Gunnar Henderson raised the bat above his head and looked toward right field as if calling his shot after making contact. This was his reaction to a blast that used to be more common in the first half. A power pose that he’d like to bring back more frequently.

Henderson demolished a first-pitch four-seamer from DJ Herz in the opening inning, his 30^th home run landing on Eutaw Street and staking the Orioles to an early lead.

Coby Mayo lined a single into left field leading off the fifth and ditched his bat as quickly as possible. No time to admire his first major league hit. Bolt out of the box, reach first base and soak in the standing ovation.

Dean Kremer had his own moments tonight with six innings of one-run ball, and the Orioles gained a split of the series with a 4-1 win over the Nationals before an announced crowd of 26,479 at Camden Yards.

Yennier Cano, Cionel Pérez and Seranthony Domínguez combined for three scoreless and hitless innings, and the Orioles improved to 71-50. They remain a half-game behind the Yankees.

BALTIMORE – The Nationals have not yet closed the gap with the Orioles that has existed for multiple seasons now. One of these teams is headed for its second straight October appearance. The other is spending the next seven weeks identifying which players will be part of a team attempting to win in 2025 and which players will not.

But the gap is shrinking, and the four head-to-head matchups between the two interleague rivals this year underscored that. After getting swept by Baltimore last season and scoring a grand total of one run in the process, the Nats split the Battle of the Beltways this season and actually outscored their opponents by five runs along the way.

Tonight’s finale was right there for the taking, as well, and could’ve given the Nationals their first series victory over the Orioles since 2018. But a lack of offense doomed them on a night when DJ Herz pitched well but took a hard-luck, 4-1 loss at Camden Yards.

Herz allowed just two runs over six strong innings, both runs scoring on one swing in the bottom of the first. His teammates couldn’t match those numbers, though, one night after busting out for nine runs on 15 hits during a lopsided victory.

Tuesday’s big win, coupled with a 3-0 victory back in May in D.C., allowed the Nationals to go 2-2 against Baltimore for the season. And the two losses were highly competitive: a 7-6, 12-inning loss in May, then tonight’s tightly contested affair.

The Orioles and Nationals will meet for the fourth and final time this year tonight at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. After losing to the Nats 9-3 last night, the O's are 0-1 in this two-game series and 1-2 in the four-game season series.

A win tonight will split this series and the four-game season set. The Orioles have not lost a season series to the Nationals since 2018.

These teams have been playing since 2006 and the Orioles are 56-41 all-time versus the Nats and 10-2-6 in season series.

The Orioles lost the 2018 season series, going 1-5. Then they went 2-2 in 2019, 4-2 in 2020, 3-3 in 2021, 3-1 in 2022 and 4-0 last season leading up to this year.

Even with last night's loss, the Orioles have won eight of their last 10 versus the Nats and manager Brandon Hyde is 17-10 against them.

BALTIMORE – Davey Martinez gathered his entire coaching staff together on the Nationals’ off-day and told the group he had an announcement to make: Every one of them was being invited back for the 2025 season.

Prior to Tuesday’s series opener against the Orioles, all of them – pitching coach Jim Hickey, hitting coach Darnell Coles, bench coach Miguel Cairo, first base coach Gerardo Parra, third base coach Ricky Gutierrez, catching and strategy coach Henry Blanco, bullpen coach Ricky Bones, pitching strategist Sean Doolittle and assistant hitting coach Chris Johnson – signed their new contracts. And this afternoon, Martinez made it public, ensuring his full staff not only will return for another season but was made aware long before the current season ends.

“I really wanted to get it done now,” Martinez said. “This way, there’s a little bit of unity, and all the guys know they’ll be back, instead of doing it at the end of the year. I really feel like this is a good corps, and we work really good together. And they’re doing a great job with the kids. For me, it was important to get it done as soon as possible.”

This was a significant departure from the 2023 season, when Martinez (who signed his contract extension in late-August) didn’t make decisions on his coaches until October, making several changes to what had been a tight-knit staff.

With all of the current coaches on one-year deals, speculation had been growing there could be more changes coming this fall, most notably at the hitting coach position. Ultimately, Martinez – with the blessing of general manager Mike Rizzo and Nationals ownership – gave a vote of confidence to everyone, and didn’t make anyone – including the players – have to sweat out the season’s final seven weeks before learning who would be back in 2025.

Much of today’s pregame talk with the Orioles centered on their bullpen and the gains made by injured relievers.

Jacob Webb said he’s experiencing improvement in his right elbow and is encouraged with his progress since his placement on the 15-day injured list with inflammation.

Webb will begin playing catch this weekend.

“I’m feeling good,” he said. “I feel like it’s getting there. It’s toned down, which is definitely helpful.”

Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias referred to the discomfort over the weekend as the elbow “barking.”

BALTIMORE – Like most Maryland kids, James Wood grew up going to Orioles games at Camden Yards. And like most Maryland kids, he also grew up picking steamed blue crabs.

On Tuesday night, the Olney, Md., native got to relive both childhood memories in the Nationals’ 9-3 rout of the Orioles in Baltimore.

“It was definitely cool coming to Baltimore because, a lot of times, this is where I would watch games growing up,” Wood said after last night’s game. ”It was just a lot of fun out there. I was just enjoying it.”

What was not to enjoy? Wood finished his first game at Camden Yards 4-for-5 with a double, an RBI and three runs scored. His four hits had exit velocities of 99.5, 102.7, 105.8 and 105.9 mph to keep him in the 95th percentile in the major leagues.

After Wood started his night 4-for-4 – already his second four-hit performance in his first 37 big league games – his mom, Paula, tweeted a picture of a young James and his grandfather watching a game at Camden Yards.

BALTIMORE – The Nationals have not exactly enjoyed much success against the Orioles in recent years. They entered 2024 having lost 10 of their last 11 to Baltimore, having scored a grand total of one run in four head-to-head games last season. Well, the narrative appears to have flipped at last. The two teams split the series in D.C. back in May. And then the Nats won handily, 9-3, Tuesday night here at Camden Yards. Which means at worst they’ll split the season series, with a shot at winning it for the first time since 2018 if they can win tonight’s finale.

Davey Martinez would love to keep the offense going from 24 hours ago. The Nationals not only scored nine runs, they rapped out 15 hits, 10 of which featured an exit velocity in triple digits. Boy, have they been waiting for something like that. Now, how much of Tuesday’s output was familiarity with Trevor Rogers, and how much was something else? Perhaps we’ll find out tonight when they face Dean Kremer, who enters with a 4.70 ERA but has won each of his two previous career starts against the Nats, including 6 2/3 innings of shutout ball last year.

The Orioles have never seen DJ Herz before, because the left-hander made his major league debut several weeks after the two teams met earlier this season. Herz’s last start was disrupted by rain, so it’s hard to evaluate that performance. He was solid in each of his three previous starts, going five innings each time and never allowing more than two runs.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at BALTIMORE ORIOLES
Where: Camden Yards
Gametime: 6:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Clear, 84 degrees, wind 6 mph in from left field

NATIONALS
SS CJ Abrams
DH Juan Yepez
LF James Wood
1B Andrés Chaparro
2B Luis García Jr.
C Keibert Ruiz
RF Alex Call
3B Ildemaro Vargas
CF Jacob Young

Austin Slater is leading off and playing left field tonight and Coby Mayo is at third base against a left-handed opposing starter.

Eloy Jiménez is the designated hitter. Colton Cowser is in center field.

Jackson Holliday stays at second base and is batting ninth.

Dean Kremer has made two career starts against the Nationals and is 2-0 with a 2.31 ERA in 11 2/3 innings.

Kremer has held opponents to a .523 OPS his first time through the order, compared to .817 for the rest of the game.

As a rookie in 2019, Eloy Jiménez hit 31 homers, had an .828 OPS and finished fourth in voting for the American League Rookie of the Year. In the 2023 season he hit 18 longballs.

But this year he has just five in 275 plate appearances. His homer percentage of 1.8 – the percentage of all plate appearances that end in a homer is the lowest of his career. That percentage was 6.2 for him in 2019 and 2020.

The task for the O’s coaches could not be more obvious. Try to get this guy back to lifting the baseball. Even though he is currently hitting the ball hard often and driving some grounders through infields around baseball.

Coming into the Nats series Jiménez was 12-for-24 with the Orioles, but with two doubles and 10 singles. He struck out as a pinch-hitter last night.

O’s skipper Brandon Hyde said the process to try and get Jiménez to drive baseballs is well underway.

BALTIMORE – When the Nationals signed Harold Ramirez to a minor league contract on June 15, then called him up to the majors a week later, the intention was clear: Add a proven big league hitter to a lineup and bench that could use more of them, the kind of bat that could help a team win more games and perhaps even keep itself in a wide-open National League wild card race.

When the Nats designated Ramirez for assignment prior to Tuesday night’s game against the Orioles, the intention was also clear, if dramatically altered from two months prior: It’s time to prioritize young players who may have a future with the organization than older ones who don’t.

It wasn’t so much about Ramirez’s production. The soon-to-be 30-year-old hadn’t been great, but he hadn’t been awful, either. It was about creating a roster spot – and playing time – for Andres Chaparro, a 25-year-old rookie acquired two weeks ago from the Diamondbacks for Dylan Floro who theoretically could figure into the team’s long-term plans.

Chaparro, let’s be clear, is not a top-rated prospect. He was the return for two months of a veteran setup man, not two years of a productive everyday player. But his Triple-A numbers over the last two seasons – a .282/.363/.500 slash line with 51 doubles and 48 homers in 242 games – were hard to ignore.

And given the current state of the Nationals, who are sorely lacking in power, especially from the corner infield positions, it made all the sense in the world to get Chaparro up here now and get an extended look at him.

The home clubhouse at Camden Yards had new lockers for four players who joined the Orioles on the road trip. Among them was left-hander Trevor Rogers, who made his first career start tonight in Baltimore.

Anthony Santander was in his usual spot in the back row and on the field. He’s become a constant. And now he’s a record holder.

Santander tied the game in the third inning with his 36^th home run, the most by an Orioles switch-hitter. Ken Singleton had 35 in 1979.

The Orioles went to the World Series that year. Santander is swinging the bat like he’s trying to carry his team deep into the postseason. But he’ll need some cooperation. The offense can’t keep shutting down. More outs are needed from the rotation. More trust must be earned in the bullpen.

Rogers was removed at 78 pitches after James Wood’s leadoff single in the sixth, with four runs and seven hits on his line. Bryan Baker let an inherited runner score and two of his own, and the Orioles lost to the Nationals 9-3 before an announced crowd of 28,058 at Camden Yards.

BALTIMORE – In their season-long search for more offensive punch, the Nationals tonight found plenty of it from one key piece of their long-term plan and one unexpected new piece of the puzzle who might just play his way into the long-term plan if he keeps this up.

Behind the second four-hit night of James Wood’s young career and a record-setting three-double night from Andrés Chaparro in his major league debut, the Nats busted out at the plate during a 9-3 victory over the Orioles.

Facing a Baltimore pitching staff that held them to a grand total of 15 runs in their last nine head-to-head matchups, the Nationals put forth one of their best offensive showings in a while, their highest scoring output against the Orioles since May 22, 2021, when their lineup included Trea Turner, Juan Soto and Ryan Zimmerman.

The names involved tonight can’t come close to comparing to that trio, but given how inexperienced they are, who can say with any certainty what they will become when it’s all said and done?

Wood, the top-rated prospect in baseball not long ago, continued to hit the ball extremely hard with three singles and a double that all boasted an exit velocity of at least 99.5 mph. Chaparro, a power-hitting corner infielder stuck at Triple-A the last two seasons but acquired two weeks ago from the Diamondbacks for reliever Dylan Floro, put on the kind of power display the Nats have dreamed of getting all year from their first basemen.

The Orioles lost to the Rays on Sunday 2-1 as they failed to complete a three-game sweep, which would have been their sixth series sweep of the year.

Now the Orioles go from playing an American League East team – and they have had a lot of success within their division this year – to playing a National League East team. And they have a losing record this year versus NL squads.

The Orioles took two of three over the weekend from the Rays to be 8-2 against them in 2024. They are now are 26-13 versus AL East teams.

The Orioles are 14-18 versus NL teams and they lost their past three series against the NL, going 0-3 versus the Cubs and 1-2 each against the Marlins and Padres. The Orioles are 4-6-1 this season in series against the NL clubs.

Tonight the Orioles host the Nationals to start a two-game series and six-game homestand. The Red Sox come to town on Thursday night.

BALTIMORE – As this season transitions from one of early dreams of a surprise run to one that’s still primarily focused on the future, the Nationals decided to make a pair of transactions today that will give them a chance to look at two more young players at the expense of veterans.

The Nats promoted first baseman Andrés Chaparro and reliever Orlando Ribalta from Triple-A Rochester prior to this evening’s series opener against the Orioles and cleared space for both by designating designated hitter Harold Ramírez and reliever Jordan Weems for assignment.

“We want to take a look at some of these young kids,” manager Davey Martinez said. “Both have done really well at Triple-A.”

Indeed, Chaparro and Ribalta have been knocking on the door, performing at a level worthy of consideration. Now each will get an opportunity to make his major league debut.

Acquired just two weeks ago at the trade deadline in a last-minute deal with the Diamondbacks for Dylan Floro, Chaparro went on a tear at the plate in 10 games with Rochester. The 200-pound corner infielder hit four homers with 10 RBIs, a .419 on-base percentage and 1.076 OPS, picking up right where he left off with Arizona’s Triple-A affiliate in Reno, where he batted .332 with 19 homers and 75 RBIs in 95 games.

The off-day enabled the Orioles to freshen their bullpen heading into the Nationals series after left-hander Cionel Pérez worked back-to-back games at Tropicana Field following an earlier stretch in the month of four appearances in five days. Yennier Cano and Seranthony Domínguez weren’t available Sunday after pitching in the previous two games.

Craig Kimbrel and left-hander Gregory Soto are working under different conditions.

Kimbrel has appeared in three games this month, with four days’ rest before Sunday’s outing that resulted in the tie-breaking run scoring against him in the eighth inning. Soto has pitched four times – with his most recent outing on Thursday. He entered in the sixth inning in his first three games with the Orioles and twice surrendered four runs.

Manager Brandon Hyde can’t always avoid using multiple relievers in high-leverage situations. He’s got to find innings that get them back on track but also help the Orioles win.

“We’re going to need both of them, so I’m going to have to find a way,” he said. “Craig had that All-Star first half and when he had a little blip we found a way to kind of get him back rolling again. I’ve tried to do that again here the second half. I thought he threw better in Toronto. That inning looked more like him. The way we were in the ‘pen a couple days ago, wanted to give him that eighth inning and his command just wasn’t very good that day, unfortunately. So hopefully he can rebound from that. But we’re going to need him in the last two months big-time.”

BALTIMORE – Hello from Camden Yards, where the Battle of the Beltways wraps up over the next two nights. The two teams split their two-game series in D.C. back in May, so it’s anybody’s game here this week.

The Nationals are still looking for consistency from their rotation, and that includes Jake Irvin, who gets the ball tonight. The right-hander has put together a couple of quality starts since the All-Star break, but he’s still pitching as well as he did during the season’s first half, and is coming off a game in which he allowed five runs in five innings to the Giants, including three home runs surrendered.

The Nats lineup will actually be facing a familiar foe in Trevor Rogers, the former Marlins left-hander acquired by the Orioles at the trade deadline. Rogers took the loss in each of his two starts against the Nationals earlier this season, but it wasn’t really his fault. He allowed only five runs in 12 innings, but his teammates provided only two runs of support. The Baltimore lineup, suffice it to say, is a bit more productive than the Miami one, so he may not have to worry about support as much tonight.

The Nats made a couple of roster moves before tonight's game, selecting the contracts of infielder Andrés Chaparro and right-hander Orlando Ribalta, and designating Harold Ramírez and Jordan Weems for assignment

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at BALTIMORE ORIOLES
Where: Camden Yards
Gametime: 6:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, 88.7 FM (Spanish), MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 82 degrees, wind 6 mph in from left field

The Washington Nationals selected the contracts of infielder Andrés Chaparro and right-handed pitcher Orlando Ribalta, and designated Harold Ramírez and Jordan Weems for assignment on Tuesday. Nationals President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Mike Rizzo made the announcement.

Chaparro, 25, joins Washington for the first Major League stint of his career after he was acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for right-handed pitcher Dylan Floro on July 30. This season, Chaparro ranks among all full-season Minor Leaguers in hits (1^st, 132), total bases (3rd, 230), RBI (T3^rd, 85), extra-base hits (5^th, 51), OPS (6^th, .977), slugging percentage (8^th, .572), home runs (T8th, 23), runs (T9^th, 76) and batting average (10^th, .328) in 105 games between Triple-A Reno and Rochester. 

The El Vigia, Venezuela, native homered in four-straight games for Rochester from Aug. 7-9, including in both halves of a doubleheader on Aug. 7 at Buffalo (TOR) and his 100^th career Minor League homer on Aug. 9 against the Bisons. In all, Chaparro slashed .286/.419/.657 with a double, four home runs, 10 RBI, eight walks and seven runs scored in 10 games for the Red Wings.

Since the beginning of the 2023 season, Chaparro ranks in all of Minor League Baseball in RBI (T3^rd,174), hits (8^th, 261) and home runs (T8^th, 48).

Originally signed by the New York Yankees as a non-drafted free agent in 2016, Chaparro slashed .263/.350/.459 with 125 doubles, 11 triples, 100 home runs, 394 RBI, 19 stolen bases, 282 walks and 364 runs scored in eight Minor League seasons between the Yankees, Diamondbacks and Nationals organizations.

Coby Mayo is out of the Orioles lineup for tonight’s series opener against the Nationals at Camden Yards.

Ramón Urías gets the start at third base. Ryan O’Hearn is serving as the designated hitter.

Colton Cowser is in left field, Cedric Mullins is in center and Anthony Santander is in right.

Left-hander Trevor Rogers is making his third start with the Orioles after allowing seven earned runs and eight total in 9 1/3 innings. He’s faced the Nationals twice this season with the Marlins and allowed five runs in 12 innings.

Rogers has made 10 career starts against Washington and posted a 3.35 ERA and 1.283 WHIP in 48 1/3 innings. He’s never allowed more than three earned runs.

James Wood and Jackson Holliday have been dueling all season. Not on the diamond, but in rankings as two of the top prospects in baseball.

In whatever order you put them in as two of the best young players in the sport, Wood and Holliday take center stage as they face off on a major league field over the next two nights for the first time in their promising careers.

Holliday has been the top prospect in the sport for the better part of the last year. The Orioles selected him with the No. 1 overall pick out of high school two years ago. Last year, he claimed the top spot in almost every prospect ranking by playing at four different minor league levels in his first full professional season.

Some expected Holliday to make the Orioles’ Opening Day roster out of spring training. But he started this year at Triple-A and made his major league debut on April 10. Although highly anticipated, he struggled during his first stint in the big leagues.

In 10 games, Holliday went 2-for-34 (.059) with a .170 OPS and 18 strikeouts. He was optioned back to Triple-A on April 26, where he also spent some time on the injured list with left elbow inflammation. He even strictly served as the designated hitter over three weeks when he returned from his injury.

Anthony Rendon’s long-awaited return to D.C. over the weekend served as a reminder how lucky the Nationals are not to have re-signed one of the stars of the 2019 World Series run, assuming he would’ve experienced the same injuries and drop in production here as he has in Anaheim.

But it also served as a reminder how the Nats have spent the last five years searching in vain for Rendon’s long-term replacement at third base.

A mindboggling 20 different people have played the hot corner for the franchise since 2020. Some (Carter Kieboom, Trey Lipscomb) were supposed to be the future at the position. Some (Jeimer Candelario) were productive stopgaps who were traded at peak value. Some (Starlin Castro, Maikel Franco, Nick Senzel) were unproductive stopgaps who lost all value during their time here. And some (Ildemaro Vargas, Josh Harrison, Asdrubal Cabrera) were and are still quality utilitymen pressed into more regular playing time because of the struggles of others.

What have they all had in common? An inability to seize the job for themselves and ensure the organization no longer needed to find its third baseman of the future.

The Nationals arguably are in no better shape now at third base than they were five years ago. Sure, there’s a highly touted prospect, a former first round pick, waiting to make his major league debut in the near future. But can anyone say with certainty Brady House will be the next Rendon and not the next Kieboom?