The Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals are playing live on the MLB schedule for an interleague rivalry series down in the DC area and the matchup has Chris Tillman taking on Stephen Strasburg at 7:05 pm Et from Nationals Park and the game has both teams looking to stay in playoff contention in the east divisions as the All-Star break gets closer.
Both teams come into the game with 48 wins this season and the Orioles now are in first place in the Al East for the time being ahead of the Blue Jays and Yankees. The Orioles are looking to get back to the playoffs after missing out last season and Nelson Cruz comes in playing very well along with Adam Jones, as both were named all-stars this year. Matt Wieters was also voted in as a starter, but he is injured and will not play, while Edwin Encarnacion is also on the mend and he was replaced by Kyle Seager, who is fully deserving to go to the game and should have been named in the first place.
The Orioles come into the game after a win on the road against the Red Sox and now they are putting Boston down and out of the division race, while the team now faces the Nationals. The game on Tuesday has Bud Norris against Doug Fister and the O's are starting to play very well and they are now first in the division and if they can pull away, they can leave the other teams to deal with the wild card. The signing of Cruz has been masterful and the team is ranked in the top 10 in runs, batting average and slugging percentage and the pitching has been up and down all season and that is one area where the team may try to trade.
The Nationals come into the game after winning over the Cubs and they are second in the AL East after the Braves started their 10 game winning streak. The team is ranked 16th in runs scored and 17th in both on base and slugging percentage and they are starting to put the Mets way back in the division and wild card race. The pitching has been much better and they are currently first in the league in ERA and sixth in quality starts and fifth in WHIP. These two teams could be playoff bound in the AL and NL this season.
Check here for the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals live coverage from MLB.