ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Cody Asche gives the compliment and explains how it also can be a curse.

“We’re really fortunate, we have a lot of really good hitters who are almost too good for the minor leagues,” said Asche, the Orioles’ offensive strategy coach, as he sat in the visiting dugout at Tropicana Field before a weekend game. “They don’t get to quite learn the lessons that players of less caliber have to learn when the competition gets better.”

Colton Cowser is in the same boat while navigating the choppy waters in the major leagues.

Cowser made his long-awaited debut at Yankee Stadium on July 5 and went 1-for-3 with an RBI, walk and run scored. Media swarmed his locker before and after the game. The smile didn’t leave his face. Teammates were excited to have his talents and fun personality with them again.

It almost looked too easy.

The Orioles accomplished a goal this weekend of leading their division.

Now, they want to pad it.

Gunnar Henderson singled and hit a 446-foot home run in the first two innings, and Ryan O’Hearn broke a tie in the sixth with a line drive off the left field foul pole in a 5-3 victory over the Rays before an announced crowd of 23,440 at Tropicana Field.

A 19^th series win left the Orioles with a 61-38 record, their most games above .500 this season. They’ve gone 6-3 against the Rays, with four remaining in September at Camden Yards.

Tampa Bay would need a sweep to claim the tiebreaker if the teams are tied. The Orioles hold a two-game lead as they board a flight to Philadelphia.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Colton Cowser is in right field and Aaron Hicks gets the start in center field, as the Orioles try for their 19^th series win and a two-game lead over the Rays in the American League East.

Ryan Mountcastle and Jordan Westburg are on the bench.

Gunnar Henderson is leading off and playing shortstop. Anthony Santander is the designated hitter. Ramón Urías is the third baseman, with Adam Frazier at second.

Tyler Wells leads the majors with a 0.984 WHIP in 19 games. He faced the Rays on June 21 at Tropicana Field and allowed four runs (two earned) with six strikeouts in five innings.

Randy Arozarena and Isaac Paredes homered in the second inning.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Orioles played the kind of game yesterday that is hard to summarize in one story. Even on the internet and with its limitless space.

That’s what happens when a top pitching prospect is lights out indoors for five innings. When a lead is lost in the eighth, but a game is won in the ninth. With so many contributors and key moments. From the most obvious, like a tie-breaking single, to a sacrifice bunt that usually warrants one line or less.

Here are a few leftover observations:

Depth size matters.

Adam Frazier batted for Ramón Urías leading off the ninth and singled. Ryan O’Hearn batted for Jorge Mateo with one out, after James McCann avoided a 98.6 mph fastball by ducking and bunting at the same time, and he dropped an RBI single into right field.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Orioles have faced Baltimore native Shane McClanahan nine times in his career. Or “too much,” according to manager Brandon Hyde.

McClanahan led the majors in ERA as he warmed for today’s start, preparing for a team that scored one run in its last 15 innings. A team that never beat him and was shut out in six innings in an earlier matchup this year.

The challenge for the Orioles was bereft of subtleties. It was a hammer to the head.

They pounded McClanahan in the fourth, sending nine batters to the plate and scoring five runs. They got an impressive performance from rookie Grayson Rodriguez. And they recovered from a late blown lead to move ahead in an important series with a 6-5 victory over the Rays before an announced crowd of 25,025 at Tropicana Field.

Key hits off the bench were the final nails.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Gunnar Henderson moves back to third base today and Jorge Mateo is the shortstop, as the Orioles continue their series against the Rays at Tropicana Field.

Jordan Westburg is out of the lineup.

Austin Hays is leading off and playing left field. He’s in a 4-for-31 slump in his last nine games.

Adley Rutschman is the designated hitter. Ryan Mountcastle is batting cleanup as the first baseman.

Grayson Rodriguez is making his 12^th major league start. He faced the Rays on May 9 in Baltimore and allowed two runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. Wander Franco and Taylor Walls hit home runs. Walls went on the injured list today with a strained oblique.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Félix Bautista sat in the visiting bullpen last night, knowing the phone wasn’t ringing for him.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde needed Bautista to close out Wednesday afternoon’s game at Camden Yards. He needed Bautista Thursday night to cover the ninth and 10^th innings in a 4-3 win over the Rays that catapulted his club into sole possession of first place.

A save situation last night was going to be someone else’s responsibility.

Let the Mountain rest.

The Orioles were shut out 3-0. The entire offense went into a slumber.

A familiar spot isn’t where the Orioles want to hunker down. They don’t find comfort on the wrong side of the score. The struggle to keep fighting back is real.

Harold Ramírez singled off Kyle Bradish tonight in the second inning, Brandon Lowe raced home, and the Orioles fell behind again. With their offense on mute.

Did they have a 36^th comeback victory in them?

They didn’t have a run.

Zach Elfin tossed seven scoreless innings to outduel Kyle Bradish, and the Orioles relinquished sole possession of first place in the division with a 3-0 loss to the Rays before an announced crowd of 19,703 at Tropicana Field.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Manager Brandon Hyde met with new reliever Shintaro Fujinami this afternoon and shared the club’s expectations for him.  

Nothing too detailed. Nothing about a specific role. Keep it simple and relaxed.

“They said, ‘We’re going to put you in a good spot, so do your best,’” Fujinami said today, sitting next to interpreter Issei Kamada in the visiting dugout at Tropicana Field.

The Orioles want Fujinami to feel comfortable and they’d like to reduce the initial pressure on him, with low-leverage spots if the circumstances allow it.

They rarely do on this club.

The Orioles completed their roster move today by welcoming reliever Shintaro Fujinami to the club and optioning Logan Gillaspie to Triple-A Norfolk.

Fujinami was acquired from the Athletics on Wednesday for Triple-A left-hander Easton Lucas. He goes into the bullpen, where Gillaspie sat for two games without pitching.

Fujinami was given No. 14, last worn by infielder Rio Ruiz in 2021.

Alone in first place for the first time since August 2016, the Orioles will try to build on their one-game lead with Kyle Bradish back on the mound and on his own roll.

Bradish has lowered is ERA to 3.05, with no runs allowed in his last two starts over 13 1/3 innings and one run in his last three over 19 1/3. He’s surrendered three runs in his last four starts spanning 26 1/3 innings.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Adam Frazier squared to bunt twice last night against Tampa Bay reliever Robert Stephenson and didn’t make contact, both cutters missing outside the strike zone. His next attempt produced a foul ball, and finally, the sacrifice that moved automatic runner Aaron Hicks to third base.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde was playing for one run. Get a sacrifice fly from rookie Colton Cowser to take the lead and send closer Félix Bautista back out for the bottom of the 10^th inning.

Hyde might not try it with any other reliever, but Bautista isn’t any other reliever.

Call him “Mountain,” and watch his ERA shrink to a mole hill.

Bautista got six outs in the Orioles’ 4-3 win over the Rays at Tropicana Field. They won’t be swept in 71 consecutive series. They’ll try to win their 19^th this season.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Gunnar Henderson thought he drew a leadoff walk in the top of the first inning tonight, chucking his bat and taking a couple steps toward first base. Plate umpire Junior Valentine called him out on strikes, and Henderson reluctantly made the walk of shame to retrieve it.

This isn’t how the Orioles wanted to begin an important four-game series. Unable to trust their eyes or get a baserunner for three innings. An early deficit challenging them to post a 35^th comeback win.

Inside a ballpark with fake grass and real advantages for the Rays.

A three-run fourth inning, which began with Henderson’s leadoff triple, had the Orioles poised to get it done again, but Yandy Díaz tied the game in the seventh with a two-run double off Yennier Cano. Too much intensity for either team to go quietly.

The 35th happened anyway. With a veteran laying down a sacrifice bunt and a rookie playing in his 11th major league game driving in the go-ahead run.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – New Orioles reliever Shintaro Fujinami is traveling from the West Coast and could report to the club on Friday.

“We’ll see,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “We’re not quite there yet.”

Fujinami was acquired from the Athletics last night for minor league pitcher Easton Lucas. The Orioles will make a corresponding roster move after he arrives.

Logan Gillaspie was recalled yesterday and could be optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. The decision could hinge on tonight’s bullpen usage.

Fujinami is the second Japanese-born player in Orioles history, joining Koji Uehara from 2009-11. He’s the latest plus fastball, plus splitter pitcher to join the bullpen, his four-seamer increasing in velocity and touching triple digits after the Athletics pulled him from the rotation.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Orioles are sticking with the same 26-man roster tonight as they begin a four-game series against the Rays, who trail them by percentage points in the American League East.

This is the latest that the Orioles have sat atop the division since Aug. 12, 2016.

Japanese right-hander Shintaro Fujinami, acquired from the Athletics last night for left-hander Easton Lucas, hasn’t reported to the team.

Gunnar Henderson is leading off and playing third base. Henderson has a 15-game on-base streak.

Anthony Santander is playing first base. He’s reached base in 16 straight games.

The Orioles don’t need a closer at the trade deadline. And I mention it only to link to the title of this article.

The bullpen must get stronger, and not in the eighth and ninth innings. The club has prioritized middle-to-setup territory to shorten games for its rotation, which led to last night’s acquisition of Japanese right-hander Shintaro Fujinami from the Athletics. A plan steeped in logic.

Fujinami can audition over the 11-12 days or however many times he's told to get warm and pitch. The blazing fastball and the splitter could make him a weapon. The Orioles have a track record in this area. And it's low risk with Fujinami signed only through 2023.

Cole Irvin’s switch back to long relief could pay big dividends, at least judging by the four innings he covered Tuesday night against the Dodgers.

Austin Voth is trying to begin an injury rehab assignment in the Florida Complex League, but his start Tuesday was rained out and the club didn’t play yesterday. He also could provide length with a healthy elbow.

The Orioles made a move tonight aimed at improving their bullpen.

The team announce that it has acquired right-hander Shintaro Fujinami from the Athletics for minor league pitcher Easton Lucas.

Triple-A Norfolk infielder Josh Lester was designated for assignment to create room for Fujinami on the 40-man roster.

Fujinami, a 29-year-old native of Sakai, Japan, made 34 appearances in his first major league season and posted an 8.57 ERA and 1.662 WHIP in 49 1/3 innings. He walked 30 batters and struck out 51.

Seven of those outings were starts, but the Orioles plan on using him in a relief role.

Dean Kremer didn’t view today’s start as some sort of revenge game. His goal was to give the Orioles a chance to win and avoid their first series sweep in 14 months. The opponent presented an opportunity to visit with friends from his former organization. Don’t read more into it.

Tyler Wells threw 40 pitches in the second inning last night and was done. Kremer threw 37 in the first and tried to rework the script.

The Orioles fell behind by two runs, answered back with four in the bottom of the first as a sudden rain shower sent fans scrambling for cover, and produced their 34^th comeback win to lead the majors. But Kremer fell one out short of qualifying for the decision.

Ramón Urías doubled twice and drove in three runs and Gunnar Henderson hit his 15^th home run in an 8-5 victory over the Dodgers before an announced crowd of 22,248 at Camden Yards. The bullpen covered the last 4 1/3 innings after Kremer was charged with five runs in 4 2/3.

The Rays lost in Texas and are percentage points behind the Orioles for first place as the teams begin a four-game series Thursday night at Tropicana Field.

Cedric Mullins’ latest trip to the injured list appears related to his previous stop, which lasted almost a month.

Mullins was shut down with a strained right groin. He exited Saturday’s game with tightness in his right quadriceps and returned to the IL this morning with a right adductor groin strain.

“It’s just his upper leg, so groin, quad,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “Felt it in his quad, originally. The soreness is moving around in that upper leg area. It’s a lower-body injury that we’re just going to take a little more time with.

“It has been progressing, but it’s not progressing at the rate that we were hoping, and so the right thing to do is make sure he’s all the way healthy and running well before we activate him.”

Mullins is eligible to return on Wednesday, which might be an overly ambitious goal.

The Orioles needed length out of their bullpen today and recalled Logan Gillaspie from Triple-A Norfork. Cedric Mullins has gone on the 10-day injured list with a right adductor groin strain, a move that’s retroactive to Sunday.

Mullins hasn’t played since Saturday night, when the club announced that he felt tightness in his right quadriceps. He missed almost a month with a groin injury before returning on June 24.

The roster is back to 13 pitchers and 13 position players.

Gillaspie has appeared in 11 games with the Orioles and posted a 6.00 ERA and 2.111 WHIP in nine innings. He’s made 21 appearances with Norfolk and registered a 3.91 ERA and 1.478 WHIP in 23 innings.

Gillaspie’s last appearance was Sunday, when he tossed one inning.

John Means has adjusted his target return date to Sept. 1, hoping that he’s experienced the last of his setbacks following Tommy John surgery.

The elbow is fine, but Means sustained a strain in his left teres major, a muscle in the scapula/upper back region, while participating in non-throwing activation drills in May during his rehab program.

The Orioles used to view Means as a potential in-house trade deadline acquisition, but the strain eliminated July as a possibility for reinstatement from the 60-day injured list.

Means threw his third bullpen session yesterday, mixing in his changeup for the first time. The other two were strictly fastballs.

“I should do a couple of these and a couple with all the pitches,” Means said, “and then should be back throwing to hitters pretty quickly.”