The Orioles return to Baltimore this weekend as frustrating and confounding as ever, with the team returning home after their West Coast road trip. When the O’s left for their three-series West Coast swing against the Mariners, Dodgers and Angels, they were five games under .500 and two games out of a Wild Card spot. They now return to Baltimore six games under .500 and still two games out of the final AL playoff spot.
The O’s next chance at trying (and likely failing) to build some positive momentum
comes against their local rivals, the Nationals. The DC ball club comes into this series in a similar position as the Orioles. Sure, they’re actually at .500, but a stacked National League currently has the Nats 3 games outside the NL playoff picture.
This will be the second Battle of the Beltways this season, with the Orioles dropping two out of three in DC back in the middle of May. That series served as a concise example of the frustrating reality of the 2026 Orioles.
In Game 1, the O’s lost 3-2 in a game that saw them fail to take advantage of a starting pitcher with a 6.00+ ERA and where they didn’t score until the 9th inning. Game 2 was a different type of embarrassing loss, where a seven-run 7th inning turned a 4-3 close game into a 13-3 blowout. Game 3 was a completely different story, as the offense came alive from the first inning, raced out to an early 6-2 lead, and coasted to a 7-3 win behind a strong performance from Brandon Young and the bullpen.
Since that game, both teams have hovered around .500, struggling to get a foothold in either league’s playoff race. The O’s are 17-18 in the month-plus since their last meeting with the Nats, and have never gotten closer to .500 than two games under. The Nationals are 18-17 in their 35 games since facing the O’s, at one point getting to four games above .500, but have lost [five/six] of their last eight.
The good news for Birdland is that the Orioles have typically found success against the Nationals in Camden Yards. Prior to last season, the O’s were 9-5 against the Nats at Camden Yards in the Mike Elias era. However, the Nationals did sweep the Orioles in Camden Yards last May, with the first game of that series being the last game of Brandon Hyde’s tenure in Baltimore. The O’s will need to return the favor this year if they want to finish the season with a winning record against their National League neighbors.
Game 1, Friday, June 26th, 7:05pm ET
Probable pitchers: LHP Trevor Rogers (4-7, 5.30 ERA, 54 K) vs. TBD
Where to watch: MASN/MASN+
Trevor Rogers is the starting pitcher whose best epitomised the maddening lack of consistency from the Orioles, but glimpses of 2025 Trevor Rogers have started to peek through the cracks in June. After posting a 10.31 ERA in 18.1 innings across four starts in May, Rogers is rounding back into ace form this month. Across his last four outings, he has an ERA of 2.22, is averaging just over six innings per start and is holding opposing hitters to a .195 average. His most recent outing, in Dodger Stadium, was the best of his 2026 campaign, as he held the two-time defending champions to one hit and two walks over seven scoreless innings.
Rogers only has one career appearance against the Nationals as a member of the Orioles, back in 2024. In his third start after coming over from the Marlins, the Nats battered Rogers to the tune of 5 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 2 BB and 2 K.
In 10 career starts against Washington as a member of the Marlins, Rogers was typically good, putting up a 3.35 ERA with a .234 BAA. That past success may not matter this season, though, as the Nationals have also crushed left-handed pitching this season. Washington leads the MLB with a .274 average and .793 OPS vs. southpaws, though that OPS drops to .752 against left-handed starters.
While the Nationals hadn’t announced their starters yet at the time of writing, left-hander Andrew Alvarez should make his first career start vs. Baltimore. The 27-year-old lefty out of Cal Poly relies heavily on his two breaking balls, throwing his curveball and slider a combined 47% of the time. Any time a lefty is on the mound, it presents a good matchup for 3B Coby Mayo. The 24-year-old has a 1.111 OPS vs. LHPs and is one of the best hitters in baseball against southpaws.
Game 2, Saturday, June 27th, 7:05pm ET
Probable pitchers: RHP Brandong Young (6-2, 3.07 ERA, 49 K) vs. TBD
Where to watch: MASN/MASN+
This season, Brandon Young has held a similar role to 2025 Trevor Roger: the pitcher that seemingly comes out of nowhere to become the most consistent pitcher in the Orioles rotation. After making an abbreviated start against the Nats back in May, Young has been the model of consistency for Baltimore. In six outings since, the 27-year-old Texan has five quality starts, a 2.15 ERA, a .219 BAA and is averaging 6.1 IP per start.
And like Rogers last year, a Brandon Young start has usually meant a guaranteed win for the O’s. Baltimore is 10-2 in games started by BY this season, 5-1 at Camden Yards and is on a four-game win streak when Young takes the mound at home.
It will be a matchup of strength vs. strength in Young vs. the Nats upstart offense. The Orioles starter’s four-seam fastball has been one of the best heaters in all of baseball this season, as it ranks ninth in Run Value and 16th in BAA among 212 qualified pitchers. However, Nationals stars CJ Abrams and James Wood have both crushed fastballs this year, ranking third and 14th, respectively, in Run Value produced against four-seamers.
The Nats should counter Young with journeyman right-hander Foster Griffin. The 30-year-old spent the last three years in Japan and is now enjoying the first extended run of his Major League career. Prior to going to Japan, Griffin had a 6.75 ERA in eight career MLB innings. This season with Washington, Griffin has a 3.15 ERA in 91.1 innings and leads all Nats pitchers with a 2.3 bWAR. The soft-tossing lefty has led with his cutter most of the year, but features a true seven-pitch mix.
Game 3, Sunday, June 28th, 1:35pm ET
Probable pitchers: RHP Kyle Bradish (5-7, 3.64 ERA, 94 K) vs. TBD
Where to watch: MASN/MASN+
While Kyle Bradish hasn’t been as consistent as Rogers or Young in June, the Orioles’ former ace comes into Sunday’s start off the best back-to-back starts of his career. Nine days ago in Seattle, Bradish delivered his best start of the season (up until then), posting a line of 7.2 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB and 12 Ks–with the 12 strikeouts setting a new career-high for the 29-year-old.
He then went out and one-upped himself in his start against the Dodgers, pitching eight shutout innings with nine Ks against the defending champs. The past two starts marked the first time in Bradish’s career that he’s pitched into the 8th inning in back-to-back outings.
Sunday will mark the first time Bradish has faced off against the Nationals since before his elbow injury in 2024. In his second start of the 2024 season, he held the Nats to one run on four hits over five innings with nine Ks. It was the first time he’d allowed a run against Washington, as he previously combined for 14 innings of shutout baseball across two starts vs. the Nationals in 2023.
To oppose Bradish, the Nats could turn to former Ray Zack Littell or turn Sunday into a bullpen game. Littell pitched well against the Orioles back in May, holding the O’s scoreless over five innings while only allowing two hits. Washington has used Littell four times this season as the follower to an opener, including his most recent appearances against the Phillies–when he allowed two runs over four innings in a 14-9 loss.
Let us know in the comments whether the O’s can even the score against the Nationals or whether it’ll be another disappointing series of Orioles’ baseball this weekend.
