Slumping Nationals, Orioles in need of offensive spark

Two struggling teams meet when the Washington Nationals visit the Baltimore Orioles for a three-game interleague series.

The matchup between Mid-Atlantic neighbors begins Friday night.

“My head’s kind of down, and trying to get some wins,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said of trying to avoid negativity. “When you’re struggling, you tend to not read or watch as much as normal. … But the focus is really on our club.”

Both teams have been miserable offensively.

The Orioles, losers of nine of their last 11, were swept in three home games by the Minnesota Twins, including Thursday’s 4-0 result.

“It’s not fun,” Baltimore first baseman Ryan O’Hearn said. “Nobody in here is having a good time, and I promise you nobody cares more than the guys in this clubhouse. With that being said, we have to keep fighting. There is no other option.”

Baltimore scored in only two innings during the series vs. Minnesota. The Orioles have been blanked six times this season.

“A lot of our guys are in between right now – late on fastballs, in front of offspeed,” Hyde said. “That’s a tough combo. We’re having a tough time getting hits, a tough time just getting on base.”

The Nationals have dropped eight of their last nine, including three of four this week in Atlanta. Washington lost 5-2 on Thursday.

Baltimore and Washington are trying to come up with something to build on. For the Nationals, it could develop from being competitive against the surging Braves.

“We’re going to see the positives that we can from this series and take it into Baltimore knowing what we need to do,” Washington pitcher Trevor Williams said.

The Nationals have scored more than two runs only twice in their last seven games.

Almost any of the numbers for the Nationals are discouraging. They had 10 consecutive batters retired during a stretch Thursday, while they went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

Washington won two of three games last month against the Orioles.

For Baltimore, left-hander Cade Povich (1-3, 5.55 ERA) will make his eighth start of the season and first since May 6. In that outing, he gave up five runs on six hits over six innings in a 9-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins.

In his only career start against Washington, Povich picked up a 2-1 win on April 24 with 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball with five strikeouts and one walk.

The Nationals will go with left-hander MacKenzie Gore (2-4, 3.59), who’s winless in his last four starts. He has struck out at least six in each of his last seven outings.

Gore opposed Povich last month and threw six innings of two-run ball but took the loss. He’s 0-2 with a 3.75 ERA in two outings against the Orioles across his four-season career.

Washington’s lineup has been impacted this week because infielder Luis Garcia Jr. has been on the paternity list. Garcia is expected to return for the series against Baltimore.

With Garcia away from the team, manager Dave Martinez has juggled the position of the infielders this week, including Jose Tena.

“I know I’m going to play a little bit more third here on this team,” Tena said. “But I also need to play second. But my main focus is going to be playing third.”

–Field Level Media