WASHINGTON – The Orioles will attempt to complete their two-game sweep of the Nationals tonight after losing back-to-back series. They’re five games behind the Rays and Mariners for the last wild card.

Their 74 wins are the most for any team in the modern era (since 1900) after losing at least 110 games the previous season.

Cedric Mullins and Rougned Odor are on the bench against left-hander Patrick Corbin.

Austin Hays is leading off and playing left field. Ryan McKenna is in center field and batting seventh.

Jesús Aguilar is batting sixth as the designated hitter.

When the 2023 season begins we’ll be checking on the usual things. Such as if some individual players get off to good starts and more importantly, how is the team doing?

But we will also be tracking the time of games. After MLB games averaged three hours and 10 minutes last year and are at 3:04 this year, MLB announced rule changes recently including the use of a pitch clock next year to improve pace of play.

Pitchers will have 15 seconds to pitch with no one on base and up to 20 seconds with a runner or runners on.

This definitely has worked to improve pace of play and lower game times on the farm this season. In Triple-A, the average time of game is two hours and 43 minutes, while it is 2:40 in Double-A, 2:34 in high-A and 2:36 in low-A.

“The overall time of the game (should improve) for sure,” O’s outfielder Kyle Stowers told me after seeing the clock at work this year on the farm. “So I think games will be getting done a little bit quicker. I would say in Norfolk the longer game tended to be around the three hour mark or 3:10 mark where most of the games were hovering around 2:45. Definitely helped the pace of play. It will be an adjustment though. I think it will take guys time to get used to.

If it wasn’t such an overused and clichéd phrase, the series between the Orioles and Nationals could be touted as a prime example of two teams heading in opposite directions.

You can think it. Just don’t print it.

The Orioles are contending in 2022 after beginning their teardown under the previous regime by trading away their best players in July 2018. The farm system under the new front office is ranked No. 1 in baseball.

A scout from another organization fussed over it during a recent conversation, marveling at how far the organization has come under executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias. And how the Orioles nailed the most recent draft, beginning with shortstop Jackson Holliday and continuing with outfielder Dylan Beavers, third baseman Max Wagner and outfielder Jud Fabian.

He was especially high on Beavers, saying the former University of California standout, the 33^rd overall selection, could be better than 2021 first-rounder Colton Cowser.

WASHINGTON – The televisions inside the visiting clubhouse today were tuned to Game 1 of a doubleheader between the Blue Jays and Rays. It wasn’t just background noise. Players didn’t walk past and glance at the screen.

They sat in chairs and on sofas and tracked every pitch as the Jays tried to rally in the ninth inning. Two teams ahead of them in the wild card race. The indoor version of scoreboard watching.

What does manager Brandon Hyde root for in this instance?

“A ton of bullpen usage,” he said.

“I think you hope that they kind of beat each other or split or whatever. But we’ve got to take care of what we do. None of that’s going to matter if we’re losing series.”

At 5 1/2 games back of a wild card spot with 22 games and seven series left to play, the Orioles resume their schedule tonight with their last interleague series of the year.

This afternoon Tampa Bay beat Toronto 4-2 in Game 1 of a day-night doubleheader and at game time tonight, Toronto is holding the third American League wild card spot but is just 1/2 game behind both Tampa Bay and Seattle. 

The Orioles (73-67) play at Washington (49-92) versus a Nationals team that has the worst record in Major League Baseball. But the Orioles can’t overlook any team right now and they split two games with the Nationals in June. Washington got swept three in a row over the weekend at Philadelphia, losing by scores of 5-3, 8-5 and 7-5. They have lost five of six overall after going through a 5-1 stretch.

The Nats season got off to a terrible start when they began 6-15 and 12-26 and never really got much better. The club’s run differential of -206 is second-worst in the majors to Pittsburgh. The Nats are 22-47 at home and 18-29 since the All-Star break.

On June 21 in Baltimore, Washington shutout the Orioles 3-0 behind Eric Fedde as Birds batters were held to just four hits. The next night, Tyler Wells pitched five scoreless as the Orioles posted their own shutout 7-0 in a game limited to six innings by rain.

WASHINGTON – Orioles second baseman Rougned Odor has his right hand wrapped after being hit by a pitch Sunday and leaving the game. However, Odor said he probably could pinch-hit tonight and expects to be in Wednesday's lineup.

Odor still has some soreness in the hand. Ramón Urías is starting at second base.

“A lot better today,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “When he came out of the game a couple days ago, it was really swollen, but a lot of treatment on it today, an off-day yesterday was really helpful, and should be available off the bench tonight.”

Austin Voth won’t start against his former team in this two-game series, but he’s available out of the bullpen.

Off-days yesterday and Thursday enable Hyde to adjust his rotation, and Voth is being skipped. Voth will jump back into it for his next turn.

WASHINGTON – The Orioles begin a two-game series tonight against the Nationals with Gunnar Henderson playing third base, Kyle Stowers in left field and Austin Hays in right.

Rougned Odor, who left Sunday’s game with a bruised right hand, is on the bench. Ramón Urías is playing second base.

Anthony Santander is the designated hitter.

Hays had his first multi-hit game Sunday since Aug. 27 in Houston.

Dean Kremer has never faced the Nationals.

The Orioles are coming out of yesterday’s break in the schedule and hoping that their offense, which got a head start on it, shows up tonight in D.C.

They were shut out Sunday on three hits, the only slice of good news being how Austin Hays accounted for two of them.

Six of the last eight games ended in defeat, and the last two series have been lost. The Orioles started out 2-0 on the homestand and finished 4-6. They're going in the wrong direction - much like myself later today trying to find the parking garage.

Much of the blame lies with the bats. The Orioles struck out 14 times Sunday and suffered their ninth shutout. They’ve been held to three hits in two of their last four games. They're putting way too much pressure on the pitching staff to be perfect or darn close.

“We have really big swings and we need to get back to staying in the middle of the field,” manager Brandon Hyde said after the game, adding that his club is prone to getting into bad counts.

For a while the Orioles pitching was so good they could and did win games without scoring very much. They beat Houston 2-0 and 3-1 on the last road trip and added wins in Cleveland by scores of 4-0 and 3-0. Hard to lose when you don’t allow a run as the Boston Red Sox learned Sunday.

The Boston pitching made a first-inning run stand up as the Orioles lost 1-0 to the Red Sox. It’s their first home 1-0 defeat since Aug. 5, 2020 versus Miami.

Just Friday night the Orioles beat Boston 3-2 and they had a chance to win another series. But their offense just keeps coming up short and eventually it caught up with this team.

The Orioles (73-67) had a disappointing 4-6 homestand, especially since they started it going 2-0. But they ended it going 2-6.

“Very disappointing, yeah. I thought our guys battled today and Kyle Bradish was great. But you can’t get three hits and expect to win,” said manager Brandon Hyde.

The Orioles are off today and again on Thursday, and they don’t return home until next Monday. They’re 5 ½ games behind for the last wild card after losing back-to-back series.

We live in the present, think ahead to what’s coming and occasionally glance back at the past.

I’m doing all of it simultaneously, which can be dizzying.

There will be two drives into D.C. this week that I dread. The traffic, the 10-mile walk from the parking garage, where media pays over $40, to the ballpark. Followed by the 10-mile walk to the press box, which sits so high that I spend nine innings watching the game on a monitor and dodging airplanes.

At least I’ll get my steps.

Today the Orioles struggling offense met struggling lefty Rich Hill. The veteran southpaw got the better of it, throwing five scoreless innings to frustrate O’s hitters as Boston won the series finale.

The Red Sox got just one run and that was in the first inning, but their pitching made it stand in a 1-0 win at Oriole Park. Hill and four relievers teamed on a three-hitter.

Baltimore (73-67) has lost six of eight games overall and has lost back-to-back home series for the first time since May 31 through June 5 against Seattle and Cleveland. The O's completed a 4-6 homestand that they started 2-0.

The Orioles got an outstanding start from rookie right-hander Kyle Bradish, who allowed just two hits and one run over seven innings. He walked two and fanned three, throwing 93 pitches. But Bradish takes a tough-luck loss and is now 3-6 with an ERA of 5.01.

“Very disappointing, yeah," manager Brandon Hyde said about a losing homestand. "I thought our guys battled today and Kyle Bradish was great. But you can’t get three hits and expect to win.

The Orioles hope the weather forecast allows some time to get today's game in versus the Boston Red Sox with the clubs set to wrap up this three-game weekend series. The O's won 3-2 Friday, limiting Boston to two runs. But they gave up season highs in runs and hits on Saturday in a 17-4 loss.

Today's game begins in a rain delay at the scheduled start time, with hopes that they can get this one in this afternoon.

Update: The game began at 2:17 p.m. after a delay of one hour and 12 minutes at the start.

Saturday's game was the Orioles most lopsided loss of the 2022 season.

Baltimore (73-66) plays Game 140 today, and is five games back of Seattle for the final American League wild card berth. They are 5 1/2 games behind Toronto and six back of Tampa Bay. Those three clubs hold the wild card spots as of today.

Orioles closer Félix Bautista is ready to return to the bullpen rotation. He said he feels good and could have pitched last night. Bautista was not available for Friday’s series-opening game with Boston, manager Brandon Hyde told reporters after that game, due to arm fatigue.

“It was mostly just fatigue. But thankfully I’m feeling a lot better, thank God,” Bautista said this morning with the help of team interpreter Brandon Quinones.

Hyde said before he would use Bautista, he needed to do more pregame throwing today. He wants to see one more throwing session before he puts him back into a game, should they get this game in.

“We’re waiting for the weather to break for him to play catch, so hopefully he’s available,” Hyde said.

Bautista recorded a six-out, 25-pitch save Tuesday against Toronto in his last game. He did some light throwing before yesterday’s game. The rookie is 4-3 with an ERA of 1.62 and 12 saves in 61 innings. His ERA is 1.10 in 16 1/3 innings since Aug. 5. He’s a key player on this club.

The Orioles need to flush yesterday’s 17-4 loss to the Red Sox and get ready for today’s series finale.

They have plenty of water to do it. Rain is in the forecast all day.

The Orioles surrendered 10 runs or more for the eighth time. The 17 runs and 21 hits were both season highs.

Mike Baumann was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk this morning. The Orioles optioned Yennier Canó after his debut with the team yesterday resulted in seven runs, six hits and three walks in 1 2/3 innings.

Baumann started Game 1 of Monday’s doubleheader as the 29^th man. He’s a fresh arm that could provide length if needed behind starter Kyle Bradish.

It was a loss that was damaging to the Orioles' playoff hopes, but aren’t they all at this point?

But a 17-4 loss felt every bit the blowout it was. The Orioles were down four runs in the first, seven runs in the fourth, trailed 10-3 after the fifth and needed outfielder Ryan McKenna to pitch to record the last out in the top of the ninth.

It was bad and then it got worse.

It was the Orioles most lopsided loss of 2022.

But right-hander Jordan Lyles put it in perspective after he allowed a first-inning grand slam and his final line showed eight runs allowed over 3 2/3 innings.

One of the more jarring proclamations that I hear relating to rookie catcher Adley Rutschman is how he’s only going to get better. He isn’t a finished product. He’s just scratching the surface.

He’s left indelible marks.

Rutschman is the ninth player in major league history to record at least 40 extra-base hits and 50 walks in his first 89 career games. He’s the first catcher.

That last part is a doozy.

Think about all of the great catchers who passed our way, the Hall of Famers and others with credentials that warranted inclusion. Rutschman is the first.

During a season where right-hander Jordan Lyles has made numerous good starts for the Orioles – his ERA was 2.72 in his previous seven starts – today was clearly not one. His opponent was the Boston Red Sox. But it seemed it was also the impact of missing his last start due to a stomach virus.

Scheduled to pitch during the doubleheader Monday against Toronto, Lyles warmed up for that Game 1 start but didn’t make it due to his illness. So, he was pitching on nine days’ rest today and rust showed right from the start. So did his lack of normal velocity, which was down right from the start.

After Lyles’ wildness helped Boston load the bases three batters into the game, cleanup hitter Rafael Devers unloaded them with a grand slam into the Boston bullpen. 

The fast start and the Devers' slam led Boston to a blowout win 17-4 over the Orioles, and the game ended with outfielder Ryan McKenna on the mound for Baltimore.

The Orioles fall to 73-66 and have lost five of their past seven games. The Sunday series finale will decide which team wins this series.

With a 3-2 series-opening win on Friday, led by a three-run rally in the sixth and a strong bullpen performance, the Orioles are in position to win another series with a victory either today or tomorrow.

The Orioles (73-65) are four games behind Seattle for the final wild card spot as play begins today. They are 4.5 games back of Toronto and 5.5 behind Tampa Bay after the Rays lost to the Yankees today. New York now holds a 4.5 game lead over Tampa Bay for the AL East lead.

In Friday's win after starter Austin Voth gave up two runs over four innings, five bullpen pitched threw scoreless ball the last five innings for the Orioles. Right-hander Jake Reed got the win and righty Dillon Tate got the last four outs to record his fourth save.

The O's trailed last night 2-0 to the last of the sixth after Xander Bogaerts hit a two-run homer for Boston in the top of the third. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Orioles have won 11 games this season in which they trailed by multiple runs in the sixth inning or later. The only team with more comeback victories of that kind this season is the Cleveland Guardians with 12.

The O's have outscored their opponents 579-564 (+15) this season. They have outscored their opponents 389-331 (+58) in 87 games since June 1 after being outscored 190-233 (-43) in their first 51 games. Baltimore has not had a positive run differential in a season since 2016 (+29).

His closer, right-hander Félix Bautista, was unavailable last night but Orioles manager Brandon Hyde hopes the big man can get back on the mound tonight. Hyde informed reporters after Friday's game that Bautista experienced some arm fatigue. He produced a six-out, 25-pitch save Tuesday against Toronto in his last game.

Bautista did some throwing earlier today to test his arm and Hyde was meeting with reporters as that was happening. So, the manager didn’t have an update on how that went during his pregame interview session.

“Possibly tonight, hopefully tomorrow, if he can’t go tonight,” Hyde said of Bautista’s return to the mound.

They will surely need him for the playoff push. The rookie is 4-3 with an ERA of 1.62 and 12 saves in 61 innings. His ERA is 1.10 in 16 1/3 innings since Aug. 5. He’s a key player on this club.

“Very. Very important,” Hyde said of Bautista. “ He’s been great for us all season long. Pitching in huge spots. So, want to make sure he feels good to pitch.”