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With just a month remaining in the 2019 season, these Orioles can only have so much influence on a playoff race from which they were officially eliminated last week. It’s back to the role of “spoiler,” something that the organization had become familiar with during the years of darkness from 1997 until 2012. And there is perhaps no club that it would be more fun to spoil things for than the Washington Nationals.
There is no real rivalry between these two teams on the field. They simply don’t play often enough or in games that mean much of anything for something to organically develop. But the two fan bases do have an animosity towards one another. Whether it is a result of geographically proximity or the very public court dispute that is taking place over MASN TV rights, whatever the case, it is a very real thing.
No matter what the Orioles do in this series, the odds are in the Nationals’ favor to make it to the postseason with what is, once again, a very talented roster. But if the O’s could serve as even a mini speed bump, that would be good enough for a night or two of enjoyment.
Orioles lineup
- Hanser Alberto, 3B
- Trey Mancini, RF
- Anthony Santander, LF
- Renato Nunez, 1B
- Jonathan Villar, 2B
- Pedro Severino, C
- Stevie Wilkerson, CF
- Richie Martin, SS
- Aaron Brooks, RHP
Nationals lineup
- Trea Turner, SS
- Adam Eaton, RF
- Anthony Rendon, 3B
- Juan Soto, LF
- Asdrubal Cabrera, 2B
- Matt Adams, 1B
- Victor Robles, CF
- Yan Gomes, C
- Patrick Corbin, LHP