During his postgame interview Sunday after he drove in two runs as the Orioles beat Texas 3-2, outfielder Austin Hays noted that his pre-game planning work was paying off during the games.

He is having one solid season for the Orioles. Over 50 games, Hays is batting .311/.354/.506/.860 with 13 doubles, two triples, six homers and 23 RBIs. He ranks fourth in the American League in batting average and 12th in OPS. 

His OPS was .719 last season and now he has gained 141 points on that. Hays ranks in the top 19 percent of the majors in average exit velocity and the top 16 percent in barrel percentage. He's hitting the ball hard and getting quality results. 

This time, in a pregame interview, Hays explained more fully what he meant by that comment on Sunday. And what was coming together so well for him in his pregame work and pregame planning with the club’s hitting coaches.

“Specifically (I was referring to) how the pitcher’s ball moves on his fastball and his offspeed stuff and being able to go into the cage and set the machines up for those exact movements and angles and train what I need to think to be able to attack the ball the right way. In the pregame work, we put together a plan and have a visualization of what the ball is going to look like. Especially if it is someone we haven’t faced before or in a while,” he said.

During this month of May, the Orioles have twice won series after losing the first game of that series. They have a chance to do it again against Cleveland after losing 5-0 on Monday to the Guardians in a game that took just two hours and 19 minutes. The Orioles were held to just five hits by three Cleveland pitchers in front of 25,249 at Oriole Park on Memorial Day.

Baltimore (34-20) remained four games behind Tampa Bay for first in the American League East as the Rays also lost yesterday. The Orioles were shut out for the fourth time this season, all since May 3 and all in the last 25 games.

The Orioles are now 1-3 on this homestand and are 6-5 over the last 11 games. They went 13-9 in a 22-game stretch of games versus winning-record clubs that ended Sunday. But they lost to the Guardians (24-29) Monday as Cleveland won for just the fifth time in the last 13 games. Cleveland is now 8-10 in series-opening games and the Orioles are 13-5.

The Orioles dropped a third straight series opener and fourth in their last five series after beginning the season 13-0 in the first game of a series. They were shut out for the first time since May 14 versus Pittsburgh. The O’s have lost four of the last five games at Oriole Park after starting the season 15-7 at home.

Cleveland won a series opener away from Progressive Field for the first time since May 1 at Yankee Stadium. The Guardians shut out an opponent for the fifth time this season, the first time since May 22 against the White Sox. Their last team shutout on the road was on April 1 at Seattle, when Cleveland snapped a three-game road losing streak.

For Orioles infielder Adam Frazier, a key reason the club went 13-9 over a 22-game run versus winning clubs is that they never got ahead of themselves. A basic and somewhat boring one-game-at-a-time approach was critical for the Orioles to not only look at the task directly in front of them, but to have success and win key series against teams like the Rays, Yankees and Blue Jays.

“It’s been a good two months for us so far,” Frazier said recently about the club’s solid 34-20 start which has them with the third-best record in MLB. “Just taking it one day at a time really. Being in the AL East, it’s never easy. It’s the only way we can approach it, taking it one day at a time. Just need to play our game, play good hard, sound baseball and that gives us a chance to win every day.

“It’s been a tough stretch for sure. We knew coming into this stretch, we were playing really good baseball, but no one gave us much credit. We were winning games, I guess, people were saying we were supposed to. So, all we are doing is taking it one day at a time. With such a tough schedule, that is the best way to approach it and you’ll have success this way.”

Among O’s regulars, Frazier and catcher Adley Rutschman are the only Orioles to have a one-to-one walk-to-strikeout ratio or in Rutschman’s case better with 41 walks to 31 strikeouts. Entering the series opener with Cleveland, Frazier was at 17 walks and strikeouts.

The 9.4 walk rate was a bit better than league average of 8.5. The 9.4 K rate is vastly better than league average at 22.4 and would be a career-best if maintained. Frazier had a 10.8 K rate in 2021 and it was 12.1 last year.

After a 22-game stretch of games against winning teams – one where the Orioles went 13-9 (.591) – they play a team with an under-.500 record today, hosting Cleveland (23-29) to open a three-game series at Oriole Park. 

The Orioles' 3-2 win over Texas on Sunday enabled them to take the final game of the series, avoid being swept three straight and avoid their second three-game losing streak of the 2023 season.

The Orioles (34-19) are now 16-10 at home and 15-10 this month. They are 12-4-1 in series this year and 11-2-1 in the past 14 series. They are 5-2-1 in home series and 13-4 in series-opening games heading into another one today against the Guardians.

The Orioles scored just eight runs in the three-game series versus Texas. They had 21 hits over the weekend and went 7-for-20 (.350) batting with runners in scoring position.

During the 22-game stretch versus Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, the Los Angeles Angels, Toronto, the New York Yankees and Texas they scored 94 runs, producing on average 4.27 runs per game.

Sunday’s game against Texas ended a 22-game run for the Orioles against clubs with winning records. After playing a much softer schedule before this stretch, this span of games showed us the Orioles, who earlier beat some second-division clubs, can beat some good teams too.

With Sunday's 3-2 win over Texas the Orioles went 4-2-1 in the seven series and 13-9 in those 22 games against Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, the Los Angeles Angels, Toronto, the New York Yankees and Texas.

Going 13-9 produced a .591 win percentage, which over a full season, would produce 96 wins. Playing that schedule at a 96-win pace is more than holding your own.

There was an impressive series win over the Tampa Bay Rays where they lost the first game. The 5-1 road trip to Toronto and New York. Even in losing the series at Atlanta to begin this run on May 5, they lost a pair of one-run games in that series, one that went 12 innings.

The Orioles showed the league and any remaining doubters, that they can play with good clubs and have set themselves up to contend for a playoff spot this year.

During an outstanding season when they have played .635 baseball and have the third-best record in the major leagues, the Orioles (33-19) have lost only four series. They have not been swept in any of them.

For the latter statement to remain true, they’ll have to beat the Texas Rangers (33-18) today. Texas has won the first two games of this series to move ahead of Baltimore for the second-best record in the major leagues and to have a chance for a sweep today.

The Orioles have not only not been swept in any series, they have not lost the first two games of any series until Texas beat them this weekend by 12-2 Friday and 5-3 yesterday.

The American League West leaders, Texas had lost eight of its last nine games versus the Orioles, going 0-6 in the season series last year, until its win on Friday night at Oriole Park. Per Elias Sports Bureau, this series is just the second time ever that the Orioles and Rangers have met with both teams at least 13 games over the .500 mark. The other time it happened was in August 2016.

With a series win this weekend, Texas is 7-1-1 in its last nine series and 11-2-1 in its last 14 series. Their series record for the season thus far is 12-4-1.

At age 27 and after two previous seasons seeing some big league time, it appears things are finally starting to click for right-hander Mike Baumann. He was drafted by the club in round three of the 2017 MLB Draft and has been ranked among the Orioles' top 30 prospects coming up through the minors.

He was ranked as high as Baltimore's No. 8 prospect by Baseball America in 2021 and has been ranked every year since 2018.

The debate, at least for now, as to whether he is a starter or reliever is over. The club made the call during spring training to move him into a bullpen role. And his last three outings, all on the Toronto-New York road trip, were scoreless.

He showed good life on his fastball and got some big outs against the Blue Jays and Yankees.

“It really just feels like everything is coming together,” Baumann said Friday in the O’s clubhouse. “Just feel a lot more comfortable in a spot where I can attack the hitters and be more aggressive. Really just not holding anything back. Trusting all the work I have been putting in and that makes it more fun.”

After their worst loss of the year by margin - falling by 10 runs to Texas - the Orioles host the Rangers this afternoon looking to bounce back from Friday's 12-2 defeat. The previous biggest loss margin of the year was by 6-0 on May 3 at Kansas City. 

Through the season's first 50 games, the Orioles had played an MLB-high 46 games decided by four runs or fewer. Last night was a rare blowout game they were involved in and they were on the wrong end as Texas scored eight runs in the fourth off right-hander Grayson Rodriguez, who was optioned back to Triple-A Norfolk after the game.

When the Orioles took two of three from Texas early last month on the road, they allowed just seven runs and 17 hits in three games. But a Rangers club that began the weekend leading MLB by scoring 6.33 runs per game, hit three homers and had 13 hits in last night's win. 

And now that runs per game average for the Rangers is up to 6.44 and they have scored 322 runs for the year. The Rangers have scored 10+ in an MLB-leading 13 games and have scored 5+ runs in an inning 15 times. They rank second in the majors with four or more runs scored in 36 games.

Texas leads MLB with 144 runs in May, along with a .286 BA and .812 OPS. The 322 runs scored are the most over the first 50 games of a season in franchise history, and is tied for 18th-most runs in a team's first 50 games of a season since 1901. The Rangers' season-best +122 run differential is tops in MLB.

When Orioles executive vice president Mike Elias provided a media update for O’s reporters on Friday, of course, the trade deadline came up. And my question for Elias was are the Orioles well positioned to be aggressive at this deadline if they choose to be?

After all they do seem positioned very well, with the top-ranked farm system in the sport - one which is deep in top 100 prospects and other quality young talent. And a lower payroll creates flexibility to take on some salary should they choose to do that.

“We are definitely preparing all types of scenarios,” said Elias in the O’s dugout pregame Friday. “And they are buy scenarios. I just think the deadline, so much of it that is murky with me, is who the sellers will be? What will other teams try to do? What will the standings look like?

“These extra playoff spots seem to have really changed the landscape and dynamic and the balanced schedule (adds to that). You just see some weird stuff going on in each division compared to one another. So, it is really not clear to me what that is going to look like.

“So we’re just trying to get a clear sense of the type of players that might provide the biggest impact for us, where those players might be coming from. And trying to gauge any likelihood that any of these players might be on the market in some way, shape or form. And then working on the evaluations right now.

With a 12-7 record in a 22-game stretch against clubs with winning records, which includes series wins over the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees, the Orioles return home tonight as a club playing .660 ball through the season’s first 50 games.

It is a stunningly strong start to a season they hope ends with them in the playoffs for the first time since the 2016 season. If the season ended today, they would hold the first American League wild card spot and would indeed be a playoff club.

This challenging stretch started May 5 at Atlanta. The Orioles won the opener but then lost twice by a run to lose that series 2-1. They then went 2-1 versus Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh and 2-2 versus the Los Angeles Angels. They went 3-0 at Toronto and 2-1 at New York. They are playing .632 ball the past 19 games, going 4-1-1 in the six series against quality opponents.

When the stretch began they were 4 1/2 games back of Tampa Bay for the AL East lead, and today they begin play three games back. The AL East standings as the weekend begins:

Tampa Bay 37-15

Orioles infielder Ramón Urías has been out since a game May 8 against Tampa Bay, on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain.

But he rejoined the active roster today after playing a couple of rehab games this week with High-A Aberdeen. He said he has passed every medical test and is ready to go.

“Very excited,” Urías said this afternoon in the Baltimore clubhouse. “It was a long two weeks, but the team is living a great moment and happy to join it. Glad we caught this in time and it wasn’t any worse.”

The best thing about his rehab games, he said, was just being healthy again.

“Was good to not be feeling any leg pain,” said Urías.

We probably might have believed the Orioles would be a good team this year and maybe even make a playoff run. But thinking they would play .660 ball the first 50 games or .632 ball the last 19 games against winning teams might have been a stretch.

But the Orioles are indeed 12-7 in the last 19 against Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, the Los Angeles Angels, Toronto and New York. They are indeed 33-17 and that win percentage would produce 107 wins over the full season.

The Tampa Bay Rays are the only team that can keep them out of first-place right now.

But while they trail the Rays by three games, they are now four games better than the Yankees, seven ahead of Boston and 7.5 up on Toronto. They are two games better than Atlanta and 2.5 better than the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

They have won four straight AL East series for the first time since June and July of 2016. And they have won back-to-back series in the Bronx for the first time since the 2016 season. They are 9-3 in their last 12 AL East contests and 11-7 (.611) for the year within the division.

The Orioles and New York Yankees have split two games in this series and play the third and rubber match game tonight in the Bronx. For the Orioles, it’s the end of a six-game AL East road trip where they have gone 3-0 at Toronto and 1-1 in New York.

The Orioles lost two of their first three series this year but they have gone 10-1-1 in series play since, losing only to Atlanta and splitting four with the Los Angeles Angels. They are 3-0-1 in their past four series and 3-2 in AL East series, winning their last three.

The Birds are 10-7 on the year in AL East games and are 8-3 in their past 11 division games.

They are 4-3 this season in rubber match games, which breaks down this way:

* Lost 9-5 at Boston

Start spreading the news – the Orioles scored eight runs in the seventh inning to stun the Yankees in the Bronx. The night before they had a 4-0 lead and lost. On this night they trailed by four in the seventh and won.

The eight-run inning was their most in any inning this year, topping the seven in the seventh on May 5 at Atlanta. It is their most in an inning since scoring nine in the eighth inning on Sept, 8, 2021 versus Kansas City. And this was their most runs in any inning in a road game since scoring nine in the seventh inning on April 4, 2016, at Texas.

According to Elias, the Sports Bureau, not the executive vice president, this was tied for the most runs scored in a single inning at the current or original Yankee Stadium in Baltimore team history. They also got eight in the third inning on June 5, 1989.

At 32-17, the Orioles remain three games behind Tampa Bay for the AL East lead, but they also moved back to three games ahead of the Yankees for second in the division.

The Orioles are now 4-12 when trailing after six innings.

A New York Yankees team that is playing good baseball right now produced a come-from-behind win last night, beating the Orioles 6-5 in 10 innings in the series opener at Yankee Stadium.

The Orioles are now 13-3 in series-opening games. They actually did not lose either of the first two series where they lost the first game. Tampa Bay beat the Orioles 3-0 May 8 in Baltimore in the series opener, but the Orioles took the series, winning the next two games. They also lost the opener 9-5 on May 15 to the Los Angeles Angeles, but won the next two games of that set and split a four-game series.

The Yankees (30-20) have won seven of their last eight games, nine of their last 11 games and 12 of the last 15 games. Tuesday’s victory marked their fourth walk-off win this season (also 4/19 vs. Los Angeles-AL, 4/22 vs. Toronto and 5/3 vs. Cleveland). They improved to 4-2 in extra-inning games, and each of their last three wins have been come-from-behind wins.

They have won a season-high five straight games to mark their longest winning streak since a seven-game run from Sept. 18-25, 2022. New York is a season-high 10 games over .500. And, at 15-5 (.750) over their last 20 games (since 5/2), the Yankees hold the best record in the majors in that span.

The Orioles (31-17) remain three games behind Tampa Bay for first-place in the American League East. Overall, they have won three of their past four, five of seven, nine of 13, 14 of 22 and 22 of the last 32 games. They are 16-9 on the road and 9-7 in games within the AL East.

The third straight extra-innings game was not the charm for the Orioles. And on a night when they pitched Aaron Judge well and he was 0-for-3, right-handed closer Félix Bautista made one poor pitch in the last of the ninth.

Two outs from another impressive win, the Orioles did not get them, losing 6-5 in 10 innings to the Yankees. This time there was no extra innings magic.

This created some frustration around Birdland no doubt as O's fans like to beat the Yankees just about as much as any club and nothing is more frustrating than seeing Judge homer against Baltimore.

The homer in the ninth was his 14th of this season and his eighth in the past nine games. It was his 38th in 91 career games versus O's pitching.

They could have just walked him, right?

The Orioles have won three straight American League East series, going 7-2 against Boston, Tampa Bay and Toronto. That mark will get challenged tonight as they open a three-game series in the Bronx against the New York Yankees. New York has been playing well lately, and has the best record in the majors since May 2.

The Yankees start right-hander Gerrit Cole (5-0, 2.01 ERA) tonight with lefty Nestor Cortes (4-2, 5.21) on tap tomorrow, so a real challenge is at hand for the surging Orioles.

But the Birds (31-16), who are three games behind Tampa Bay for both the best record in the majors and for first in the AL East, are coming off their impressive three-game sweep of Toronto. Playing in a ballpark where they went 0-10 in 2018, they swept that three-game series, outscoring the Blue Jays 20-10 over 30 innings of baseball in downtown Toronto.

On the year, the Orioles have the second-best record when AL East teams play each other:

.611 – Tampa Bay (11-7)

It is a question that is hard to answer: What makes the 2023 Orioles so good in series-opening games?

As they get ready for their latest series-opener tonight – against the New York Yankees in the Bronx – the O’s are 13-2 in series opening games this season, tied for the best mark in the majors and they are 8-0 in such games on the road. The latest win was by 6-2 Friday at Toronto, and you can’t sweep a series without getting the first one and they did. Yet again.

According to Stats Perform, the team tied with the Orioles for best series-opening record won't shock you - the Rays. (Through Sunday's games)

Orioles, 13-2 (.867)
Tampa Bay, 13-2 (.867)
Atlanta, 12-3 (.800)
Chicago Cubs, 10-5 (.667)
Los Angeles Dodgers, 10-5 (.667)

O’s manager Brandon Hyde provided this answer over the weekend about the club’s success in series openers.

TORONTO – It was not that long ago, during the 2018 season, that the Orioles went 0-10 at Toronto’s Rogers Centre. Things have changed in Birdland and this trip in produced a three-game sweep over 30 innings of baseball by a 20-10 score.

The Blue Jays (25-22) are now six games behind the Orioles in the standings, look very beatable and are suddenly a last-place team. But the Orioles did some things to make them look that way and Toronto is now 1-10 in its last 11 AL East games.

The Orioles are heading in a different direction. Since they lost two of three at Atlanta, the Birds are 9-4 with four straight series wins. Counting the Atlanta series they are 10-6 (.625) in this stretch against winning clubs that continues tomorrow in the Bronx. A team playing .625 ball over the full year would win 101 games.

No longer can anyone say the O’s have built their record against a weak schedule. The questions about “are the Orioles for real” are beginning to be replaced by “how good can these guys be?”

To build a roster that can win like this the Orioles have plenty of strengths and this weekend their bench looked like it qualifies as one. Ryan O’Hearn produced the massive three-run homer Saturday and Terrin Vavra’s pinch-hit two-run single helped key their five-run 11^th inning on Sunday.

TORONTO – The Orioles got a weekend’s worth of solid outings from their starting rotation and right-hander Dean Kremer joined the party today at Toronto’s Rogers Centre. But with a couple of key relievers not expected to pitch today, could the O’s bullpen hold a late lead without Yennier Cano and Felix Bautista?

They took a 2-1 lead to the last of the seventh, and after many missed chances earlier, Toronto did tie it up as reliever Mychal Givens made his season debut. He issued a leadoff walk and a bloop single followed. He would minimize the damage, but with one down, Matt Chapman's sac fly tied the game 2-2.

This game would go extra innings for the second day in a row in this series and the 2023 Orioles pulled out another one. With one amazing half inning. 

Each team scored in the tenth and then the Orioles plated five runs in the top of the 11th to record an impressive 8-3 win and a series sweep. They won on a day they could not use their entire bullpen and on a day they could not hold two one-run leads. 

The Orioles (31-16) recorded their first three-game sweep at Toronto since doing that April 22-24, 2005.