The Orioles’ interleague regional rivals make their way to Baltimore this weekend after the Nationals swept all three games in D.C. earlier this season. Washington enters play 45-50 and six games out in the NL East, and as Mark Brown pointed out in the series preview, the outcome of these next three games may well help determine whether the Nats become buyers or sellers at next week’s trade deadline.
The Nationals have plenty to play for. The Orioles? Not so much. It’s just another three games on the schedule as they continue their inexorable slog to the end of a dismal season.