The Orioles (38-44) have not had a three-game series sweep this season, and after back-to-back walk-off wins over the Texas Rangers, they can get one with a victory tonight at Oriole Park.

Cedric Mullins' RBI double in the 10th last night lifted the Orioles over Texas 10-9 in a wild one. The victory improved the Orioles' record to 20-17 at home and to 6-3 in extra-inning games.

Most walk-off wins in the major leagues in 2022:

10 - New York Yankees
7 - Orioles
6 - San Diego
5 - Tampa Bay, Minnesota

The Orioles have now secured the series win versus Texas and have gone 11-11-4 in series this season and 7-4-2 in home series. They've already surpassed their home series win total from 2021, when they went 5-15-6 at Oriole Park. And now they are one series win shy of tying their overall total from last season, when they went 12-32-8.

The Orioles have seven walk-off wins – the latest was by 10-9 in 10 innings last night over the Texas Rangers – but they have no series sweeps this season. They’d be happy to add to either total tonight, but you know manager Brandon Hyde would not mind a much more routine win that didn’t require a walk-off or a lot of late-inning drama.

But last night’s game had both. So did Monday’s game and each one in Minnesota too. The club has now played five straight games decided by six total runs, and four of the five were decided in the final at-bat by the home team. Two they lost, two they won.

If you like down-to-the-wire baseball, the Orioles' recent run has been for you.

The last two nights they were down to their last out in the last of the ninth and down by a run. An out from a loss each time, before an Adley Rutschman RBI double on Monday and Rougned Odor’s solo homer last night extended each game to the tenth inning.

The Orioles (38-44) are now 6-3 in extra-inning games, 20-17 at home, 12-15 in one-run games and 7-4 in games decided via a walk-off, winning seven times and losing four. They have had walk-off wins this year via a walk, error, fielder’s choice, hit-by-pitch and twice by home runs.

Another crazy night at the ballpark ended with another Orioles walk-off win in the last of the 10^th inning. And just like on the Fourth of July, they tied the game with two outs in the last of the ninth and won it an inning later.

Adley Rutschman’s double produced the tie Monday and Rougned Odor’s solo homer to right in the ninth produced the 9-9 tie on Tuesday night. It was his third career game-tying or go-ahead home run with two outs in the ninth or later and first since a walk-off homer in the last of the 10^th for Texas against Detroit on Aug. 3, 2019. This time he helped the Orioles beat the Rangers 10-9.

The Orioles last night became the first team in major league history to allow a game-tying or go-ahead homer in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings and still win the game.

That is crazy, but it happened.

In the seventh, Mitch Garver’s solo homer off Keegan Akin tied the game 4-4. An inning later, Nathaniel Lowe’s three-run shot off Nick Vespi tied the game at 7-7. In the ninth, Corey Seager’s two-run shot off Félix Bautista gave Texas the 9-8 lead that stood only until Odor’s homer in the bottom of the frame.

The Orioles host the Texas Rangers tonight in the second of a three-game series and seven-game homestand that will also include a series with the Los Angeles Angels.

The Orioles took an early 2-0 lead on the Fourth of July and then fell behind 5-2 in the fifth. They tied the game 5-5, fell behind 6-5 on Marcus Semien's homer in the ninth but tied it 6-6 on Adley Rutschman's RBI double with two outs in the ninth. And they won it 7-6 when Jorge Mateo was hit by a pitch with no outs and the bases loaded in the last of the 10th.

The Orioles (37-44) reached the midpoint of the 162-game season with Monday's win. They have won two in a row and eight of the last 14 games. They are 10-7 over the past 17 games, 13-9 in 22 and 23-20 since they were 10 games under .500 on May 19. They are 30-30 since May 1 and are 19-17 at home.

Most walk-off wins in MLB:

10 - New York Yankees
6 - Orioles, San Diego Padres
5 - Minnesota Twins, Tampa Bay Rays
4 - 7 teams tied 

If Orioles closer Jorge López is a pitcher who is suddenly struggling, then right-hander Bryan Baker is one who is suddenly thriving. Thrust into a key spot on Monday afternoon, he came through big time as the Orioles beat Texas 7-6 in 10 innings.

It’s been a decent year for Baker with the Orioles, as he is 3-3 with a 4.59 ERA. And this was a pitcher with one major league inning on his resume before the 2022 season.

But now, over his past six games, he has allowed just three hits and one run over 9 1/3 innings and opponents have a batting average of .100 (3-for-30) against him in this span and an OPS of .400.

After Adley Rutschman’s two-out RBI double in the ninth tied the game 6-6 Monday, Baker took the mound for the 10^th with a placed runner at second base. He fanned Steven Duggar looking at a changeup and then walked pinch-hitter Kole Calhoun. One-time O’s draft pick Jonah Heim then pinch-hit and Baker threw a fastball by him at 97 mph. When Josh H. Smith flied out, he had put up a zero and the Orioles were set to walk-off the game in the home 10^th.

Baker hasn’t pitched in too many high-leverage spots this year, but being on the mound with the game on the line had him pumped up, he said today.

These Orioles games, they are not dull. That is for darn sure.

The last four games were decided by one, one, two and one run. Three of the four were won by the home team in its last at-bat and the other one the Orioles held on for the close win on Sunday afternoon at Minnesota.

But we saw a wild final two innings at Camden Yards on the Fourth of July and there were some early fireworks. They included right-hander Jorge López yielding another ninth-inning home run. They included Adley Rutschman’s game-tying RBI double with two outs in the last of the ninth. They included Bryan Baker putting up a huge zero in the top of the 10^th and they included a walk-off hit-by-pitch as the Orioles batted in the last of the 10^th.

They are 37-44 at the season’s midpoint, on a pace to finish 74-88 with a second half just like the first one. If they can do even better, they could make a run at a .500 record. Something that seemed quite improbable when this year began.

Let’s start with Rutschman. He had just two extra-base hits his first 15 games with the Orioles and then had 13 over a 15-game stretch, with 10 doubles and three homers. But in his previous four games before yesterday, starting with the second game in Seattle, Rutschman had no hits of any kind and was in an 0-for-15 rut.

What a crazy way to win a crazy game.

A walk-off hit by pitch in the last of the 10^th. That is how the Orioles beat the Texas Rangers 7-6 today to start a series and week-long homestand. This after they fell behind in the top of the ninth and had to score in the home half to tie it up.

Lefty Matt Moore came on for Texas in the 10^th with placed runner Austin Hays on second base. He then muffed a bunt attempt by Rougned Odor that was scored a hit to put runners on the corners, and then walked Ramón Urías intentionally to load the bases with no outs. Moore’s next pitch hit shortstop Jorge Mateo near the left knee and he limped toward first base as the game ended in bizarre fashion.

A walk-off hit by pitch giving the Orioles a record of 37-44 at the midpoint of their year with their sixth walk-off win of 2022. They were 27-54 at this point in the 2021 season.

An inning earlier we saw what was likely Adley Rutschman's biggest hit as an Oriole and it forced extra innings. Down to their last out in the ninth down by one, Rutschman lined a double off the right field wall to tie Texas 6-6 and force a 10th inning. Rutschman lined a 96 mph fastball from closer Joe Barlow for the tie. He began today 0-for-15 his previous four games.

After ending a four-game losing streak and hanging on for a 3-1 win Sunday at Minnesota, the Orioles make a quick turnaround today for a day game on the Fourth of July against the Texas Rangers. It is the opener of a three-game series and seven-game homestand that also includes four games with the Los Angeles Angels.

Right-hander Tyler Wells produced his latest strong start in the Twins series finale, allowing three hits and one run over six innings with one walk and a career-high seven strikeouts. He improved to 7-4 with a 3.09 ERA for an O’s team that allowed just eight runs in the weekend series.

Wells has allowed one run or less in each of his last four starts and has been the winning pitcher for the last five, going 5-0 with an ERA of 1.93 in that span. The Orioles have won his past seven games and his ERA is 1.89 during that 7-0 run.

O’s starting pitchers have been on a tremendous roll, allowing one earned run or less in 13 of the past 16 games, with a rotation ERA of 2.03 in that span.

Today's game with Texas marks the first time the Orioles have played at home on the Fourth of July since 2008, also against Texas. The O's won that game, 10-4. The Orioles have played in Baltimore on Independence Day 19 times in club history, going 14-4-1 with a 6-6 tie against Kansas City in 1964 at Memorial Stadium. The O's have hosted six Fourth of July matchups at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, going 4-2.

The Orioles latest roster move today brings infielder Ramón Urías back to the team, activated from the 10-day injured list while Richie Martin was optioned back to Triple-A. Urías has not played since June 9 or batted since June 7, out with a strained left oblique.

In 49 games and 188 at-bats this year he was hitting .225/.273/.387/.660 with six homers and 18 RBIs. Urías played in two rehab games over the weekend with Double-A Bowie, going 0-for-7 with one walk and three strikeouts.

“He felt great last night,” manager Brandon Hyde said during his pregame press conference. “Nice to see him back. Feels healthy, he’s ready to go. Get a day off today, available off the bench, but nice to see him back.”

As for Urías he said, “I feel good and feel like I’m ready.” But he added there was some apprehension taking swings in his first game at Bowie on Saturday.

“The first day not really, I felt like a little scared,” he said this morning in the Baltimore clubhouse. “Afraid to swing. But the second game I had a more confident swing and everything feels good. But like I say I feel ready now. Never had an oblique injury before and maybe I was feeling a little tight, but no pain at all, so that’s good. Throwing is just fine, it never bothered me to throw the baseball.”

When you get pitching like the Orioles did in Minnesota – and have been getting for the most part since mid-June – you are going to have a chance to win some baseball games.

The O’s allowed three runs Friday and lost, and four on Saturday and lost. But they held the lead Sunday and beat Minnesota 3-1 to end the road trip, going 5-5 through Chicago, Seattle and Minnesota. They come home today for game No. 81 at 36-44. At the season’s halfway point after today they will either be on a pace to win 72 or 74 games in this 2022 season.

Orioles right-hander Tyler Wells improved to 7-4 and lowered his ERA to 3.09 with his latest strong outing on Sunday. Wells allowed three hits and one run over six innings, tying a career high for his longest outing, and he set a career high with seven strikeouts. He walked just one and continues to excel in strikethrowing. He has walked one or none in 10 of his 16 starts. And he’s walked more than two in just one outing this year with 17 walks for the season in 75 2/3 innings, or just 2.02 per every nine innings.

Wells pitched around a two-out error in the first, rolled through the fourth on 53 pitches and got a huge double-play ball off the bat of Carlos Correa in the sixth, when he allowed his only run. The bullpen took it from there with Keegan Akin, Joey Krehbiel and Dillon Tate getting the last nine outs. Tate fanned the game’s last two batters to keep the Orioles from suffering a third straight walk-off loss for the first time since Aug. 12-14, 2013 at Arizona.

The Twins had no late-inning magic this time as the Orioles got the win and salvaged a .500 road trip. While they are 18-27 on the road for the year, the Orioles are 12-11 over their past 23 away from Baltimore.

A team’s fortunes can change fast in baseball, and the Orioles are realizing that this week. When they hit five homers and beat Seattle 9-2 Monday night, they improved to 4-1 on this road trip and moved to within five games of the .500 mark. The next night they were locked in a 0-0 game in the eighth inning at Seattle. They would lose that game 2-0 and then fall in the series finale the next day at Seattle.

Then it was on to Minnesota to face the first-place Twins. In each of the first two games there, the Orioles have taken a one-run lead to the last of the ninth. And while they were 29-0 when leading after eight innings when this series began, now they have lost back-to-back in the last of the ninth in a pair of walk-off defeats at Minnesota.

Now the Orioles (35-44) are reeling with four straight losses and five in the last six games. They need to win today to avoid being swept in this series and to complete a .500, 5-5 road trip. One that started with such promise at 4-1 halfway through it.

But closer Jorge López has suffered back-to-back blown saves and the Orioles have lost two games in a row by one run for just the second time this season.

The O’s offense has had its own issues during the losing streak, scoring just eight runs on 20 hits the last four games and going 2-for-26 batting with runners in scoring position.

Maybe he’s been flying a bit under the radar on the O's farm, but right-hander Noah Denoyer should not be. He pitched well earlier this season for high Single-A Aberdeen and is now doing so for Double-A Bowie. In fact, he has been pitching well pretty much since the day the Orioles signed him as a minor league free agent on Aug. 5, 2019.

For a pitcher who was not drafted, his stats compare well right now to some of the best pitchers for the Orioles' minor league affiliates.

In 14 games this season between Aberdeen and Bowie, he is 4-1 with a 1.93 ERA. Over 51 1/3 innings he has allowed 33 hits and 11 walks while notching 66 strikeouts. He has yielded just a .183 opponent batting average and 0.86 WHIP.

Among O’s minor league pitchers throwing 40 or more innings this season, his ERA ranks first in the organization, and he is second in WHIP (to Grayson Rodriguez) and fifth in strikeouts per nine innings at 11.57.

In the 2021 season, Denoyer was also good, going 5-3 with a 2.76 ERA between low Single-A Delmarva and Aberdeen. He started this year with the IronBirds, going 4-0 with a 2.40 ERA in five games. He had not been starting but throwing multiple-innings in relief, but then he made a start for Bowie on Friday night. Over five innings against Richmond he allowed four hits and two runs (one earned) on 79 pitches. It looks for now like he is in the Bowie rotation to stay.

After a game where O's pitching allowed three hits through eight innings and retired 21 batters in a row, two reached to start the last of the ninth and the Orioles lost 3-2 at Minnesota on Friday night.

Closer Jorge López, who had recorded nine straight saves and had not allowed a homer all year, gave up a two-run, walk-off homer to Byron Buxton in the Minnesota win. Luis Arraez led off the ninth with a nine-pitch single to center to set the stage for Buxton to hit his 21st homer of the year to end the game.

The Twins (44-36), leading the AL Central by 1 1/2 games over Cleveland and by 5 1/2 over the Chicago White Sox, improved to 12-9 against AL East teams and 24-17 at home. The Twins have the fourth-most home wins in the AL and tied for fifth-most in baseball. They had lost their past two games via walk-off defeats.

Right-hander Joe Ryan, last night's Twins starter, allowed just two hits and one run over seven innings on 89 pitches. He threw his four-seamer 61 percent of the time at an average velocity of 92 mph, topping at 94.

Minnesota starting pitchers have combined to go 6-2, 2.05 ERA (79.0 IP, 18 ER) with 15 walks, 55 strikeouts, a .201 opponent batting average and eight quality starts in their last 14 games.

When it comes to their preference for the first pick in the upcoming First-Year Player Draft, the Orioles, as always under Mike Elias, will not be tipping their hand on which player or players they prefer. The consensus seems to be they are working with a short list of five for that No. 1 overall pick on July 17, two weeks from tomorrow.

Baseball America’s top five for the draft shows Georgia high school outfielder Druw Jones No. 1 on their board, followed by Cal Poly shortstop Brooks Lee and Oklahoma high school shortstop Jackson Holliday. Then they have Atlanta high school star infielder Termarr Johnson rated fourth and outfielder Elijah Green of IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., at No. 5.

Elias' top picks in his first three drafts with the Orioles started with his selection of Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman at No. 1 in 2019. The next year he selected University of Arkansas outfielder Heston Kjerstad No. 2 overall, and last summer he tabbed Sam Houston State outfielder Colton Cowser at No. 5 overall.

The selection for this year will join Ben McDonald in 1989 and Rutschman as the third 1/1 pick by the Orioles in club history.

During a recent interview on WBAL Radio’s “Orioles Insider” pregame show with Brent Harris, Keith Law of The Athletic discussed how the Orioles play it very close to the vest in the lead-up to the draft.

The Orioles have reached the final stop on a three-city road trip. They went 3-1 in Chicago against the White Sox and 1-2 in Seattle versus the Mariners. And tonight they begin a three-game weekend series in Minnesota. They are 4-3 on the trip and need one win to guarantee a .500 trip and two to post a wining road trip.

The Orioles (35-42) have the best record, for what it is worth, of any fifth-place team in the majors. They begin play tonight six games behind third-place Tampa Bay and 8 ½ games behind both Boston and Toronto, which are tied for second place in the American League East.

The Orioles completed June at 14-12 and begin a new month tonight in the series opener. In posting their first winning month since August of 2017 (17-12), they had a plus 17 run differential in June. In 26 games over the month, they averaged 4.77 runs per game, seventh in the AL and 12th in MLB. Baltimore's 3.86 ERA (97 ER/226.0 IP) in June ranked sixth in the AL and 12th in MLB. Its .538 winning percentage ranked sixth in the AL, behind the New York Yankees (.786, 22-6), Boston Red Sox (.769, 20-6), Cleveland Guardians (.643, 18-10), Houston Astros (.640, 16-9) and Seattle Mariners (.552, 16-13). O's relievers owned a 2.89 ERA (31 ER/96.2 IP) in June, the second-lowest in MLB last month, behind the New York Yankees with a 2.00 ERA (21 ER/94.1 IP) in 28 games. O's starters have posted a 2.18 ERA (16 ER/66.0 IP) in 13 games since June 16, the best team starting pitcher ERA in MLB over that span.

Even in losing the last two games in Seattle, the Orioles have won eight of 13 and 11 of 18 games. They are 13-10 their past 23 games and 21-18 since May 19. They went 14-16 in May, giving them a .500 record at 28-28 since May 1.

O’s pitchers have allowed only 20 runs the last eight games, 24 in 10 and 33 runs over the past 13 games. The club has allowed two runs or less in nine of those 13 games with a team ERA of 2.43 in that span.

For Orioles outfielder Austin Hays, as he produces an All-Star caliber season, there are probably not many highlights that will top when he hit for the cycle recently. He became the sixth Oriole in team history to do that. And he got it a game that was shortened to six innings by rain a week ago Wednesday, when the Orioles were hosting the Washington Nationals.

But most nights, Hays is just as excited, probably more so, when he can make a big defensive play such as running a ball down in the gap or throwing a runner out on the bases. He and the Orioles are doing that often. Heading into Wednesday’s game at Seattle, the club’s 17 outfield assists were fourth-most in the major leagues and Hays was tied for second with seven outfield assists. His 19 assists since 2020 were tied for fourth most in the majors.

“I take so much pride in my defense, I think it means more to me when I can throw out a runner or make a big defensive play in a tight situation late in the game," Hays said in a recent interview with me on my WBAL Radio Orioles postgame show. "I’d say that’s more fun for me or means more to me when I do that than do it on the offensive side of the ball.”

The guy is making accurate throws with a lot on them. The arm-strength-and-accuracy combo is very impressive. The Orioles recently released a stat showing that, since 2016, Hays' arm speed from the outfield has recorded the five fastest and 10 of the 11 fastest Baltimore outfield throws.

97.6 mph – May 20, 2022 against Tampa Bay

BOWIE, Md. – It had to be a pretty neat moment for high Single-A Aberdeen manager Roberto Mercado and some of his top players. He was about to tell three of his best players and three O’s top 10 prospects on Sunday that they were going to be promoted to Double-A Bowie. And outfielder Colton Cowser and infielders Coby Mayo and Connor Norby were going together to join the Baysox of the Eastern League.

“Berto, he kind of called us in and you kind of had a feeling like something was up,” Norby said yesterday during an interview at Bowie’s Prince George’s Stadium. “And then he was like, ‘You know, when is your off-day?’ We were like Monday is usually that day. He said, ‘Monday is not your off-day. You guys have to get to Bowie.’ We all got excited and started hugging everybody. It was a really cool moment. But I don’t think you can top Buck (Britton) with Adley (Rutschman), but every call-up is special.”

No, that may have been an all-timer when Rutschman got the call to go from Triple-A to join the Orioles and his skipper delivered that news.

But this was still pretty cool for the then-Aberdeen trio, which had also moved up together as part of a larger group from the Rookie-level Florida Complex League to low Single-A Delmarva late last year. And they started this season together with Aberdeen, helping to lead the IronBirds to a first-half division championship going 43-23 in the South Atlantic League.

“We all got called up together,” said Cowser. “We were in Berto’s office in Aberdeen and he said we didn’t have quite the off-day on Monday. We had to get moving down here and it was really exciting.”

After taking three of four games in Chicago and splitting games the last two nights in Seattle, the Orioles and Mariners play the third and deciding game of their series this afternoon at T-Mobile Park.

The Orioles hit five homers on Monday night as they won 9-2 over the Mariners, but then they were held to just one hit on Tuesday night in a 2-0 loss.

The Orioles (35-41) are 7-4 in rubber match games as they play yet another such game today. Overall, they are 4-2 on this road trip and 17-24 on the road for the season. They have gone 11-8 in their past 19 road games. They have won five of seven games overall and also six of nine and eight of their past 12 games. They are 11-6 over the last 17, 13-9 in 22 games and 21-17 over 38 games since May 19.

The O’s lost Tuesday while giving up just two runs, and they’ve allowed two runs or fewer in nine of their past 12 games with a team ERA of 2.01 in that span. O’s pitchers have allowed 11 runs the past seven games, 15 in nine and 24 runs in the past dozen games.

Baltimore starting pitchers have a 1.54 ERA (8 ER/46.2 IP) over the last nine games after Dean Kremer threw seven scoreless innings Tuesday. In allowing two runs last night the Baltimore bullpen saw a 13-game streak snapped in which the ‘pen allowed one earned run or none. The O’s bullpen ERA is 1.69 (9 ER/48 IP) over the last 14 games.

In his first plate appearance at the Double-A level for the Bowie Baysox last night, outfielder Colton Cowser drew a walk. The second time up, in the third inning, he lined a two-run homer to left-center field as Bowie went on to beat Richmond 9-3 Tuesday night at Prince George’s Stadium.

The game featured the Double-A debuts of Cowser, the Orioles No. 4 prospect per MLBPipeline.com, Coby Mayo, ranked No. 7, and Connor Norby, rated No. 10.

Norby led off for Bowie and played second base with Cowser batting second in center field and Mayo hitting third as the designated hitter. Cowser wound up going 3-for-3 with a walk and scoring two runs. Norby went 1-for-4 and Mayo was 0-for-5.

Bowie finished in last place at 27-42 in the first half, but last night the teams began the second half, with every club starting with a clean slate and 0-0 record.

Meanwhile, high Single-A Aberdeen lost those three players after winning the first half title in its division of the South Atlantic League.

As the Orioles continue to play winning baseball and are 21-16 since May 19, they are compiling a number of good stats on both the pitching and hitting sides. Let’s take a look at several of them as they get set tonight to play the second game of a three-game series at Seattle.

A 21-16 record produces a win percentage of .568 over a 37-game span, which is nearly a quarter of the season. A team that could play at that percentage for 162 games would finish 92-70.

The Orioles' 9-2 win last night at Seattle gives them a 35-40 record and they have won five of six, six of eight and eight of 11 games. The Orioles are now 11-5 the last 16 games and 13-8 over their past 21. While they have an overall losing record in road games at 17-23, they are 11-7 in their past 18 games away from Oriole Park and they are 4-1 to start this 10-game road trip.

The Baltimore pitching staff has put together a stunning run with a team ERA of 1.99 over the last 11 games, and they have allowed two runs or less in eight of those games. O’s pitchers have allowed nine combined runs the last six games, 13 in eight and 22 runs over the last 11 games.

In addition to that, the O’s starting pitchers have an ERA of 1.82 over the last eight games. And the Baltimore bullpen has allowed zero or one earned run for 13 consecutive games with an ERA of 1.34 in those 13 games and 0.93 over the past six games.