BALTIMORE _ There is something about the annual interleague rivalry series against the Washington Nationals that brings out the best in the Orioles.
They have a 19-11 all-time record against the Nationals at Orioles Park and also have won more than they've lost in the nation's capital since the former Montreal Expos moved into the Mid-Atlantic region.
So, maybe we shouldn't be surprised that the slumping Orioles suddenly woke up and swept the home half of the two-here, two-there series with an uplifting 8-1 victory over the first-place Nationals before 26,697 at Camden Yards.
Who knows what happens when the split series moves to Nationals Park, but the Orioles really needed to change the narrative after the way they were pushed around by the Red Sox and Astros during the first six games of this homestand.
Kevin Gausman pitched six scoreless innings, and the Orioles offense touched up hard-throwing rookie Reynaldo Lopez for six runs (four earned) in just 2 2/3 innings.
Adam Jones led the way with a four-hit performance at the top of the lineup and every Orioles hitter had reached base by the sixth inning.
Lopez never got a chance to get comfortable. Jones opened the Orioles' half of the first inning with a long at-bat that resulted in a hard bouncer through the middle, and Mark Trumbo hit a two-out line drive to left field to give O's a quick lead.
The Orioles added two runs in the second on an RBI double by Matt Wieters and a run-scoring infield single by Jones, then put three runs on the board in the third. The big blow in that inning wasn't a big blow at all. It was a two-out bouncer to second by J.J. Hardy that glanced off the glove of Daniel Murphy and brought home two runs.
Gausman gave up six hits _ four of them by leadoff hitter Trea Turner. But Turner's big night at the plate was blunted by a strange night on the bases. He twice had stolen bases taken away on a night when Orioles manager Buck Showalter made three successful video challenges _ something that has happened only two other times in the majors this year.
