Jeremiah Jackson is the cleanup hitter today for the first time with the Orioles, who try to avoid a sweep this afternoon in Toronto.

Jackson is starting at third base. He’s hit in every spot in the lineup except third.

Dylan Beavers is in right field and batting second again. Samuel Basallo is the designated hitter and batting fifth.

Coby Mayo moves up to sixth after homering yesterday and producing his first multi-hit game since Aug. 6.

The Orioles lost yesterday for the 10th time when leading through seven innings and the third when ahead entering the ninth.

Who’s up for some Sunday morning baseball? Yes, the Nationals and Pirates will kick off this NFL Sunday with a special 11:35 a.m. first pitch on South Capitol Street. But it’s not one of those early Roku games. We’ve got you covered in full on MASN for this one, which has the extra early start because it’s the annual Nats on Base Abroad game.

Two members of the 2019 World Series roster (Adam Eaton and Brian Dozier) will be watching the game from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar alongside U.S. service members stationed there. Given the time difference, the Nationals got permission to move the start time up two hours from the usual Sunday first pitch.

As for the game itself, the Nationals and Pirates square off in the rubber match of the weekend series, each of the first two games won with late offense (Friday by the Nats, Saturday by the Bucs). The Nationals hope to continue to get quality starting pitching with Cade Cavalli on the mound. The right-hander makes his eighth big league start of the season, having just faced the Marlins twice in a row and allowed two runs in five innings each time, earning the win each time.

Pittsburgh sends Mike Burrows to the mound. The rookie right-hander has solid numbers (3.99 ERA, 1.237 WHIP, 9.2 strikeouts per nine innings) but he’s been restricted to no more than five innings and no more than 80 pitches since the end of July.

PITTSBURGH PIRATES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 11:35 a.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 79 degrees, wind 4 mph in from right field

Friday night’s series opener against the Pirates turned into a wild one, even though the first five innings were pretty uneventful. The Nationals came back from a 3-0 deficit to score six runs in the sixth and seventh innings, taking a 6-3 lead into the ninth. Then Jose A. Ferrer nearly blew the entire lead, only to be bailed out by James Wood’s perfect throw from left field to the plate for the second-to-last out of what wound up a 6-5 victory.

They’re back at it later this afternoon, with a matchup of rookies who have a combined six major league appearances between them.

Andrew Alvarez makes his third career start, and his first two have gone exceptionally well. The left-hander tossed five scoreless in his debut against the Marlins, then held the Cubs to two runs over 4 2/3 innings last time out. Now he faces a Pittsburgh lineup that has scored the fewest runs in baseball this season (532). (For comparison’s sake, the Nats have scored 632 runs, which ranks 20th out of 30 clubs.

Alvarez wasn’t considered a top prospect. Bubba Chandler definitely was, the third-round pick in the 2021 Draft entering this season as a top-15 prospect in the sport by multiple outlets. The Pirates used the right-hander in relief three times, now he makes his second start (though he got rocked by the Brewers for nine runs in 2 2/3 innings in that previous start.

PITTSBURGH PIRATES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 4:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 82 degrees, wind 5 mph out to left field

There’s no rest for the weary. The Nationals just completed a seven-day road trip that concluded with a getaway night game in Miami. And now they’re right back to work tonight in the opener of a seven-game homestand against the Pirates and Braves that will include a day-night doubleheader Tuesday. Nobody said this would be easy.

Twenty-seven of the current 28 members of the Nationals’ active roster arrived early this morning from Miami. Brad Lord, on the other hand, flew home late Thursday afternoon, giving him a chance to get a good night’s sleep in advance of his start tonight. The rookie right-hander had a much-needed, bounceback start last weekend at Wrigley Field after back-to-back ugly outings, so hopefully he’s on track again and ready to finish the season strong. He faced the Pirates way back on April 14 at PNC Park, allowing four runs in 4 1/3 innings, taking the loss to Paul Skenes that evening.

The Nationals won’t be seeing Skenes this weekend, because he pitched Wednesday in Baltimore and will next pitch Monday in Pittsburgh. It’ll be veteran Mitch Keller, who unfortunately is best remembered around here for throwing the fastball that hit Paul DeJong in the face during that April series. Keller was quick to check on DeJong that night and apologize to him, so there’s no bad blood whatsoever between the two.

PITTSBURGH PIRATES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 77 degrees, wind 7 mph in from right field

PIRATES
SS Jared Triolo
1B Spencer Horwitz
RF Bryan Reynolds
DH Andrew McCutchen
2B Nick Gonzales
CF Oneil Cruz
3B Cam Devanney
LF Ji Hwan Bae
C Henry Davis

Tyler O’Neill is serving as the designated hitter tonight and batting sixth, as the Orioles begin their three-game series in Toronto.

O’Neill was reinstated from the injured list earlier today.

Ryan Mountcastle is the first baseman, which puts Coby Mayo on the bench.

Dylan Beavers is in left field and Jeremiah Jackson is in right. Samuel Basallo is catching.

The Orioles’ five walk-off wins in the second half are tied with the Rangers and Mariners for most in the majors.

MIAMI – We have reached the end of the road trip at last. The Nationals and Marlins square off one final time tonight at loanDepot Park, the Nats seeking to head home with a 5-2 record on the trip through Chicago and Miami and improve to 8-2 overall in September. And they’ve got their ace back on the mound after a two-week layoff.

MacKenzie Gore has been activated off the 15-day injured list, his left shoulder feeling fine after missing a couple of starts. He’s raring to go and looking to close out his season on a better note after struggling since the All-Star break. If all goes well, Gore would be on track to make four starts down the stretch, so tonight’s outing against the Marlins provides a good first step toward a good finish.

Fellow left-hander Ryan Weathers starts for Miami, and he’s been quite good when healthy. He’s made only five major league starts this season, with two IL stints sprinkled in there (one for a flexor strain, one for a lat strain). This will mark his return after a three-month layoff. It’s also his first appearance against the Nationals since April 2024 (when he allowed six runs over four innings).

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at MIAMI MARLINS
Where: loanDepot Park
Gametime: 6:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Indoors

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
RF Dylan Crews
C Riley Adams
LF Daylen Lile
1B Andrés Chaparro
3B Brady House 
DH Paul DeJong
2B Nasim Nuñez
CF Jacob Young

The Orioles are planning on a bullpen game for Sunday in Toronto, an adjustment made to their rotation after skipping Dean Kremer’s turn.

Albert Suárez is a candidate after working three innings Saturday. He also earned the win last night with a scoreless 10^th inning.

Keegan Akin also could be under consideration. He’s served as an opener three times. Dietrich Enns has opened in one game.

“Kind of whoever we have available after the first two,” said interim manager Tony Mansolino.

Trevor Rogers starts Friday night and Tomoyuki Sugano on Saturday.

MIAMI – The Nationals’ September to remember continues, the team having now opened this final month of the season 7-1, including five straight wins over the Marlins. And there are still two more games to go in this series at loanDepot Park, where they’ll try to do it again tonight and move to within 4 1/2 games of third place in the NL East.

This hot streak has been sparked by good offensive production from up and down the lineup. As a team, the Nats boast an .825 OPS through the first eight games of the month, blasting 14 homers (four of those by Josh Bell over the last three days). And they’ve already done damage to the guy they’re facing tonight: Eury Perez, who allowed seven runs in four innings last week at Nationals Park, with Nasim Nunez and Brady House each homering off the young right-hander.

Jake Irvin, remarkably, has not faced the Marlins yet this season. And he only faced them once in 2024, way back in April when he allowed two runs over six innings. As such, only one current member of Miami’s active roster has ever stepped into the box against Irvin in the big leagues: Joey Wiemer, who went 0-for-2 while playing for the Brewers in July 2023. Perhaps unfamiliarity will play into Irvin’s hands tonight as he tries to extend the Nationals’ winning streak.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at MIAMI MARLINS
Where: loanDepot Park
Gametime: 6:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Indoors

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
DH James Wood
1B Josh Bell
2B Luis García Jr.
C Jorge Alfaro
3B Brady House
RF Dylan Crews
CF Robert Hassell III

MIAMI – The Nationals and Marlins have played each other a lot over the last week, and there’s still three more games to go in this series. That familiarity means a lot of familiar pitching matchups. We saw Cade Cavalli face Miami for the second straight outing Monday night. And tonight we’ll see both Mitchell Parker and Adam Mazur face these opposing lineups for the second straight time.

Parker had his best start in weeks when he faced the Marlins on Wednesday afternoon in D.C. He carried a shutout into the fifth before allowing four runs (only two earned). It was an important step forward for the struggling left-hander, who managed to get his ERA back under 6.00. Now, can he continue that positive trend tonight against the same opponent?

Mazur started for Miami the previous night and took the loss to Cavalli. The rookie right-hander, in his 11th career start, gave up five runs (four earned) on 10 hits in six innings, giving up a homer to James Wood and doubles to CJ Abrams, Daylen Lile, Riley Adams and Dylan Crews. The Nats would love to keep that kind of offensive production going, especially after exploding for 15 runs here Monday night.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at MIAMI MARLINS
Where: loanDepot Park
Gametime: 6:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Indoors

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
LF James Wood
1B Josh Bell
DH Daylen Lile
2B Luis García Jr.
C Riley Adams
3B Brady House
RF Dylan Crews
CF Jacob Young

MIAMI – After a gorgeous (and successful) weekend in Chicago, the Nationals now open a four-game series here in Miami, where we’re getting torrential rain and the environment inside loanDepot Park figures to be nothing like the environment was at Wrigley Field the last three days. No problem, the Nats just hope to keep their winning ways going, regardless of opponent or venue.

The Nationals did just sweep the Marlins at home last week before taking two of three against the Cubs, so they’re feeling very good about themselves as they prepare to open this series tonight. And the guy on the mound will be looking to continue what he did last time out against this same lineup.

Cade Cavalli tossed five innings of two-run ball vs. Miami, striking out six and earning his second career win. The right-hander now gets a chance to face the Marlins again and keep things going in the right direction. Right-hander Janson Junk, who shut out the Nationals over 5 2/3 innings back in June, takes the mound for Miami.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at MIAMI MARLINS
Where: loanDepot Park
Gametime: 6:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Indoors

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
LF James Wood
1B Josh Bell
DH Daylen Lile
2B Luis García Jr.
C Riley Adams
3B Paul DeJong
RF Dylan Crews
CF Robert Hassell III

CHICAGO – Behind a stellar pitching performance from both their starter and their resurgent bullpen, the Nationals pulled out a 2-1 victory over the Cubs on Saturday afternoon. Which means they now have a chance to win the weekend series this afternoon, with another rookie starter taking the mound.

Andrew Alvarez makes his second career start, and if this one goes anything like his debut did, it’s going to be a great day for the lefty and the Nats. Alvarez was incredibly poised and in control Monday afternoon against the Marlins, tossing five scoreless innings while allowing only one hit. The challenge today is significantly tougher, with a good Chicago lineup standing in his way. But for what it’s worth, the wind has shifted direction here at Wrigley Field, now blowing in from left field instead of out to right field. Maybe, just maybe, that will help keep fly balls off the bats of right-handed batters facing Alvarez within the Friendly Confines instead of reaching the bleachers.

The Nationals managed to win Saturday despite scoring only two runs. They probably need more than that today in a matchup against the Cubs bullpen. Veteran lefty Drew Pomeranz will be the opener, then we’ll have to see how Craig Counsell manages things from there.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at CHICAGO CUBS
Where: Wrigley Field
Gametime: 2:20 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 64 degrees, wind 9 mph in from left field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
DH James Wood
C Riley Adams
LF Daylen Lile
1B Andrés Chaparro
2B Luis García jR.
3B Brady House
RF Dylan Crews
CF Robert Hassell III

CHICAGO – It’s another beautiful day at the Friendly Confines, where the Nationals will look to shrug off Friday’s 11-5 loss to the Cubs and get back to the winning ways they previously discovered against the Marlins. To do that, they’re going to need a good start out of Brad Lord.

The rookie right-hander had been on an impressive run for months, but his last three starts have gone sideways (17 earned runs in 12 2/3 innings against the Mets, Yankees and Rays). During that time, his ERA has shot up from 3.26 to 4.34, turning such a promising debut season into something less than that. Lord still has an opportunity to right the ship, though, over the final month and will look to start that process today against a Chicago lineup that launched four homers into the bleachers Friday afternoon.

At the plate, the Nationals will try to get to Cubs starter Matthew Boyd early after going silent the first time through the order against Friday starter Javier Assad before getting hot. The lefty was quite good against the Nats back in June, allowing two runs over 7 1/3 innings. But he took the loss that night because MacKenzie Gore was even better in pitching his team to a 2-0 victory.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at CHICAGO CUBS
Where: Wrigley Field
Gametime: 2:20 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Mostly sunny, 65 degrees, wind 14 mph out to right field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
DH James Wood
C Jorge Alfaro
1B Josh Bell
LF Daylen Lile
RF Dylan Crews
2B Nasim Nuñez
3B Brady House
CF Jacob Young

CHICAGO – The Nationals proved this week they can beat the Marlins. Three times in a row, to be exact. And with a four-game series coming up next week in Miami, there’s some genuine optimism around this team for the first time in a while. But before that, there are three games to play this weekend at Wrigley Field against a much better Cubs team that remains in the thick of the National League wild card race.

The Nats swept the Marlins by jumping out to early leads and getting solid work from their starters, then lights-out work from their resurgent bullpen. So it’s imperative for Jake Irvin to keep the good rotation vibes going this afternoon. Irvin felt better about his last start against the Rays than any of his other recent outings, but he still allowed two homers in that game, leaving him with a league-leading 31 surrendered for the season. Well, the wind is going to be blowing out to right field today. Irvin has to find a way to keep the ball within the friendly confines and out of the bleachers.

The Nationals face Cubs right-hander Javier Assad, who didn’t make his season debut until Aug. 12 due to an oblique strain. He’s delivered back-to-back quality starts against the Angels and Rockies, and he pitched well in two starts against the Nats last season, allowing three runs each time (once over five innings, once over six).

Reminder: Today’s game is only available on Apple TV+. Bob Carpenter, Kevin Frandsen and Dan Kolko will be back on MASN for Saturday’s game.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at CHICAGO CUBS
Where: Wrigley Field
Gametime: 2:20 p.m. EDT
TV: Apple TV+
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 65 degrees, wind 20 mph out to right field

SAN DIEGO – A couple of injured Orioles are nearing their returns to the active roster this month. The injured list holds 10 players and can get down to single digits.

Consider it an accomplishment in 2025.

Infielder Jordan Westburg (ankle) is doing full baseball activities and should go on a rehab assignment next week.

Westburg hasn’t played since Aug. 18 in Boston.

“Everything is getting closer and closer,” said interim manager Tony Mansolino.

It’s been quite a while since the Nationals were last in a position to sweep a three-game series. You have to go all the way back to July 23 when they took the field against the Reds having already won two straight, hoping to win one more and complete the sweep. Alas, they did not, getting shut out by Nick Lodolo during a 5-0 loss.

Well, here they are again at last, having defeated the Marlins each of the last two days and now giving themselves a shot at a sweep this afternoon. They’ll need Mitchell Parker to give them a chance, something the left-hander did finally do over the weekend against the Rays, albeit still in a losing effort. Parker has faced Miami twice this season, and the results haven’t been pretty: 10 runs over 9 1/3 innings. We’ll see if he can turn it around today.

The Nats scored five runs Tuesday night off rookie Adam Mazur. Now they face Eury Pérez, the one-time top prospect who is trying to reestablish himself after missing a year and a half following Tommy John surgery. He was pretty good when he faced the Nationals back in June, allowing only one run over four innings. He failed to make it out of the first inning last time on the mound, though, at Citi Field.

MIAMI MARLINS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 79 degrees, wind 5 mph out to left field

MARLINS
2B Xavier Edwards
C Agustín Ramírez
CF Jakob Marsee
SS Otto Lopez
DH Heriberto Hernández
3B Connor Norby
1B Eric Wagaman
RF Joey Wiemer
LF Javier Sanoja

SAN DIEGO – Jeremiah Jackson is in right field again tonight and Dylan Beavers is in left, as the Orioles try to clinch their series against the Padres following last night’s 4-3 win.

Beavers has reached base safely 25 times to begin his career, tied with Glenn Gulliver (1982) for second most in franchise history through the first 15 games behind Curtis Goodwin’s 26 in 1995.

Ryan Mountcastle is the designated hitter and cleanup hitter. Coby Mayo is starting at first base and batting ninth.

Emmanuel Rivera gets another start at third base. Samuel Basallo is catching Tyler Wells.

Jorge Mateo is on the roster and the bench. He wasn’t in the clubhouse during media access.

The Nationals enjoyed a much-needed, feel-good Labor Day thanks to Andrew Alvarez, who tossed five scoreless innings in his major league debut and set the stage for his team to beat the Marlins 2-0 and snap an eight-game losing streak. So what does tonight have in store?

There won’t be another big league debut, but there will be another young pitcher on the mound for the Nats in Cade Cavalli. This is Cavalli’s sixth start of the season (seventh of his career) and he’s looking to bounce back from his first truly rough one, in which the Yankees scored seven runs in only 2 1/3 innings, blasting four homers in the process. The Marlins, on paper, look like a much more favorable matchup for the right-hander. And as things stand, he’s scheduled to face them again next week in Miami.

The Marlins send rookie Adam Mazur to the mound tonight for what will be only his 11th career start. (He’s 1-4 with a 7.06 ERA to date.) The Nats faced him last year, when he was with the Padres, and scored four runs in five innings.

MIAMI MARLINS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 6:45 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 75 degrees, wind 6 mph in from right field

MARLINS
2B Xavier Edwards
CF Jakob Marsee
DH Agustín Ramírez
C Liam Hicks
SS Otto Lopez
3B Connor Norby
1B Troy Johnston
LF Heriberto Hernández
RF Victor Mesa Jr.

Who do you want to send to the mound when you need someone to end a long losing streak? How about a guy making his major league debut?

OK, so it’s perhaps a bit unfair for the Nationals to put that kind of pressure on Andrew Alvarez. The 26-year-old left-hander was a 12th-round pick in the 2021 draft, and he’s not among the organization’s top prospects. But he’s nevertheless going to lead his team onto the field at Nationals Park this afternoon, making his big league debut against the Marlins while trying to snap his team’s eight-game losing streak.

Alvarez, who did produce a 2.37 ERA and 39 strikeouts over his last 30 1/3 innings for Triple-A Rochester, will try his best to keep the Nats in the game before handing it over to a bullpen that actually has been really good of late, including nine scoreless innings of one-run ball the last two days against the Rays. He’s one of two September call-ups joining the roster today, with infielder Nasim Nuñez also promoted from Triple-A.

The best thing the Nationals could do to support their rookie hurler? Get on the board first and give him a lead, something they’ve done only once during this losing streak. (And that 1-0 lead didn’t even last a full inning.) The Marlins apparently are going with a bullpen game today, so they’re going to see a bunch of arms, hoping they can do some damage against several of them along the way.

MIAMI MARLINS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 76 degrees, wind 8 mph in from center field

The Nationals have endured three losing streaks of at least seven games this season, which is not typically a sign of a good season. This current losing streak has seen them score a total of 16 runs, only five in their last four games.

So the focus heading into this afternoon’s series finale against the Rays has got to be offense, and how this lineup can somehow find a way to generate something at the plate, especially early on in an attempt to take a lead instead of trying to play from behind yet again.

The problem: The Nats will be facing a left-hander in Ian Seymour who just tossed five scoreless innings of one-hit, eight-strikeout ball against the Guardians in his last start. Seymour, drafted in 2020 out of Virginia Tech, is exactly the type of opposing starter who has given this team fits all year long. He actually throws more changeups (34.9 percent) than fastballs (30.8 percent) and nobody has produced an extra-base hit off that changeup yet this season.

Brad Lord, meanwhile, gets the nod for the Nationals, looking to bounce back from a rare dud, in which the rookie right-hander gave up seven runs in 4 1/3 innings at Yankee Stadium. Over his last two starts, Lord has seen his ERA jump from 3.26 to 3.84.

TAMPA BAY RAYS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 87.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 76 degrees, wind 7 mph in from center field

SAN FRANCISCO – The Orioles have lost eight of their last nine games, but they have left-hander Trevor Rogers on the mound this afternoon at Oracle Park.

Take the guy with the 1.40 ERA any day.

Rogers has allowed one run in each of his five starts this month totaling 35 innings. He’s struck out 36 batters.

In his final start in July, Rogers shut out the Rockies on one hit over seven innings. If he isn’t Most Valuable Oriole, he’s no worse than the runner-up.

Rogers has made three career starts against the Giants and posted a 2.63 ERA and 1.098 WHIP in 13 2/3 innings. He allowed two earned runs and three total in five innings in his only appearance in San Francisco.