BALTIMORE -- That Saturday wasn’t officially turn-back-the-clock night at Oriole Park didn’t preclude the evening from exuding a mid-2010s feel. Max Scherzer’s late scratch instead pinned Nationals lefty Jon Lester against Matt Harvey, creating a rematch of Game 1 of the 2015 NLCS, when both were among baseball’s elite starters and Harvey outpitched Lester (then on the Cubs) for the World Series-bound Mets. The atmosphere too, felt relatively October-ish, with a season-high 30,898 fans descending on Camden Yards for the penultimate game of 2021’s Battle of the Beltways.

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Such was the evening narrative at least, until Harvey justified it on the field. Allowing just one hit over six shutout innings in his most dominant start in years, Harvey outpitched Lester again to lead the Orioles to a 5-3 victory over the Nats, his longtime former foe in the National League East. The veteran right-hander has now logged 12 consecutive scoreless innings since the All-Star break, after pitching to a 7.70 ERA in the first half.

“I think the All-Star break really gave him a nice little recharge in the batteries,” O’s manager Brandon Hyde said. “The last four years or so have been a lot of sporadic outings, injuries, etc., then he didn’t pitch much last year at all ... Given the nice nine-to-10 day break really helped. You saw some [95 mph] fastballs early in the game. The slider and the curve were effective. He had a good fastball all the way through.”

Staked to an early lead on solo home runs from Trey Mancini and Ryan Mountcastle, Harvey spent the evening looking like something akin to vintage Harvey, retiring 18 of the 19 batters he faced while striking out four without a walk. The only baserunner he allowed came on Trea Turner's one-out double in the fourth. Austin Hays’ run-scoring double chased Lester in the sixth, when the Orioles tacked on three insurance runs. They proved key when Washington threatened against Tanner Scott in the seventh. The left-hander, a trade candidate heading into the July 30 Deadline, coughed up two runs but avoided further damage by retiring Juan Soto, before Dillon Tate worked the ninth for his second career save.

“[Scott] made the pitch of the game getting Soto out,” Hyde said. “The hit to Trea [Turner] was disappointing, as well as hitting two guys on the foot. Soto is a top-five player in this game, incredibly dangerous, and one of the hottest hitters in the game too. To pop him up in a big spot shows a lot about Tanner.”

For any team eyeing Scott ahead of the Deadline (and several undoubtedly) are, the past week displayed the full breadth of what he would bring to a bullpen. Scott struggled with command while blowing his first save opportunity of the season on Wednesday in Tampa, struck out two over 1 1/3 dominant innings on Friday, and on Saturday whiffed two, hit two batters and won a battle against one of baseball’s best hitters to narrowly avoid calamity. That ability is among the reasons why he’s among the likeliest Orioles to be shopped before the Deadline, along with fellow left-handed reliever Paul Fry.

“He’s not going to be perfect,” Hyde said. “We all know he has electric stuff, the fastball upper 90s, wipeout slider, and at times he can be a little erratic. Sometimes you need to ride the wave a little bit.”

Is Harvey a trade candidate too, after all? The idea seemed implausible just two weeks ago. Now? At least marginally more likely, with so many contenders in need of rotation help and bulk relief depth, and Harvey pitching well. He could profile as both, though Harvey bristled at the notion of relieving earlier this season, even as his ERA soared into the 7s and he admitted to feeling first-half fatigue. He looks rejuvenated now, having pitched consecutive scoreless starts for the first time since Aug. 2015, both of six innings.

His victory on Saturday was his first against the Nationals since May 2015, a string of 13 appearances (12 starts) vs. Washington. It also marked Harvey’s first start of six shutout innings and one hit or fewer since May 7, 2013, against the White Sox as a member of the Mets. Asked when he last felt this locked in on the mound, Harvey said, “It’s definitely been a couple of years.” He also acknowledged the extremely small sample. Whether it’s enough to make teams come calling next week remains to be seen.

“My job is to go out and prepare for each start and see what happens,” Harvey said. “I haven’t put up very good numbers, except for the previous two starts, to really be a target. But at the end of the day, those decisions aren’t mine, so I can’t worry about them.”