From April 21-23, the Orioles swept three straight at home from Detroit, beating the Tigers by a combined 9-3 score. From May 19-21 they swept three at Toronto, outscoring the Blue Jays 20-10. Today they can complete a three-game sweep of Kansas City if they win this afternoon at Oriole Park. 

The Orioles (40-24) have beaten the Royals by 3-2 and 6-1 scores in this series, allowing just thee runs in two games after allowing 23 runs in three games at Kansas City in early May. The Orioles did take two of three then and are 4-1 this year against Kansas City and are 18-6 in their last 24 games at home against the Royals since 2015.

The Orioles are now 14-6-1 in 21 series this season. They did not secure their 14th series win last year until the 31st series, from July 25-28 vs. Tampa Bay. Baltimore didn't win more than 12 series of more than one game in any of the three full seasons from 2018-21 (12-32-8 in 2021, 10-34-8 in 2019, and 9-39-5 in 2018). With the win Saturday, the Orioles became the fourth major league team to reach 40 wins this season. They did not earn their 40th victory last season until their 84th game.

Right-hander Brady Singer needed 39 pitches to get through the bottom of the first inning Saturday, as the Orioles had two hits and three walks and got an RBI double by Anthony Santander and an RBI single by Ryan O’Hearn.

Gunnar Henderson blasted a 408-foot homer to center in the second inning. It was his third in six games and his eighth of the year. Henderson pounced on a first-pitch slider, had two hits on the day and is 5-for-8 in this series.

If you think O’s closer Felix Bautista is having a better season than even last year, when he closed games well for the club late in 2022, you would be right.

His ERA is lower and his strikeout rate is much higher, and he is a pitcher on a tremendous roll right now.

For the year, over 30 games and 31 innings, he is 3-1 with a 1.16 ERA and 17 saves, to rank tied for second in the major leagues. His 18.6 strikeouts per nine innings, up from 12.1 last year, ranks first in the majors among all pitchers throwing at least 20 innings.

Bautista, who has saved each of his last six chances, has fanned 64 of 126 batters he has faced this year. That K percentage of 50.8 ranks in the 100^th percentile, meaning it’s the absolute best in the majors right now. He also ranks in the 100^th percentile in whiff percentage. Hitters that swing at his splitter miss the pitch 59.3 percent of the time. He only throws his slider four percent of the time, but when hitters offer at that pitch they miss 80.0 percent.

He is averaging 99.2 mph on his fastball, up a bit from last year, and he touched 101.1 mph when he got the save Friday in an overpowering performance against Kansas City.

In an attempt to take the first two games of this series, the Orioles sent left-hander Cole Irvin to the mound today. He would have a chance to pitch his team to a win and perhaps to pitch himself back into the starting five in the rotation.

Today he was a big part of doing the first part and probably got the second done as well.

Irvin allowed one run over 5 1/3 innings after entering with an ERA of 10.38, as the Orioles beat Kansas City 6-1 in front of 34,136 at Oriole Park. Baltimore improves to 40-24 on the year, to 4-1 against Kansas City and to 14-6-1 in 21 series.

Irvin got some solid defense behind him in both the infield and outfield and needed 72 pitches, 55 for strikes to get those 16 outs. He allowed six hits and just that one run after giving up six, three and six runs in his early-season starts for the Orioles. That was before he was sent out to the minors where he went 6-1 with a 3.21 ERA in seven Triple-A starts.

Before the game, manager Brandon Hyde said Irvin had “every opportunity” to lock down a rotation spot, adding, “Be nice to have a left-handed starter in our rotation.”

The Orioles won another series opener and the Royals lost another one. And, because of that the Orioles need one win over the next two days to record yet another series win. 

Austin Hays homered and doubled and the O’s got RBIs also from Jorge Mateo and Anthony Santander in Friday’s 3-2 win over Kansas City. The Orioles are now 39-24 and remain 6.5 games back of Tampa Bay, which beat Texas.

The Orioles are 15-6 in series-opening games and 6-4 in such games at home. K.C. falls to 4-17 in the first game of a series.

The Orioles had allowed 23 runs and 36 hits when they played in Kansas City in early May, yet they took two of three in that series. So they are now 3-1 on the year versus the Royals and 12-5 against AL Central teams.

Kansas City (18-45) has lost four in a row, seven of eight scoring 19 runs in that time and is 4-14 in its last 18 games. The Royals are 7-7 in one-run games while the Orioles are 12-7.

Orioles center fielder Cedric Mullins, on the injured list since May 30 with a right groin strain, is in Sarasota, Fla. at the Orioles facility and has just resumed doing some baseball activities, Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said today.

“Sounds like he is progressing very well,” said Hyde, who added there is still no firm timetable for his return to the roster.

The Orioles are 5-4 in nine games without Mullins, who has hit .263/.356/.479/.835 with eight homers, 39 RBIs and 13 steals over 53 games.

Orioles lefty Cole Irvin (0-2, 10.38 ERA) will make his fourth start of the year for the Orioles today facing Kansas City and his first since he gave up six runs over four innings April 13 versus Oakland. The Orioles are hopeful today to see the pitcher they felt they traded for in January. A pitcher who made some progress at Triple-A Norfolk, where he went 6-1 with with a 3.21 ERA, with just four walks to 22 strikeouts over 42 innings.

He has a chance today, said Hyde, to lock down an O’s rotation spot, joining Kyle Gibson, Kyle Bradish, Dean Kremer and Tyler Wells in the starting five.

He had an OPS of .659 at the end of April, but going into the weekend series with Kansas City, rookie Gunnar Henderson’s OPS was up to .732, which put him five percent above the league average OPS for the year. He has certainly made positive strides on offense in recent weeks with an OPS of .790 since May 1 as this weekend began.

Henderson recently made a choice to, in a sense, expand his zone a bit and be more aggressive at times early in the count. Even against a non-strike. It worked for him Thursday at Milwaukee when he got a pitch up in the zone in the eighth-inning off Brewers reliever Peter Strzelecki. It was a fastball that was just out of the strike zone on the first pitch and soon after that ball was just out of the ballpark. A huge go-ahead two-run homer to left he hit 98 mph off the bat.

The blast in Milwaukee was his second go-ahead homer in the seventh inning or later on the road trip.

“Yeah, there are times when I’ve been too passive,” Henderson told me during the road trip. “Just, I’ve had times recently where I’ve been starting to swing earlier in counts if it’s in the area that I want to go and do damage with. That has helped me and if you get contact earlier in the counts, you also limit strikeouts. A big thing has been learning how to be aggressive, but not too aggressive.”

“Definitely boosting it (my confidence) and glad to help the team in that situation. Looking forward to getting everything rolling again.

Riding some momentum with their latest comeback win on Thursday at Milwaukee, the Orioles open their next homestand tonight at Camden Yards, hosting Kansas City and Toronto for three games each.

The Orioles are 0-2-1 their past three home series, splitting four games with the Los Angeles Angels and losing two of three each to Texas and Cleveland. So, while they are 17-12 at home for the season, they are 4-6 in the three most recent series at Oriole Park.

But the team produced its 21^st comeback win yesterday. They were down 3-0 going into the seventh and scored once that inning, three times in the eighth and twice in the ninth to beat the Brewers, 6-3. Ramón Urías hit a solo homer to right to get the Orioles on the board in the seventh. Anthony Santander’s RBI double in the eighth ended an 0-for-25 slump and was his first hit of the road trip. Then Gunnar Henderson hit a two-run homer to left to give Baltimore a 4-3 lead. It was his second go-ahead homer in the late innings on the road trip, and his seventh on the year. Eleven of Henderson's last 20 hits are extra-base hits. Adam Frazier’s two-run double in the ninth completed the scoring and provided insurance runs.

The O’s offense broke out after scoring three runs or fewer in nine of the previous 12 games. They had scored just five runs the first two games in Milwaukee, and just 16 in the five games at San Francisco and Milwaukee.

The Orioles are now 1-3 their past four series, going 5-7 in 12 games since their 5-1 road trip to Toronto and New York.

With the Orioles now for the third time this year, lefty Cole Irvin will make his fourth O’s start tomorrow - his first in the big leagues since April 13 - when the Orioles host Kansas City on Saturday. 

He will, at least for one day, rejoin the rotation and, maybe if it goes well, stick around in the starting five. He began this year 0-2 with a 10.66 ERA in three starts before he was optioned to the minors April 14. He was back from May 16-21, but got into just one game, getting one out on just seven pitches for the Orioles.

But after going 6-1 with a 3.21 ERA in seven starts for Triple-A Norfolk, Irvin is back on the mound tomorrow afternoon for the Orioles.

“I’m ready, I’m prepared,” he said in the clubhouse this afternoon. “I’ve fixed some things I needed to fix. Eliminated some walks, so now it’s just about getting out there tomorrow and putting in a good effort to get a win for this ballclub.”

With the Tides he pitched 42 innings, striking out 22 while allowing just four walks and 1.048 WHIP. In those first three starts with Baltimore he walked eight in 12 2/3 innings.

Once again this year the Orioles are fielding two teams in the rookie-level Dominican Summer League. They are the DSL Orioles Orange team and the DSL Orioles Black team. Play in the DSL began on Monday of this week.

Through the early part of the year, the Black squad is 2-1 and the Orange team is 1-2 after Thursday's games.

Infielder Luis Almeyda, who got a $2.3 million dollar bonus, the largest ever given out by the Orioles last January, is playing on the Orange roster. Thus far he is 2-for-7 with a double, homer and four RBIs. Infielder Joshua Liranzo, who got the second largest bonus in January at $500,000, is on the Black squad. Infielder José Mejía, signed for $400,000 is on the Black roster and infielder Félix Amparo, signed for $350,000, plays for the Black roster.

DSL ORIOLES ORANGE

Pitchers: Ezequiel Bonilla, Eccel Correa, Francisco Crispin, Esteban Dicent, Cesar Espinal, Pedro Figueroa, Javier Gonzalez, Ledwin Gonzalez, Elias Moscoso, Andrés Parra, Juan Rasquin, Geronimo Rombley, Wilton Rondon, Rafael Suero, Kevin Velasco, Jose Yan.

Only once this year did the Orioles lose the first two games of a three-game series and that was May 26-27 versus Texas, but they did win the series finale to avoid a sweep. They need to do that again today or they will be swept by an opponent for the first time in 2023.

The last time they were swept in a series of two or more games was by Detroit on May 13-15, 2022 on the road.

Milwaukee has posted wins by 4-3 in 10 innings and 10-2 to leave the Orioles at 37-24 overall and 2-3 on their road trip that ends today.  The Orioles have their third road series loss of the season and are now 8-3 in road series. They remain in second place in the AL East, but are now 6.5 games back of Tampa Bay and just 1.5 games up on the New York Yankees, who reside in third in the division.

Even with a recent downturn by the offense, the Orioles remain with the sixth-best team OPS in the American League at .731 and they rank fourth in the AL in runs per game at 4.87.

But here were the O’s offensive numbers through their first 49 games: They batted .253/.330/.427/.757 and scored 5.18 runs per game.

Young Jackson Holliday played his first game for High-A Aberdeen on April 25, moving up from Low Single-A Delmarva after producing an OPS of 1.182 in 14 games there.

It was fast, but not unexpected from the player that is so skilled, has such a strong background in the game and was taken No. 1 overall in the 2022 MLB Draft.

But it was a few weeks after that promotion, that Holliday’s immense talent was on full display. On May 16-17 at Winston-Salem, he went 8-for-9 over a two-game stretch with two doubles, three triples, a homer and 11 RBIs for the IronBirds.

It was a stunning two-game display.

“It was like watching 'MLB: The Show,'” Aberdeen manager Roberto Mercado told me this week of those games for the IronBirds. “Talk about hitting the ball all over the park and he was hitting the ball with power too. Along with that he was and has been playing great defense and has a great baseball IQ. All season he has played really, really well.”

The Orioles lost the opening game of a series five times in the month of May. They would win two of those series, lose two and split a four-game set against the Los Angeles Angels.

Last night’s 4-3 loss in 10 innings at Milwaukee was their sixth series-opening loss in the last nine such games. In May, the Orioles lost the series opener to both Tampa Bay and the New York Yankees, but won the last two games to take those series. They lost series openers – and later the series itself – against Texas and Cleveland.

They hit the 60-game mark last night, going 37-23, and now have 102 games remaining in the 2023 regular season. With a .617 win percentage, they hold the third-best record in MLB and are playing at a pace to win 100 games over a full year.

O's pitchers struck out a season-high 16 batters Tuesday night, their most since also fanning 16 in nine innings on Sept. 20, 2020 vs. Tampa Bay. The O’s staff, at 9.26 strikeouts per nine innings, ranks fifth in the American League in K rate behind Houston (9.67), Toronto (9.61), Minnesota (9.56) and the Chicago White Sox (9.47).

Outfielder Aaron Hicks hit a two-run home run in the second inning to tie the game, his first since joining the O's. He’s reached safely in each of his first five games with Baltimore and has hit safely in four of them, batting .400/.500/.733 (6- for-15) with one triple, one home run, five runs scored, three RBIs and three walks with two multi-hit efforts.

Many hitters are in trouble when the count reaches two strikes against most big league pitchers. At that point, that pitcher has done a lot of the heavy lifting to get ahead and now tries to execute a put away pitch to end the at-bat, either with weak contact or with a strikeout.

Among all Orioles players, catcher Adley Rutschman is the best hitter in two-strike count situations, batting .267. That doesn’t mean just 0-2 but 1-2 or any count with two strikes. That may not sound that a great number but .267 ranks as tied for the best in the American League in such spots. Among all MLB hitters it is tied for sixth-best. Miami’s Luis Arráez leads all hitters batting .304 with two-strike counts. Rutschman’s OPS in such spots is .713, to rank ninth-best in the AL.

Rutschman has a batting average of .273 when the count is specifically 0-2 and .310 when the count is at 1-2.

He has a strong, as they call it, “two-strike approach.”

“It is definitely unique and it’s incredibly advanced,” manager Brandon Hyde said in San Francisco of Rutschman’s two-strike batting. “And for someone that has played a year in the big leagues to have that sort of confidence and bat-to-ball skills (is impressive). With no press in his game, he is just super relaxed and he understands the strikezone so well. He has so much confidence in his hands, that’s why he shows so many two strike handsy swings, handsy hits to left field.”

With a 20-10 road record on the year, the Orioles open a series at Milwaukee tonight looking for yet another series win and another road series win.

On the season, the Orioles are 13-5-1 in series play and they are 8-2 in road series. They lost their first road series of the season at Boston and have lost just one road series since then, at Atlanta. Since losing that series to the Braves they have won their past three road series at Toronto, New York and San Francisco, going 7-2 in the last nine road games.

According to Stats Perform, the Orioles’ 20 road wins in their first 30 away games ties for the second-most ever by an O’s club in the first 30 road contests. It trails only the 1969 club that won 23 of its first 30 on the road.

The American League East as the Milwaukee series begins:

* Tampa Bay, 43-19 (.694)

Just looking at the stat will probably not impress anyone. The Orioles' starting rotation ERA for the year of 4.78 ranks only 12^th best in the American League. And 24^th in all of MLB. So, there is room for improvement.

But in recent weeks we have seen some of that improvement which creates some hope that the next 103 games for that rotation can be better than the first 59.

And that is because they’ve pitched better in the last 25 games from their rotation - much better. The O’s rotation ERA in that span is 4.00. An ERA for the year of 4.00 would rank sixth-best in the AL. In those 25 games – where the club is 15-10 – the Orioles have 11 quality starts. That is a QS in 44 percent of those games for about the last month. In that span they won series from Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, Toronto, the New York Yankees and San Francisco.

O’s pitching allowed just six runs in three games versus Tampa Bay, seven runs against Pittsburgh, 10 runs in the three-game sweep at Toronto, 13 runs versus the Yankees and nine at San Francisco. They didn’t outslug those teams while beating them, they pitched them well. And the starters had a lot to do with that.

In the season’s first 34 games, before this 25-game run, Baltimore pitchers produced only seven quality starts with an ERA of 5.39. They got a QS 20.6 percent as opposed to 44 percent now in the last 25 contests.

Today is Opening Day for the rookie-level Florida Complex League. The O’s FCL squad opens at home in Sarasota at Ed Smith Stadium at Noon against the FCL Red Sox.

The Orioles’ year-round baseball operations continue again this summer with the play of the FCL Orioles. The FCL O’s are scheduled to play 28 home games between today and Aug. 22, with potential playoffs from Aug. 25-27. The FCL, which includes 16 teams, gives recently drafted or signed players their first experience in professional baseball.

Home games begin at 12:00 p.m. ET, Monday-Friday, and at 10:00 a.m. on Saturdays with a few exceptions. For fans in Florida going to the games, there is no cost to attend and the games will be held on the Main Field.

Fans may enter through the Left Field gate 30 minutes before first pitch, unless otherwise noted. Free parking is available in the East Lot at the corner of 12^th Street and Tuttle Avenue. Concession stands will be closed. Game times and locations are subject to change without notice due to weather and field conditions.

Orioles FCL roster as of June 5:

SAN FRANCISCO – When the series began on Friday the Orioles had lost back-to-back series for the first time all year. Their pitching staff had gotten torched for 12 runs on Wednesday versus Cleveland with the bullpen giving up 11 runs.

But during a weekend where they faced a San Francisco Giants team that had won four of its last five series and was 11-5 over the previous 16 games, the Orioles took two of three from the Giants.

Their pitching staff restored some order even as they played three more games without Cedric Mullins and the last 15 innings of the series without Gunnar Henderson, who left Saturday’s game with lower back discomfort. The good news there is that manager Brandon Hyde said Sunday he was doing better and he seemed confident Henderson could play in the Milwaukee series that begins tomorrow night.

O’s pitching gave up two, four and three runs in the series at Oracle Park, allowing nine runs on 21 hits in the games with 10 walks to 34 strikeouts.

Right-hander Tyler Wells set a career high with nine strikeouts Sunday, but all the Ks also helped escalate his pitch count and he left the game after 5 1/3 innings throwing 102 pitches. Mike Baumann, Yennier Cano and Austin Voth covered the last 3 2/3 allowing a hit and a run.

SAN FRANCISCO – In the first two games of this series at Oracle Park – where they had gone 1-1 – the Orioles scored just three runs on nine hits versus the San Francisco Giants. They scored in just two of their 18 innings at bat in those games and were scoreless going into the third inning today.

But suddenly the runs came in a bunch. The Orioles scored six times on four hits, three walks and an error in the top of the third as they beat the Giants 8-3 to record another series victory and get their two-city road trip off to a winning start.

Now 37-22 overall and 20-10 on the road, the Orioles improved to 6-4 in rubber-match games. They also improved to 13-5-1 in 19 series. They didn’t secure their 13^th series win last year until their 28^th series, on July 13.

The O’s big third inning began with catcher James McCann drawing a six-pitch walk off the Giants' starter, right-hander Anthony DeSclafani, who had walked nine over 67 1/3 innings coming into this outing. McCann advanced to third on Jorge Mateo’s double, just his second extra-base hit (both doubles) his last 24 games. Adam Frazier’s sac fly to center made it a 1-0 lead.

Adley Rutschman kept the rally going with an infield hit, his 11th infield hit of the year. Anthony Santander popped out, but Austin Hays flared a single into right field for a 2-0 lead. An Aaron Hicks walk loaded the bases and when Ryan Mountcastle walked on four pitches, the O’s lead was 3-0.

SAN FRANCISCO - The Orioles and Giants have exchanged victories in the first two games of this weekend series. The Orioles won 3-2 Friday and were held to five hits in last night's 4-0 loss.

Former O's right-hander Alex Cobb went 7 2/3 innings, allowing five hits with no walks and seven strikeouts on 103 pitches. He is now 5-2 with a 2.71 ERA.

This was the second-longest outing of the year for Cobb, who has a 1.43 ERA at Oracle Park, the fourth-lowest home ERA in the major leagues. In his last four starts versus the Orioles he is 4-0 with a 1.59 ERA. 

The Orioles have scored just three runs, going 9-for-61 in this series with three doubles and one home run. They have scored three runs or fewer in seven of the past nine games.

A loss today would give the Orioles three consecutive series losses for the first time this year. They are 3-5 the last eight games and 10-9 over their past 19. They are 19-10 on the road and 11-5 in their past 16 away from Oriole Park.

SAN FRANCISCO – Orioles infielder Gunnar Henderson exited last night’s game in the third inning with lower back discomfort, but the club is confident he will not need to go on the injured list. He is not starting today, but manager Brandon Hyde did not rule out the chance he could play in the game.

“He is feeling better today,” Hyde said pregame. “So, getting treatment right now. Little bit unsure if he’s available off the bench or not. Off-day will do him good tomorrow and we should see him back in there against Milwaukee.

“We are confident (it’s not an IL situation). He is definitely trending better from last night. Waiting to see if he can even go today.”

With Henderson not starting, Josh Lester will make his O’s debut today against the Giants, batting seventh and playing at third base. He hit .282/.339/.549 with nine doubles, two triples, 14 home runs and 50 RBIs in 52 games with Triple-A Norfolk. His second and last major league game was Sept. 6, 2022 with the Tigers in Anaheim. He is 0-for-5 as a big leaguer.

“Gunnar would have been in there today if he could go. But it does give Josh an opportunity to start here, and (Anthony) DeSclafani’s splits against righties and lefties are pretty significant. So Josh will start, and let’s see if he can deliver a couple of hits for us," Hyde said.