HOUSTON – Behind a pitching staff that seems to be finding a higher gear in recent days, the Orioles have pulled off, on back-to-back days, two of their most impressive wins during a year filled with such games.

The latest surprising result was their 2-0 shutout of Houston Friday night in front of 31,035 at Minute Maid Park. The Astros were held to four singles. The same Astros that began the night with the best record in the American League at 81-45 and with a seven-game home win streak. The same team that is 42-18 at home this year and 27-8 in their last 35 at home.

The Orioles (66-59) moved seven games over the .500 mark for the first time since May 22, 2017. 

O’s starting pitchers have their first back-to-back outings of seven innings or more all year, and right-hander Kyle Bradish threw an O’s season-high eight innings, allowing two hits on 96 pitches. He did that against one of the best offenses in baseball, and when the coaches checked on him when he was at 85 pitches after seven innings, he told them he wanted to keep going.

“They asked how I felt and I was like, ‘I’m just getting started,'" Bradish said. "Felt really good, velo was still there. Means a lot showcasing my ability against the best team."

HOUSTON – For an Orioles team searching many nights for offense recently, one swing can make a big difference. It did on Thursday night and Kyle Stowers was the hitter then. It did Friday night in the series opener at Houston and Ramón Urías had the huge swing.

The Orioles third baseman broke up a 0-0 tie and ended a night of mostly frustration on offense for his squad when he blasted a two-run homer to left. The sixth-inning blast helped lead the Orioles to 2-0 win over Houston behind a gem from right-hander Kyle Bradish.

Making his 16^th big league start, Bradish had one spectacular night on the mound for the Orioles.

The rookie had a 4.21 ERA in five starts since coming off the injured list. His strong outing tonight came against the team that ranks third in the league in runs, second in homers, third in slugging and OPS and with the second fewest strikeouts at bat.

Bradish spun eight scoreless innings at the Astros, allowing just two hits: a single in the fourth by Kyle Tucker and another in the seventh by Alex Bregman.

HOUSTON – The Orioles begin a tough two-city road trip tonight when they play the Houston Astros in the first of three games at Minute Maid Park. Houston holds the best record in the American League, and after three games there the Orioles play three at Cleveland against the American League Central leading Guardians.

The Orioles return home a week from tonight for a long homestand against Oakland, Toronto and Boston.

But after their remarkable win last night by 4-3 over the Chicago White Sox, the Orioles take a series victory and some momentum into this series. Kyle Stowers homered with two outs on an 0-2 pitch to tie the game in the ninth, and Anthony Santander’s single to deep center field produced the walk-off win in the 11^th.

The win marked their ninth walk-off win of the year and the Orioles are now 8-4 in extra innings, 18-21 in one-run games, and 3-51 when trailing after eight innings. They earned their 29th comeback win of the season, the most by the O’s since 2017 (34). Entering yesterday, their 29 comeback wins ranked tied for third in the AL. And the Orioles finished 5-2 (.714) against the White Sox this year, their best winning percentage in a single season against Chicago-AL since going 5-1 (.833) in 2014.

Houston beat Minnesota 6-3 Thursday to complete a three-game sweep, and Houston (81-45) has won four games in a row by a combined eight runs. Houston is leading the AL West by 12.5 games over Seattle and holds the best record in the AL by 3.5 games over the New York Yankees.

HOUSTON – Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias is on this road trip with the Orioles and told reporters today in the Orioles dugout that no decision has been made yet as to whether Gunnar Henderson, ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the sport by Baseball America, will be called up to the Orioles.

“We are watching everything he is doing carefully,” Elias said. “And having ongoing conversations about when and how he might factor into that in 2022, but no decisions have been made. But it’s obviously something we are monitoring and very pleased where he is at as a 21-year-old that started the year in Double-A.

“We do (see rosters) expand on Sept. 1. We are, obviously, going to be adding one position player and one pitcher. I don’t know who those are. Everything changes day to day in baseball. Somebody could get hurt. We’re just going to have to see. He’s put himself in a spot to be considered but he’s still having ups and downs in Triple-A on a nightly basis, and we’re watching that too.”

Henderson, in 108 games between Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk, has batted .292/.415/.531/.946 with 19 homers and 75 RBIs.

Elias was asked what Henderson still needs to show to get his shot with the Orioles.

The transaction date was Aug. 5, 2021 and it probably didn’t register big around Birdland at that time. But the Orioles had claimed a one-time top 100 prospect, infielder Jorge Mateo on waivers from San Diego. He had a lot of speed but the promise he once showed had not materialized yet at the big-league level.

Of course, he had never gotten an extended chance really to show what he can do, getting just 121 plate appearances in 79 games with San Diego. He was already 25 when he broke in there during the 2020 season.

But now the player that once was ranked as high as No. 26 by Baseball America in its 2016 top 100 is thriving finally on the Orioles watch. He made a good first impression late last season, batting .280 with a .748 OPS in 32 games and that meant he might get a real chance this year.

He has and he’s run with it.

In the first half it was solid and steady defense at short that he showed along with that blinding speed. But in the second half, his bat has come to life. And while his overall numbers heading into last night’s game with a .233 average and .690 OPS, are below big-league average, it’s his recent hitting that now has him ranked among the top shortstops in the American League per FanGraphs.com Wins Above Replacement.

After they have exchanged 5-3 wins – with the Orioles winning by that margin on Tuesday night and the White Sox doing so last night – the Birds and ChiSox play their series-deciding game tonight at Camden Yards.

The Orioles (64-59) are 8-9 in rubber match games this season and won the last one they played, beating the Red Sox in Williamsport, Pa., on Sunday night in the Little League Classic.

The Orioles have allowed two runs in each first inning of the two games in this series. The first inning has been their worst inning this season, one where they have been outscored by 26 runs 66-40. The next worst inning for the Orioles is the fifth, where they have been outscored 75-68. The team has a first-inning ERA of 4.68.

The O’s offense has produced eight runs and 11 hits (going 11-for-59, .186) in this series with two doubles and two homers while going 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position.

The Orioles are now 36-24 at home and are 18-7 their past 25 home games.

At 38, catcher Robinson Chirinos is the oldest Oriole and the third oldest catcher in Major League Baseball. He brings experience to his job but also a real enthusiasm about being part of a larger group of players that truly make up a team. There are times in baseball when a veteran impacts a team even without playing a lot.

Chirinos is doing that now for the 2022 Orioles.

Manager Brandon Hyde has praised him often this year: early in the season for his play on the field before Adley Rutschman arrived and bumped him to the No. 2 catcher job, and lately for his leadership and ability to root on and support teammates in a role that he has come to completely embrace.

Chirinos remains a big part of the O’s winning ways, even though the kid sent him to the bench when he arrived in May.

“I thought at some point during the season it was going to happen and knew that when I signed here in the offseason. Knew Adley was coming up and it was a matter of time,” Chirinos said before Wednesday’s game. “I was trying to do everything I could to help the team when I was playing every day. But now in my role, do the same thing, just different. I’m not in the field every day but I know I can impact this ballclub every single day.

After winning three of their last four games and now with a 13-7 record in August, the O's need just one more win to clinch a third straight winning month. That is something the Orioles have not done in six years.

They need one win in the next seven games to clinch another winning month, after going 16-9 in July and 14-12 in June. The Orioles have not had three straight winning months since April (14-9), May (14-13), and June (19-9) of 2016.

The Orioles took a 3-2 lead last night on Ryan Mountcastle’s 18^th homer in the last of the first inning. They never trailed in a 5-3 win over the Chicago White Sox, which was wrapped up when right-hander Félix Bautista recorded a five-out save. Tonight the Orioles host Chicago in the second game of this three-game series.

The Orioles (64-58) moved six games over the .500 mark last night for the fourth time this season. They are 3-2 on this seven-game homestand, with both losses coming by one run and with their past two wins coming by the same 5-3 score. The Orioles are 36-23 at home for the year and are 18-6 in their past 24 home games.

The Orioles are 18-12 in the second half, and their 40-23 record since June 11 is one of the best in the majors in that span. They are winning at a .635 clip in that time frame, which would produce 103 wins over a full year.

By at least one measure, the Orioles' Jorge Mateo is among the best shortstops right now in the American League. When it comes to FanGraphs.com Wins Above Replacement (fWAR), he ranks third right now ahead of players like Carlos Correa, Bo Bichette, Amed Rosario and Bobby Witt Jr.

Boston’s Xander Bogaerts leads all AL shortstops in fWAR at 4.2, and next is Corey Seager of Texas at 3.9 and then Mateo at 2.8.

“I think it’s always really good to hear that you are in those types of conversations. That is something I want to be a part of," Mateo said today with the help of team translator Brandon Quinones. "To hear your name come up like that and to hear you are doing a good job and you are up there among the best is something I am really proud of and take a lot of pride in.”

In 44 games since July 1, Mateo is batting .294/.342/.538 (42-for-143) with nine doubles, four triples, six home runs, 27 runs scored, 25 RBIs, nine walks and nine stolen bases. On Sunday night his three-run double in the eighth broke a 2-2 tie with Boston. Last night his RBI single in the seventh extended the O’s lead over the Chicago White Sox to 5-3.

Since the All-Star break, he is batting .317/.355/.574 (32-for-101) with seven doubles, two triples, five home runs, 20 runs scored, 20 RBIs, five walks and six stolen bases in 29 games. And his .929 OPS since the break ranks 11th in the AL.

The latest save for rookie right-hander Félix Bautista was among his greatest saves of this year. He got save No. 9 last night as the Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox 5-3 in the series opener.

This one required heavy lifting and more blazing fastballs.

Bautista needed to get five big outs and pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth. He threw one fastball 103.1 mph, making him one of eight pitchers in the Statcast era (since 2015) to throw a pitch at least 103.0 mph.

Since the O's traded closer Jorge Lopez to Minnesota, Bautista is 6-for-6 in save chances with an ERA of 1.74 and 15 strikeouts in 10 1/3.

Before Tuesday's game, O’s manager Brandon Hyde said that since that trade, he’s been quite impressed with how the inexperienced Bautista has both done in the closer’s role and how he has handled the ninth inning challenge.

The Orioles have eight games left in August and 41 remaining in the regular season as they host the Chicago White Sox tonight to continue their homestand, which took a detour Sunday night to Williamsport, Pa.

The Orioles (63-58) won that game 5-2 over the Boston Red Sox to win another series. The Orioles are 19-17-4 in series play in 2022. They have lost five of nine games, but over longer stretches have won 12 of 19 and 28 of the last 42 games. They are 35-23 at home.

The Orioles begin play tonight 2.5 games behind for the final American League wild card playoff spot. Minnesota is three games back of that spot, and the White Sox (62-60) are four games behind.

Of the 41 games the O's have left, 26 are against current winning teams and 15 are against teams with losing records. Of the 26 games with the winning clubs, they will play Toronto 10 times, Houston seven times and three each against the White Sox, Guardians and Yankees. Of the games against opponents now under .500, they will play Boston seven times, meet Oakland and Detroit for three games each, and go to Washington for two.

Of those 41 games, they will play 23 at home and 18 on the road. They have 20 games remaining against AL East opponents and actually more (21) outside of the division. Their next 12 games are versus non-AL East opponents.

Coming off an uplifting win Sunday that provided the Orioles a series victory, for their next test tonight they open a series against the Chicago White Sox and face one of the best pitchers in the sport.

Sox righty Dylan Cease (12-5, 2.09 ERA), 26, ranks second in the American League and the major leagues in ERA to Houston’s Justin Verlander at 1.95. Cease ranks first in the AL in strikeouts per nine innings at 12.0, third in opponent average at .200 and 12^th in WHIP at 1.167.

He faced the Orioles June 26 and was the winning pitcher, going seven innings while allowing one run and four hits and notching a season-high 13 strikeouts.

“It’s always exciting to face the best,” O’s center fielder Cedric Mullins said. “If you are able to come out on top it puts a chip on your shoulder for the next guy you face.”

As he's leading off, Mullins will get the first chance to see Cease tonight. And first chance to start a rally.

If the Orioles decide soon to make the call to bring top prospect Gunnar Henderson to the major leagues for the first time, they’ll be getting a player who has impressed both prospects analysts and his own teammates.

Outfielder Kyle Stowers, who got his own call to rejoin the Orioles on Friday, has been a teammate of Henderson much of this year at Triple-A Norfolk.

He provided a ringing endorsement of the talents and more that Henderson would bring to the Orioles.

“He is a special individual,” Stowers said before Sunday’s game in Williamsport, Pa. “Obviously, his athletic ability is impressive. But also, how strong he is. You know he is a special talent. What I’ve been impressed with and I’ve been around him since 2019 is every time there is a gap when I see him, he comes back leaps and bounds better than he was before. The rate at which he has progressed has been incredible.

“The first time I was actually on a team with him in affiliate ball (was this year) but just so impressed with the talent and even more so how he handles things. Even though they are not as frequent, when he would have a tough game, he is the same guy. Consistently getting himself ready and his prep work is the same every day. He is always in good spirits, and I think it is things like that that make me believe the sky is the limit for him. He is just a guy you want to root for. Such a good kid and so mature for his age.”

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – For the Orioles it felt like and it really was a big game. A chance to shine on national television. The rubber match in a key series versus an AL East opponent. And needing a win to stay within striking distance of an AL playoff spot.

When Boston’s Franchy Cordero hit a pinch-hit homer to tie the game in the eighth, the O’s needed some late-inning magic. They got it with a three-run double off the bat of shortstop Jorge Mateo to beat the Red Sox 5-2 in the Little League Classic at Bowman Field.

They improved to 63-58 overall and to 12-7 this month to stay within 2.5 games of a playoff spot.

“I definitely think every game is a big game now and we treat it as such,” said catcher Adley Rutschman who singled and scored in the O's two-run first inning. “We wanted to give the kids as good an experience as we could. But once game time started, it was all about the game. I think we have a lot of guys with a lot of maturity on this team that could compartmentalize two things.”

Rutschman was not biting his tongue when a reporter asked him about becoming the face of the team.

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – It was certainly not another breakout game for the Orioles offense like when they scored 15 on Friday, but all wins count the same. And the Orioles got an important one tonight in the fifth annual Little League Classic.

After scoring twice in the first, their offense was dormant until the eighth tonight. Boston pitching then opened the door for a rally, and shortstop Jorge Mateo kicked it in as the Orioles beat the Red Sox 5-3.

The O's came to bat in the eighth tied 2-2 and Matt Barnes walked Ramón Urías with one out. Righty John Schreiber came on and he hit Austin Hays and walked Rougned Odor to hand the O's a bases-loaded rally.

Mateo then smoked a 2-1 sinker down the left-field line for a three-run double. The ball had 101 mph exit velocity and was a huge hit for Mateo, who was batting .287 his last 42 games. 

Hoping to ride out a 2-1 win on the strength of first-inning runs, the O's were tied up 2-2 on a pinch-hit homer by Boston in the top of the eighth.

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – The Orioles officially have a home game tonight versus Boston although they have traveled north to Williamsport, Pa. to play in the Little League Classic.

After a 15-10 Orioles win on Friday night and 4-3 loss on Saturday, the teams play the third and deciding game of this series tonight at historic Bowman Field, home of the Williamsport Crosscutters of the MLB Draft League.

It's the fifth annual Little League Classic.

The O’s trailed 3-0 in the last of the seventh yesterday and scored twice to pull within 3-2 that inning on a Kyle Stowers' RBI groundout and a wild pitch that scored Jorge Mateo. Boston would take a 4-2 lead in the top of the ninth before the O’s pulled back within a run on another Stowers grounder. But that was as close as they got.

The Orioles (62-58) have lost three straight one-run games and are 17-21 in one-run decisions for the season. Overall, Baltimore has lost three of four and five of the last eight games.

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – After their visit earlier today to the Little League World Series site, including Lamade Stadium and interactions with numerous Little Leaguers, the Orioles have moved over to Bowman Field where they are scheduled to play the Red Sox tonight to wrap up a three-game series.

There has been heavy rain in the area this afternoon with steady rain still falling after 4 p.m. today. The clubs are hopeful they will get this one in. For the Orioles, it is a chance to show a national audience on ESPN how much their team has improved this year.

“We haven’t been on the national stage very often, if at all," Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. "And to be able to have our guys be seen across the country, the only game that is going, I think it’s a big deal for a lot of our players. Lot of those guys have not been in postseason or on Sunday Night Baseball before. To be able to showcase and to be able to have friends and family watch on national TV, our guys will take a lot out of that."

Hyde said center fielder Cedric Mullins, who didn’t play Saturday after fouling a ball off his shin Friday, will be in tonight’s lineup. And he’s leading off in center.

“He’s going to get some treatment here and his foot feels better,” Hyde said.

If you want to be surprised by a stat, how about this one: In August, the Orioles rank second in the American League in runs scored. That sure seems unlikely but they have scored 90 runs in 18 games, going 11-7 in the month.

But recent losses sure do stand out and many of them came because the offense didn't produce big numbers. Sure there was a 15-run breakout on Friday but it didn't carry into Saturday when Boston's Michael Wacha held the Orioles scoreless over 5 2/3 and the Red Sox evened this series with a 4-3 win.

"We had a tough time getting a rally going against (Wacha)," said manager Brandon Hyde after the game. "Good to see us make a run late like usual but just came up a run short today."

The Orioles have scored just 13 runs in their past seven losses, scoring one, three, two, one, one, two and three runs. 

They have lost three of four games, going without a homer in the three losses but hitting five in the one win.

After their biggest offensive night of the season, scoring their most runs since they got 18 on June 6, 2021 versus Cleveland, the Orioles look for a second win over Boston today at Camden Yards. 

If they get it, they will be 3-1 this year in series against the Red Sox. The O's took two of three at home in late April, went 3-2 at Boston in late May and were 0-1 Aug. 11 at Boston (that one game does count as a series).

The Orioles (62-57) begin play today 1.5 games back of Tampa Bay for the third AL wild card spot with Minnesota just 1/2 behind the Rays. 

The Orioles are now 34-22 at home and have won 16 of their last 21 games at Oriole Park. 

On the mound today for the Orioles will be right-hander Kyle Bradish (1-4, 6.38 ERA), who gave up six hits and three runs over 4 2/3 innings on Monday versus Toronto. In four starts since coming off the injured list, he has an ERA of 4.05, allowing nine earned runs over 20 innings. In that span, he has given up a .253 batting average and .741 OPS.

If there were any reasons for concern about the Orioles offense - and surely there were throughout Birdland after Thursday's loss - they were washed away for at least one night amid an avalanche of offense.

The O's kept scoring and kept hitting home runs in a 15-10 win over Boston Friday night in front of 33,136 at Oriole Park. The O's set a season high for runs and missed a season high for hits by one, producing 18. 

They tied a season high with five homers as Jorge Mateo, Anthony Santander, Adley Rutschman, Ryan Mountcastle and Ramón Urías all connected. The last three hit by Rutschman, Mountcastle and Urías went 422, 428 and 432 feet, respectively. 

Boston pulled within 10-9 during an ugly-for-the-Orioles five-run top of the fifth. But the O's washed away that bad taste by scoring five runs in their home half.

They moved to within 1.5 games of the third American League wild card spot and won for the 16th time in their last 21 home games.