday with Triple-A Norfolk showed that it’s back.

“It’s just, everyone’s different and I knew I had success with that,” Alexander said. “I think the at-bats have gotten better, hitting the ball a lot harder, finding grass. Just having success.”

The Rays are starting left-hander Shane McClanahan tonight at Tropicana Field, which could get Alexander in the lineup. But the Orioles also have switch-hitter Leody Taveras for center field and right-handed hitters Jeremiah Jackson and Coby Mayo for second and third.

Alexander can take it as a compliment that the Orioles didn’t rush to call up an outfielder to replace Dylan Beavers, who’s on the 10-day injured list with an oblique strain. Alexander is trusted in center. He’s trusted anywhere.

“Don’t make it complicated out there,” he said. ‘Be an athlete. Ball’s in the air, get a good read. Ball in the gap, get it to your cutoff guys quick as you can. I’m not going to say it’s simple, but it’s something I’m definitely comfortable doing. Playing the six positions, to some guys it could be a lot, but to me it’s another opportunity to be out there.”

The year 2026 already is cemented as one the most special and memorable of Alexander’s life, no matter what he does for the rest of the season.

The Orioles acquired their utility player in a February trade with the Diamondbacks, about 48 hours after Alexander and long-time girlfriend Kylee Diaz found out that they were going to become first-time parents.

“My family’s out there in Arizona and hers is out there, so it was like, ‘Hey, this is all right,’” Alexander said. “Then it was like two days later, bang, I got a phone call. I was like, ‘Hey, I just got traded,’ and she’s all excited. I’m like, ‘Do you know what that means? We’ve got to go to other spots.’ And she’s like, ‘Oh shoot.’ So yeah, it was right before spring. Headed out to Sarasota.

“That was a pretty tough month for her. She was getting really, really nauseous every day. I’m at the field and I’m like, ‘Drink water.’ I’m looking up a bunch of things to help her and stuff. That was definitely a tough month. The first two weeks into the season were still a little tough, and right after that she got a whole lot better. She’s doing really good now. But yeah, it was new, but it was cool. I’ve always had her to care for but now it’s bigger than that.”

The couple announced the news recently on social media. Alexander confirmed that he’s going to be a Girl Dad, checking with Kylee first to make sure that it was OK to talk about it.

“I think it’s gonna be awesome,” he said. “I saw Eugenio Suárez last year and in the previous year when I was in AZ and he has these two little girls, and I just thought it was the coolest thing ever, seeing them run to him after a game or just how they react to him. I was just like, ‘Man, that would be so cool.’

“I wanted a girl, so I got what I wanted, and I can’t wait. I think I’ll be a pretty good dad, and yeah, I’m super excited.”

Blaze and Kylee are debating a couple of names. He isn’t sure of the spelling, but “Elleanna,” if that’s correct, is one of her favorites.

“I kind of like that,” he said. “She likes it so you could call her ‘Elle,’ ‘Elephant,’ that kind of stuff. So I think that’s cool. She’s on me about that I’ve got to start picking a name, you know? But it’s hard, it ain’t easy. I always thought, ‘Nah, it would be easy. Give them a name,’ but now it’s like, ‘Holy crap.’

“I’ll say one to her and she’s like, ‘Heck no.’ I’m like, ‘All right, I’ll give you another one in a week.’”

Note: The Cubs claimed right-hander Christian Roa on waivers from the Orioles, who designated him for assignment two days earlier.

The Orioles claimed Roa from the Twins on May 10.