When last seen in the major leagues, lefty Bruce Zimmermann was really struggling with the Orioles. On June 15 at Toronto’s Rogers Centre, the Baltimorean allowed 11 hits and six runs, including three homers, to the Blue Jays. That left his ERA at 5.94 through 13 big league starts and he was optioned to Triple-A the next day.

Zimmermann, who returned to the Orioles active roster today with Beau Sulser optioned out, was recalled to pitch out of the bullpen. He said he was not surprised the team sent him to Norfolk when it did.

After getting off to a fast start this year, his ERA was 9.79 in his last six O’s starts, and in that span he gave up 15 homers over 30 1/3 innings.

“No (not surprised to get sent down then),” he said in the clubhouse today. “My last couple of outings were not what they were compared to the beginning of the year or what I expect of myself or what they expect of a starter in the AL East. It wasn’t a shock.”

So over three games and 18 innings with the Tides, Zimmermann worked on his pitches, his mental outlook, his confidence and tightening up his slider. He returned today feeling better about his pitching and better about getting the feel for his changeup.

It is quite amazing, but for the third time in the last five games the Orioles produced a walk-off win last night, and each time they were down to their last out in the ninth inning and they either tied the game to extend it or, in the case of last night, scored three runs with two outs and none on to win it.

Wasn't it just a couple of days ago that the Orioles lost back-to-back walk-offs in Minnesota and were a team in a mini crisis?

Monday, on the Fourth of July, they were down by a run with one out left in the ninth when Adley Rutschman’s double tied the game and the Orioles won in 10 innings. Next night, same thing in terms of being down to the last out. Then Rougned Odor homered and they won it in 10 against Texas.

Last night there were two outs and none on bottom nine when Odor singled and stole second and third. Rutschman’s double on a 3-2 pitch pulled Baltimore within 4-3. Cedric Mullins’ RBI single on a 1-2 pitch tied it, and he reached second on the throw home. He scored the winning run on Trey Mancini’s single to left on a 3-2 pitch. The Orioles scored three in the ninth and beat the Los Angeles Angels 5-4. 

Three straight huge, clutch hits.

Behind improved pitching and the ability to pull out some close games, the Orioles have crafted a five-game winning streak. They try to extend that tonight in the second game of a four-game series versus the Los Angeles Angels.

Jordan Lyles allowed just one run over six innings and Adley Rutschman hit his fourth big league homer and first at Camden Yards in Thursday’s 4-1 win. O’s pitchers held the Angels to six hits, and the O’s five-game win streak has come by eight total runs.

It is their longest win streak since they took six in a row from Aug. 7-13, 2020.

The Orioles have now moved within four games of the .500 mark (40-44) by winning 10 of their last 15 games and 16 of 25. They are 19-14 since June 1 and 33-30 since May 1. They are now 22-17 at home and are 9-3 in their past 12 games at the Yard.

The Angels (38-46) have tied a season low at eight games under the .500 mark after losing the series opener. They have lost five of six and 10 of 15 games. They went 4-2 versus the Orioles last season but are 1-3 this year in the season series.

It was another night, another win and another evening of solid Orioles pitching from beginning to end of the game. They have now won five straight after Thursday’s 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels to get to 40-44. They are 10-5 over the last 15 games and 16-9 over the past 25 games.

Right-hander Jordan Lyles was the latest O’s starter to provide a quality start, something Baltimore's pitchers have now done in six of the last nine games. Lyles allowed just one run in six innings plus one batter as he improved to 5-7 and lowered his ERA to 4.50. He has produced three quality starts over his last four outings, pitching to an ERA of 2.81 in that span.

And O’s starting pitchers are on quite a roll right now. They have allowed one earned run or less in 15 of the last 20 games, pitching to an ERA of 2.46 in that span.

Orioles pitchers have allowed two runs or less 12 times in the last 20 games and the club is 11-1 in those dozen games. So yeah, pretty good.

Overall, Baltimore pitchers have allowed 45 runs the last 15 games and 58 over the past 20. 

After completing their first three-game series sweep of the season on Wednesday night, the Orioles welcome the Los Angeles Angels to town tonight to begin a four-game series to wrap up a seven-game homestand.

The homestand has started quite well for the Orioles, who, after recording 10-inning walk-off wins on Monday and Tuesday, beat Texas 2-1 last night, holding the Rangers to six hits as the O’s completed the sweep, winning each game by one run.

The Orioles' last six games have been decided by seven total runs. They lost the first two of this stretch via walk-off losses in Minnesota, and now have won the last four.

The Orioles (39-44) are playing .470 baseball and on a pace to finish the 2022 season going 76-86. They have won nine of the last 14 and 15 of 24 games. They are 18-14 since June 1 and 32-30 since May 1. They improved to 21-17 at home.

The Orioles recorded a three-game sweep for the first time since July 23-25, 2021 versus Washington, and they have now won eight of their last 11 games at Oriole Park. They have matched a season long with four consecutive wins. The O’s swept the Rangers in a series for the first time since July 17-20, 2017, when the O’s took all four games at Oriole Park.

It was a father and son sitting together in a baseball stadium. But these weren't just any two men. It was the interim manager of the Los Angeles Angels Phil Nevin sitting next to his son Tyler, an Orioles infielder. Tonight as the elder Nevin continues to serve a suspension he will get a rare treat. The ability to watch his son’s big league game.

His 10-game suspension will end Saturday and then he will manage against his son’s Orioles team. Today father and son talked about what figures to be a very, very special next four days for the Nevin family.

The last time the dad saw the son play a pro game Tyler was playing in Hartford, Conn., in 2019 in Double-A and his dad was a Yankees coach and drove two hours to see part of a game. He saw five or six of Tyler's games that year.

“It’s special,” Phil Nevin said sitting next to his son in the O’s dugout earlier. “You really have to ask me some questions after Saturday’s game as I really have no idea what to expect. We were meeting with the staff earlier and going over some things we normally do (to prepare) for the game and I got to his name and I didn’t even know what to call him. I finally said Nevin and the whole room laughed. So, it will be different. Tonight, tomorrow, just being able to watch him play a big league game if he gets in there would be special for any parent, right? Unfortunately, I have to watch it from upstairs, but maybe this is how it is all supposed to be.”

So how will dad try to get son out if he comes up in a key spot?

During a sensational season when he was promoted from Double-A to Triple-A and continued to put up good numbers and then hit for the cycle, O’s prospect Gunnar Henderson added another honor today. He has been selected to play for the American League team in the All-Star Futures Game.

Henderson, the youngest player in the International League, is the only O’s prospect selected for the seven-inning game with the American League prospects facing the young stars from National League affiliates. It takes place Saturday, July 16 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles at 7 p.m. ET.

Henderson, who just turned 21 on June 29, has had a Player of the Year type of season on the O’s farm this year. He got off to a strong start with Double-A Bowie, and on June 6 it was announced that he and teammate Jordan Westburg were being promoted to Triple-A Norfolk. Two days later they played their first game there. Henderson homered in his first Triple-A game.

For the season between the two teams over 72 games, he has batted .298/.429/.548/.977 and scored 66 runs to go with 16 doubles, four triples, 13 homers and 51 RBIs. He has walked 58 times and struck out 68.

He hit the ground running this year and posted an .885 OPS in April with Bowie, and then really turned it up weeks later, posting a 1.079 OPS in May. On June 28 he hit for the cycle for Norfolk, one day before his 21^st birthday. He singled in the first, recorded a two-run triple in the third, hit a solo homer in the fifth and doubled in the sixth. It was the first cycle by a Norfolk player since Timo Pérez on June 9, 2000.

We are now less than two weeks away from the First-Year Player Draft, where for the third time in draft history the Orioles will have the No. 1 overall pick. They selected pitcher Ben McDonald out of LSU No. 1 in 1989 and catcher Adley Rutschman No. 1 out of Oregon State in 2019.

Now for the second time in four drafts, they again pick 1/1.

Here are the latest top five player draft rankings, which includes four high school players at the top, by MLBPipeline.com:

* No. 1 – Georgia high school outfielder Druw Jones. He is the son of five-time All-Star and 10-time Gold Glove winner Andruw Jones. The 18-year-old Jones gets 70 tool grades for running and fielding, and he could grow into plus power, too.

* No. 2 – Oklahoma high school shortstop Jackson Holliday. Yes, another son of a famous father, his dad is a seven-time All-Star outfielder. The younger Holliday has an impressive advanced hitting approach, and added size and strength this year.

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.