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Jun 28, 2009 - 4:54 AM By MIKE LIPKA STATS Writer

Washington (21-50) at Baltimore (33-40), 1:35 p.m. EDT

The Baltimore Orioles probably aren't thrilled to reach the end of interleague play on Sunday, if only because they won't find any more matchups with their regional rivals on the schedule.

A visit from the woeful Washington Nationals has already provided the perfect way for Baltimore to end a losing streak, and now the Orioles will go for a three-game sweep to cap this year's Beltway Series.

Baltimore (34-40) is the only sub-.500 team in the AL East, and the team will find a difficult return to division play Monday against first-place Boston, but playing in the toughest division in baseball has helped the Orioles fully enjoy their interleague slate.

They are 11-6 against the NL, including a 4-1 mark against the lowly Nationals. They had lost three straight at Florida to close their road trip this week, but they've racked up 17 runs and 26 hits while winning the first two games against Washington.

Nolan Reimold's three-run home run was the key hit in Saturday's 6-3 win, as Baltimore's bullpen pitched four shutout innings. Orioles relievers have thrown seven innings in the series without allowing a run.

Matt Albers came in with the bases loaded and no outs in the sixth inning Saturday and managed to escape unscathed to preserve a one-run lead.

The team may need more help from the bullpen Sunday. Koji Uehara had been scheduled to start for the Orioles, but the 34-year-old Japanese rookie will instead begin his second stint on the disabled list - this time due to a strained pitching elbow.

"I talked to Koji (Saturday). This guy, he feels like he's let me down, he feels like he's let us down," Orioles manager Dave Trembley said. "I had to tell him that's not the case. There's a lot of baseball to be played, there's the whole second half of the season to be played."

David Hernandez (1-1, 3.95 ERA) will be recalled from Triple-A Norfolk to replace him. Hernandez made his major league debut the last time Uehara was on the DL, beating Detroit with 5 2-3 strong innings May 28.

He made a total of two starts and one relief appearance for Baltimore, with opponents hitting .328 against him.

Washington will counter with John Lannan, the lone non-rookie in its rotation - and a major bright spot lately. The 24-year-old left-hander is 2-0 with a 1.82 ERA in his last four starts, although he did not get a victory after allowing three runs in 6 1-3 innings of the Nationals' 11-3 loss to Boston on Tuesday.

"He threw 109 pitches," Nationals manager Manny Acta told his team's official Web site. "We have to take care of this kid."

This will be the first start for Lannan (4-5, 3.44) against Baltimore this year after he went 1-1 in the Beltway Series last season. He pitched 7 1-3 strong innings in the Nationals' 2-1 win at Camden Yards on May 18, 2008.

Victories this year have been rare for Washington, which remains the worst team in the majors. The Nationals (21-51) are 10-30 since May 15 and will need a win Sunday to avoid falling a season-worst 31 games under .500.

They've also dropped five of their last six, with their young staff compiling a 7.62 ERA and .324 opponent batting average over that span.