Trying to build some momentum off last night's 7-5 win, the Orioles host Houston this afternoon in Game 3 of the four-game, weekend series.

Baltimore was down 5-2 in the eighth Friday night when Anthony Santander hit a go-ahead grand slam. They won to improve to 75-55 and stay within 1 1/2 games of first place New York. The O's hold the first American League wild card spot, leading Kansas City by two games and Minnesota by three.

Santander’s blast was the first go-ahead grand slam by an Oriole in the eighth inning or later since Pedro Álvarez did so on April 6, 2018 in Yankee Stadium (in the 14th, with the score tied 3-3). It was the first when trailing in the eighth or later since Manny Machado on Aug. 18, 2017 versus the Angels (9th, down 7-5), and the first when down by three runs in the eighth inning or later since Luke Scott on May 13, 2010 against Seattle (8th, down 5-2).

Right-hander Albert Suárez (6-4, 3.18 ERA), a pitcher who has thrown three straight scoreless starts, gets the ball today riding that scoreless run.

Over games versus Toronto, Tampa Bay and Boston he has thrown 17 2/3 scoreless allowing 13 hits with three walks and 17 strikeouts. In those games he has yielded a .200 batting average and .466 OPS.

Riding the high of Friday's comeback win over Houston, the Orioles (75-55) host the Astros (69-59) today in the third game of the four-game series at Oriole Park.

After being shut out 6-0 on three hits in the series opener Thursday, the O's were down 5-2 when they batted in the eighth inning last night. Anthony Santander hit his 38th homer, a go-ahead grand slam that produced a 6-5 lead and eventual 7-5 win.

When Santander produced the slam, at that point the Orioles had been 2-for-31 with runners in scoring position the last seven games. 

The Orioles snapped a five-game losing streak versus Houston after going 0-4 against the Astros this year. Houston had won nine in a row on the road. 

Today the Baltimore batters have a real challenge in facing lefty Framber Valdez (13-5, 3.20 ERA). He finished 11th in the American League Cy Young Award voting in 2020, fifth in 2022 and ninth last year.

It was a massive swing. It turned a loss into a win, brought over 39,000 to their feet and perhaps turned a season spiraling the wrong way back into a solid direction.

How much meaning will that one swing have?

Since they last won three in a row - from July 14-20, wrapping around the All-Star break - the Orioles have had five win streaks of two games. They haven't made it to three straight in over a month. 

But Anthony Santander's grand slam in the last of the eighth off Houston reliever Bryan Abreu turned a 5-2 deficit into a one-run lead and eventual 7-5 win over Houston.

Finally, another comeback win. Finally, a win of any kind.

While the Orioles wonder about getting some of their eight pitchers on the injured list back later this season, their current biggest worry might be the offense.

That offense has produced just three hits in back-to-back games with three runs in those two games. Batters went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

The Astros pitched their ninth shutout of the year last night in a 6-0 win over the Orioles, handing the O’s their fifth shutout of 2024.

At 74-55, the Orioles have lost two in a row, three of four, five of seven and seven of the last 11. Baltimore, now 1 1/2 games out in the American League East, is 16-17 in the second half. The 1 1/2-game margin is the team's largest deficit in the division since being two games back of New York following a loss on June 25 in Cleveland.

Over the past six games, the Orioles have scored 20 runs, with nine coming in one game. In that span, the team is batting .167/.245/.323/.568 and has gone 2-for-27 with runners in scoring position. They have five hits or less in four of those games and three or less in three of them.

Last fall, he was playing in the World Series for the Diamondbacks. It capped a 2023 season that began with him playing for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic. It ended chasing a championship.

He went 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs in the World Series versus the Rangers, who won the World Series in five games.

But on Monday, corner infielder Emmanuel Rivera was designated for assignment by the Marlins. The Orioles claimed him two days later and now he is with them waiting for his first chance to play for his new team.

A right-handed hitter, Rivera, 28, played in 96 games with Miami, taking 229 plate appearances and batting .214/.294/.269/.563. He has a career .656 OPS over 313 big league games with Kansas City, Arizona and Miami.

“I think it’s a great opportunity,” he said of his chance with the O’s, with interpreting help from Brandon Quinones. “Thank God, you know, for being able to stay healthy and that I’m now here with this team.

The Orioles just can’t seem to get rolling again. On a night where their bullpen allowed no runs or hits, they still lost 6-0 in the Houston series opener. Their offense has produced six hits the last two games.

Right now, they look like a second-division club with a lack of runs, hits and unfortunately fire and passion too.

Maybe the next win and a night of fire and passion is right around the corner. But right ahead of this club is six straight games versus Houston and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In the last six games, the Birds have scored 20 runs, but nine of them came in one game. In those games they have five hits or less four times and three hits or less three times.

During the six games the O’s are batting .167/.245/.323/.568 as a team and have gone 2-for-27 with runners in scoring position.

Now an O's team that has fallen to second-place, one that lost twice via walk-off results at Citi Field, one that has lost four of six and six of 10 and that is 29-32 since June 13, goes into a demanding stretch of games.

The Orioles host first-place Houston for four at Camden Yards beginning tonight. Then the Birds fly across the country and play three in Los Angeles against the first-place Dodgers starting Tuesday night.

It's a tough seven-game run for an O's team that is 16-16 since the All-Star break and got swept three in a row at Houston in late June. The Orioles scored 11 runs in that series opener but lost 14-11 at Minute Maid Park. Then they lost 5-1 and 8-1 decisions, outscored in that series, 27-13 by the American League West leader.

With a win by the Yankees 6-0 over the Guardians today, the Orioles (74-54) are one game back in the AL East heading into tonight's game.

While O's starting pitchers have allowed two earned runs or less six times the past eight games, the Baltimore bullpen has been scored on six straight games with an ERA of 6.43 in that span. The O's pen has allowed eight homers the the last six games over 21 innings.

Right-handed reliever Matt Bowman, if he gets into a game with the Orioles, would be pitching for his fourth MLB team this season.

He got into five games in April with Minnesota, four with Arizona in May and one with Seattle in June.

He has actually already pitched this year at Oriole Park, throwing two scoreless on May 12 for the Diamondbacks.

Now after his transactions-filled year and season he wouldn’t mind finding a home with the team from his home state.

Bowman, 33, is 0-0 with a 5.40 ERA over 15 combined innings with a 1.200 WHIP. Since 2016 he has a career 4.22 ERA in the majors over 200 1/3 innings for six clubs.

The Orioles keep looking to get on a hot streak, playing solid and clean baseball. Given a chance to do that Wednesday afternoon, win a series and bring some momentum back to Camden Yards, they failed to. 

It was a brutal series loss at Citi Field with two walk-off losses, both with Seranthony Domínguez on the mound. Just when it looked like he might be the team’s ninth-inning option, this happens.

It appeared the team had some serious positive momentum when Austin Slater hit a two-run homer to right to tie the game 2-2 in the top of the sixth. It was his first O’s homer and his second of the season.

But even with that swing, a lot went wrong shortly after that on the way to the Orioles’ 54^th loss of the year.

They were held to three hits for the second time in the last four days. They actually won with three hits Sunday, but now they are 1-9 this year when getting three hits or less.

The Orioles have gone four straight series against National League opponents without winning one, but that could end today as they play the New York Mets at Citi Field.

Since they won back-to-back series against Atlanta and Philadelphia in mid-June, the Orioles have gone 0-3 versus the Chicago Cubs, 1-2 at Miami and 1-2 against San Diego before going 1-1 at home recently against Washington.

That is a run of 0-3-1 in those four series as the Orioles have gone 3-8 over 11 games. And now they have split two games against the Mets with the series-deciding game set for today.

The Orioles are 8-3 in 2024 in rubber match games and 0-1 when that comes in a series against the NL.

For the year, the Orioles are 16-20 against National League clubs, going 4-6-2 in 12 series pending the outcome of today’s game.

On the day the Orioles lost another starter to the injured list and their total pitchers on the IL grew to eight, they scored nine runs.

That was important as the Mets rallied late, but the Orioles won 9-5 and with the news that right-hander Zach Eflin joined a few others on that IL, more big nights from the Baltimore offense would be very welcomed.

Since the All-Star break, heading into last night, the Orioles had gone 15-15. And yet they were averaging 5.3 runs per game in that span and producing a team OPS of .783. Yeah, not bad.

But in their most recent three games heading into last night, they scored eight total runs on 14 hits and had gone 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

The nine-run outburst was important as was Dean Kremer's second straight strong outing. He allowed one run over six innings on 100 pitches.

After they suffered a walk-off 4-3 loss to the Mets last night, the Orioles take the field tonight needing to win two straight to take this series at Citi Field before they return home.

The Orioles (73-53) take the field tonight a half-game behind the first-place Yankees (73-52) who begin a home series tonight with the American League Central-leading Guardians (72-52).

Last night's defeat, the Orioles' fourth walk-off loss of 2024, was their third loss in four games and fifth in their last eight. The Orioles are 15-15 since the All-Star break. 

The Birds fell to 23-18 in series openers and to 11-9 when that series opener was a road game.

The Orioles are 12-13 in July and 8-9 in August. They are 58-33 versus AL teams, but just 15-20 against the National League.

Maybe it is the end of an era. For the first time since the 2021 preseason farm system organizational rankings by MLBPipeline.com, the Orioles are not the No. 1 team.

In the midseason ranking, released Aug. 15, the Tampa Bay Rays are back on top followed by Minnesota, the Orioles now third, then Cleveland and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

MLBPipeline has been publishing organization rankings twice per calendar year since the preseason of 2015 and no team had been first in six straight rankings until the Orioles did it through the 2024 preseason rating.

Before the O’s run of six straight, Tampa Bay was first three times in a row and before that San Diego four in a row.

The O’s had that amazing run of three straight years of No. 1 ranked players with Adley Rutschman and then Gunnar Henderson and then Jackson Holliday. But now via trades where they dealt some talent and highly ranked players making the majors, the farm ranking is taking an evitable hit.

Can we call one series away from Baltimore a road trip? If we can, the Orioles' next road trip begins tonight at Citi Field with the first of a three-game series against the Mets. That is followed by one series at home against the Astros before the next two-series trip begins a week from tomorrow at the Dodgers.

The Orioles and Yankees are once again tied for the top spot in the American League East with both at 73-52 (.584). They are tied for the best record in the American League and tied for second-best in the majors, with the Phillies first at 73-51 and the Dodgers also at 73-52. It's tight at the top!

The Orioles' 4-2 win on Sunday allowed them to split a four-game series with the Red Sox and go 3-3 on their homestand. The Orioles went 12-13 in July and are 8-8 in August. They are 15-14 since the All-Star Game.

At 64-60, the Mets are in third place, nine games out in the National League East, and chasing the final NL wild card spot. It is currently held by the Braves (66-58) with the Mets next up, two games behind them.

The Mets are 3-2 the last five games but 3-6 the last nine. They have lost 12 of 21 games. They are 15-14 since the break, same as the Orioles.

When Tampa Bay Rays pitching coach Kyle Snyder reached out to Orioles pitching coach Drew French to talk about righty Zach Eflin it was a bit unusual. It happened not long after the July 26 deal that made Eflin an Oriole and sent three minor leaguers to the Rays.

Snyder was showing great friendship and support for a pitcher he had a wonderful relationship with in Tampa. Even though he would be helping a division rival, this was a case where a couple of personal relationships seemed to top wins and losses.

One was Snyder’s close relationship with Eflin. The other was his emerging friendship with French. That one all started in Florida during spring training in a unique way.

“I actually got connected with Kyle this spring,” French explained during the O's last homestand. “I was staying in Sarasota at the previous home of the Rays trainer Joe Benge (formerly with the Orioles). We talked about Kyle a lot, someone I respected from afar. So, later we got connected and talked several times during spring training.

“When the trade did go down, he did reach out and said I’ve got some info. It is really about respect for the transition of the player that we know what his routine looks like, what his side days are. Just kind of the in-between stuff. In the same division, there is usually not a ton of company secrets thrown out between us. But it was some general stuff that helped us know the player better. Kyle really helped with that.”

On this homestand against Washington and Boston that ends today, the Orioles won Wednesday and Thursday, allowing one run each game. But they have lost the other three games, allowing nine, 12 and five runs.

From April 24, 2023 to June 20, 2024, the Orioles went 22 straight series against American League East teams without losing one. That was the longest streak by a team against its own division without a series loss since divisions were introduced in 1969, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

But if the O's lose today to Boston, they will have lost three of their past five AL East series. 

Through June 20 this year, they were 6-0-2 in eight AL East series, going 19-7 in 26 games. Since then they went 1-2 at home versus New York, 3-1 versus Toronto, 1-2 at Toronto and 2-1 at Tampa Bay. And now they are 1-2 this series against the Red Sox. So they are 8-8 their past 16 division games.

That adds up to a 27-15 (.643) record and a mark of 8-2-2 in 12 division series pending the result of today's game.

When you ask Orioles manager Brandon Hyde how much he appreciates Ramón Urías for his dependability at a variety of times in a variety of roles this season, he reminds everyone this is not new.

“The last few years,” said Hyde.

“Ramón is the same guy, every single day," he said. "Whether he is playing or not playing. Whether he hasn’t played in three or four days or been in the lineup. He comes to the park super consistent. He’s always ready. Makes his defense important and gives you the best AB he’s got. He’s got sneaky power and loves to be out there.

“It’s important right now. Anything we can add to the bottom of the order and wrap that thing around to the top of the order. Ramón has always been a super, steady player for us.”

When the Orioles optioned Coby Mayo back to Triple-A Thursday, that put Urías back in the lineup at third base, the position where he won a Gold Glove in 2022.

The Orioles have had a homestand with two kinds of ugly losses and two well-pitched, well-played wins. Tonight they play Game 3 of a four-game series with Boston and Game 5 of their six-game homestand.

The Orioles (72-51) are 2-2 on the homestand, but had fallen one game behind the New York Yankees (73-50) for the AL East lead through Friday. Boston (64-57) is in third place, eight games back of the division leaders.

The Orioles are now 1/2 game back of New York after thier 4-0 loss to Detroit this afternoon as they were held to four hits in falling to 73-51. The O's can tie for first with a win tonight.

The Orioles beat the Red Sox 5-1 Thursday to open this series, as Zach Eflin and four relievers teamed on a seven-hitter with 10 strikeouts. But the O’s staff allowed 14 hits and four homers in last night’s 12-10 loss.

Boston hit four doubles, and added those four homers and scored two or more runs in four different innings. It was the third-most runs the Orioles have allowed in a game this season. They lost 19-8 at Oakland July 6 and 14-11 at Houston June 21.

To say the least, the Orioles have been inconsistent over recent weeks and maybe even going back further than that.

It has been seen big time on this homestand, which started Tuesday with the O's getting blown out 9-3 by the Nationals. Then they put together solid starts by Dean Kremer and Zach Eflin and won back-to-back by 4-1 and 5-1.

But the Orioles have not won three in a row since July 14-20 around the All-Star break. They have now had five chances to win three in a row since then but are 0-5 in those games.

Friday night they lost 12-10 as Boston evened the four-game series at a win each.

It was surely surprising, even stunning, to see Corbin Burnes allow a career-high eight runs on 10 hits over four innings. In two earlier starts this year versus Boston he had allowed one run in 14 innings as the Red Sox went 5-for-47 (.106) at bat. Last night Boston was 10-for-22 (.455) with three doubles and two homers.

For the Orioles recently, the three-game win streak has been elusive. They last won three straight from July 14-20 when they ended the first half by beating the Yankees and started the second half with two in a row over the Rangers.

Since then the Orioles have won back-to-back games four times, but each time lost the next game. 

But after beating Washington 4-1 Wednesday and Boston 5-1 last night, the O's with a victory tonight will have a three-game win streak. Their last four-game streak was June 26-30.

Right-hander Zach Eflin allowed five hits and one run over six innings last night, and the Baltimore bullpen pitched three scoreless as the Orioles improved to 2-1 on this six-game homestand against the Nats and Red Sox.

The Orioles have allowed two runs or fewer in two straight games for the first time since July 2-3 at Seattle, when they gave up zero and one run.