In the 2016 First-Year Player Draft, the Orioles selected outfielder Austin Hays out of Jacksonville University in the third round. The next year, after his first full professional year, Hays had a season among the best in all of the minor leagues. He was finalist for Baseball America’s Player of the Year.

After a season where Hays hit 32 homers and drove in 95 runs in high Single-A and Double-A, he was keeping company with some of the game’s brightest young stars. Ronald Acuña Jr. won Baseball America's Player of the Year award then, but Hays was a finalist with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette of Toronto. That winter, Baseball America ranked Hays No. 21 on its top 100 list.

While some injuries slowed Hays over the ensuing seasons, he finally stayed on the field a lot last season and posted a better-than-league-average .769 OPS for the Orioles, showing glimpses of his talent.

This year, that talent has been on full display. Hays has gone 12-for-21 his past six games and is batting .463 (19-for-41) his last 11 games. Since April 15, his average is among the best in the major leagues at .386. He has reached base 12 times his last 14 plate appearances after going 2-for-3 in Monday’s win over Kansas City.

Teammate Trey Mancini said he knew Hays could do this.

The Orioles offense took a while to get going today. But right-hander Tyler Wells was pretty good almost from the first pitch.

Wells held Kansas City's offense in check before his hitters could provide a big inning for Baltimore in the series finale.

The Orioles beat the Royals, 6-1, to win their fourth series of the year and to complete a 6-4 homestand. They are 12-17 for the year and have won four of five, six of nine and are 9-9 over their last 18 games.

The Orioles, who begin a road trip in St. Louis tomorrow, closed out this quick rain-delayed two-day, three-game set with a win and are 3-1-1 in their past five series.

Wells allowed a first-inning run when leadoff batter Bobby Witt Jr. singled, stole second and scored on Ryan O’Hearn’s two-out single to right-center. Then he shut down the Royals over the next five innings, needing just 49 pitches from the second inning on.

The Orioles' Ryan Mountcastle is mostly fine today after rolling his ankle during a stolen base of second in the first inning of Game 2 last night. Mountcastle stayed in the game then and is back in the lineup today, batting fifth as the DH in the series finale with Kansas City.

“Yeah, watching that, that didn’t looked good. But we dodged a bullet there and he feels good today. Think a little bit sore, but not too bad,” manager Brandon Hyde said of Mountcastle, who is 9-for-17 over his past four games.

The Orioles will start right-handers Kyle Bradish and Spenser Watkins in the first two games of their series at St. Louis, which begins tomorrow night. But Thursday is TBA and they seem unlikely to bring Jordan Lyles or Bruce Zimmermann back on short rest. After rainouts over the weekend and a doubleheader Sunday, Thursday likely will not feature someone currently in the rotation. 

“I think we’re seeing how the next couple of days go and then we’ll figure it out. Right now, we have no idea at this point. We’ll weigh some options here the next couple of days,” Hyde said this morning.

Hyde needed his bullpen for only 4 2/3 innings in Sunday’s doubleheader and the ‘pen is in good shape today. He said all pitchers used Sunday are available today.

The Orioles and Royals wrap up this rain-delayed two-day, three-game series this afternoon in Baltimore after splitting a twin bill on Sunday. Kansas City took the opener, 6-4, while Baltimore won the nightcap, 4-2.

The Orioles have lost just one of their past four series, going 2-1-1 against the Angels, Yankees, Red Sox and Twins. They are 3-4-1 in series play on the season ahead of the rubber match of this series today. They are 2-1-1 in home series.

The Orioles (11-17) have won three of their last four games and five of the past eight. They are 8-9 in the last 17 games.

Right-hander Tyler Wells (0-2, 4.50 ERA), who has an ERA of 2.70 over his past two starts, will make his sixth outing of the season today and his sixth career start. Wells has thrown 18 innings, allowing 18 hits and nine runs with four walks to 14 strikeouts. He has a 1.222 WHIP with a 2.0 walk rate and a 7.0 strikeout rate.

While the Orioles are 0-5 in his starts, those last two versus the Yankees and Twins were pretty good ones. Over a combined 10 innings, Wells gave up seven hits and three runs with no walks and eight strikeouts. Opponent batters hit .194/.194/.306 with .500 OPS against him in those games.

Looking at playing three games in about a 24-hour span as Sunday’s doubleheader began at Camden Yards, O’s manager Brandon Hyde was hopeful his starting pitchers could get deep in both games. They did that and more as the O’s split a doubleheader with Kansas City.

Had the defense not let down in Game 1, the Orioles may have swept the Royals. But they settled for a split, winning the second game behind lefty Bruce Zimmermann.

After right-hander Jordan Lyles gave up two earned runs in 7 1/3 in Game 1 in the longest outing by a Baltimore starter on the season, Zimmermann had another strong outing in the second game.

Zimmermann allowed five hits and two runs over six innings, tossing 85 pitches in the 4-2 victory. He is now 2-1 with a 2.67 ERA for the year and the Orioles are 4-2 in his 2022 starts. In four home starts, Zimmermann is 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA. He allowed two earned runs or less for the fifth time and delivered his second quality start.

The two starters ate innings, gave their team big outings and preserved the bullpen for the upcoming road trip.

When we last saw them on the field, the Orioles were beating the first-place Minnesota Twins on Wednesday and Thursday nights. They pounded out 12 hits and scored nine runs over the third and fourth innings Wednesday in a 9-4 win. They hit five solo homers in Thursday’s 5-3 victory to split a four-game series.

But the Orioles (10-16) and Kansas City Royals (8-15) have been rained out Friday and Saturday nights. So now this is a two-day, three-game series with a doubleheader this afternoon and a single game to wrap up the series tomorrow at 12:05 p.m.

The Orioles have won four of six games and are 4-3 on this homestand and 7-6 in home games in 2022. They are 14-5 in their past 19 home games against Kansas City since the 2015 season.

K.C. began the year 5-5, but is 3-10 since and most recently has lost five of its past six games. The Royals have been shut out three times in the past five games and four times on the year. They are 2-6 in road games. Manager Mike Matheny is sitting on 699 career wins.

When Baltimore bashed five homers Thursday, it marked the club's first time hitting at least five in a game since June 19, 2021 versus Toronto, when they hit six longballs. According to Elias Sports Bureau, this was the 11th time in team history that the O’s have hit five solo home runs in a game, with the last time also coming on June 19, 2021, when five of their six homers were solo shots. The Orioles have hit at least five in a game 67 times in team history, going 59-8 in such games.

For left-hander Logan Allen, 24, joining the Orioles gives him another chance to establish himself as a pitcher in the major leagues. And it might be his best chance yet, not because of the opportunity he could get as much as who is here to greet him.

As he joined the Orioles officially this week – picked up via waivers from Cleveland on Thursday and added to the roster the next day – he is reunited with someone he has known since his childhood days in Orioles assistant pitching coach Darren Holmes.

Saying he is “really, really excited (to be here). Great opportunity, great organization,” this morning in the clubhouse, Allen noted his connection with Holmes.

“He was, like, my first coach ever. Taught me how to pitch,” he said.

Allen will be used out of the bullpen initially with the Orioles but could find his way into the rotation at some point, and manager Brandon Hyde noted they have that option with a pitcher who has made 15 career big league appearances as a starter and 15 in relief.

It was the bottom of the eighth inning on Thursday night at Camden Yards. There was one out and the Orioles and the first-place Twins were tied 3-3. If the Orioles could pull off a win, they would split a four-game series with a good club. If they were to lose, they would have lost three of four in the series.

Hard-throwing right-hander Jhoan Durán fired a splitter toward the outer half on his 1-1 pitch. Austin Hays drilled the ball deep toward the new left field wall. You better hit it good to clear that thing, and Hays did – just barely, but it got over – for a go-ahead homer.

It was a big hit, against a good club, late in the game that put his team ahead. If there was a time to show some emotion, this was it. Hays did just that. He came speeding around first base as the ball cleared the wall. Hays looked back toward his dugout and shouted something to his teammates. The emotion of hitting a big homer was washing over him.

Ryan Mountcastle followed with another homer and there was more emotion. A small crowd at Camden Yards sounded much larger.

We’ve seen some emotion from O’s players this year during some big moments that have led to wins. It’s not unlike things we’ve seen from opposing players when they are beating the Orioles. Such passion can get a team and a crowd fired up. Nothing wrong with letting out a scream or pumping a fist when you just delivered a key hit, homer, or strikeout.

For the second day in a row, the Orioles scheduled home game with the Royals has been postponed due to inclement weather. The clubs hoped to play the opener of what is now a two-day, three-game series tonight, but the game was postponed just after 4:30 p.m. ET.

A straight single-admission doubleheader is still scheduled for Sunday with the first game beginning at 1:35 p.m. And now the teams will conclude this series with a single game on Monday afternoon at 12:05 p.m.

The Orioles revised pitching order for this series now shows right-hander Jordan Lyles (2-2, 4.50 ERA) pitching the opener on Sunday against right-hander Zack Greinke (0-2, 2.57 ERA). Then lefty Bruce Zimmermann (1-1, 2.59 ERA) goes for Baltimore in Game 2 versus righty Daniel Lynch (2-1, 3.86 ERA). Right-hander Tyler Wells (0-2, 4.50 ERA) will start Monday's game for the Orioles opposite righty Carlos Hernandez (0-1, 6.00 ERA).

Tickets for tonight’s postponed game will be valid for the May 9 game, no exchange necessary. If you are unable to attend the makeup date no action is required. We will reach out via email to all ticket holders unable to attend the May 9 makeup date with an offer for complimentary tickets in a similar seating area for a wide variety of game options later this season. For more information, please visit Orioles.com/Weather.

The game will be broadcast on MASN and on the Orioles Radio Network, including the flagship station of Hearst Baltimore’s 98 Rock FM and WBAL NewsRadio AM/FM. Complimentary tickets are non-exchangeable and must be used for Monday’s makeup date.

When the Orioles scored a season-high nine runs last Sunday at home versus Boston, they followed up that game by scoring one and two in the next two games against Minnesota. But when they tied that season high by scoring nine runs on Wednesday night, they came back the next night and hit five solo homers in Thursday’s 5-3 win.

The Orioles scored 14 runs the last two games against Minnesota's good pitching staff, one that was having a heckuva year until the last two nights. The Twins, as a result of those games, dropped to fourth in team ERA in the American League at 3.36.

But Kansas City, which faces the Orioles for three games over the next two days in Baltimore, ranks last in the AL in team ERA at 4.57 and last in WHIP at 1.36. The Royals' rotation ERA ranks 13th at 4.32.

Kansas City, since going 5-5 to begin the season, has lost 10 of 13 games and is 1-5 over its last six games. Can the O’s now take advantage of another team considered more on their level that is now struggling? We begin to find out tonight.

There are signs the O’s offense is continuing to trend up, as we’ve written about over the last week or so.

BOWIE, Md. – Two of the Orioles' very best prospects looked every bit of that yesterday as they played for Double-A Bowie against Harrisburg. After both catcher Adley Rutschman and pitcher DL Hall had another good day they did a round of interviews. And not long after that came the news that the stay in Bowie would last three days.

They were promoted to Triple-A Norfolk to join the Tides in Nashville tonight. For Rutschman it’s a return to the team he ended last year with. Hall will make his Triple-A debut in his first Norfolk game.

Their inevitable march to Baltimore takes another important step. The Orioles continue to get on with it with some of their prospects. They are now on the cusp of the majors.

Hall pitched 3 2/3 innings versus Harrisburg Thursday afternoon, allowing three hits and two runs that scored after he left the game. He was dominant at times, touching 99 and 100 mph, and got swings and misses with four pitches.

But the best stat for Hall, according to the pitcher himself, was his strike percentage. It was 80 percent, with 47 of his 59 pitches strikes. He got strikes on 19 of 21 pitches the first two innings and fanned six batters the first time through the order. For a pitcher with a career 5.0 walk rate, it seems he is making big progress with control and command. This was the definition of pounding the zone. After his elbow stress fracture short-circuited his 2021 season last June, Hall had some thinking to do about needing to throw more strikes moving forward.

After Wednesday’s 9-4 win over Minnesota – where the Orioles scored all nine runs over the third and fourth innings – the Orioles need a win tonight to split this four-game series with the first-place Twins.

Baltimore (9-16) tied its season-high for runs, producing nine for the second time in four games. The Orioles had 12 hits in the win. Through their first 18 games this year, they didn’t have a game with 10 hits or more. Now they’ve done that three times the last seven games.

The Orioles had three players with multi-hit games and three with multi-RBI games. They also hit two homers in a home game for the first time in 2022. Trey Mancini, Cedric Mullins and Ryan Mountcastle combined to go 7-for-12 with a homer, four runs and three RBIs. Mullins hit a two-run homer and now has 10 RBIs, all coming at Oriole Park. His 10 RBIs are tied for eighth in the American League.

The Orioles scored 24 runs in the season’s first 12 games. Now they have scored 59 over the past 13, averaging 4.54 runs per game in that span.

Orioles starting pitchers have pitched to a 2.41 ERA in 12 home games this season, the third-best mark in the AL and fourth-best in the majors. Last night, Carlos Correa’s home run was only the second homer allowed by a Baltimore starter this season at home, fewest in the majors.

BOWIE, Md. – For the second week in a row on the farm today, Birdland was treated to a battery that we could see in the big leagues as soon as later this year. Catcher Adley Rutschman, the top overall pick in the 2019 draft, caught lefty DL Hall, the Birds' top pick from 2017 as Double-A Bowie hosted Harrisburg.

And Hall was dominant at times, although his final line will show two runs that scored after he left the game.

He had several pitches touch 99 mph and a few reach triple digits. It was a treat for fans at Prince George’s Stadium, including a large group of school kids, that were on hand for the 11:05 a.m. start. They got to see two top 100 prospects at pitcher and catcher for the home team and the Orioles' No. 1 and No. 3 prospects per Baseball America.

After the game, the Orioles confirmed Rutschman and Hall will move up to Triple-A Norfolk on Friday, joining the Tides in Nashville. Rutschman will be in the lineup tomorrow.

Hall, 23, threw 3 2/3 innings allowing three hits and the two runs with one walk and six strikeouts. He truly dazzled early on, fanning six batters the first time through the Harrisburg lineup as he faced a 13-10 team that is third in the Eastern League in runs scored.

Having fun with averages shows the Orioles have scored 21 runs the last four games. That’s a respectable 5.25 runs per game. But they got there by scoring nine, one, two and nine runs.

So yeah, some inconsistency, but at least they’ve scored a season high for runs twice in four games. And they won those two games and lost a third by one run.

Before last night, the Orioles had not hit two homers in a game at Camden Yards this year. Then they hit two in one inning. In a six-run O’s third, Cedric Mullins and Ramón Urías hit two-run shots.

The Orioles took a 6-0 lead, saw the Twins get back in the game at 6-4, only to score three more runs an inning later to pull away again and win 9-4.

So the Birds are now 9-16 overall, 6-6 at home and 3-3 during the current homestand, which has four games left.

When the Orioles traded right-hander Dylan Bundy to the Los Angeles Angels on Dec. 4, 2019, one of four pitchers they got back was right-hander Kyle Bradish. Tonight Bradish, in his second big league start, pitches against Bundy at Oriole Park.

Bradish (0-1, 3.00 ERA) and Bundy (3-1, 2.95 ERA) square off in the third game of the series between the O's and first-place Minnesota at Camden Yards. The Twins have pitched their way to 2-1 and 7-2 wins to start this four-game set as they improved to 15-9 overall and to 11-1 the last 12 games.

The Twins pitching staff ranks second in the American League and fourth in the majors with a team ERA of 3.01. And they are first in the AL and third in the big leagues with a rotation ERA of 2.63. Minnesota pitchers have allowed just 25 runs the last 12 games.

And they are facing an O’s offense that has struggled much of the year. The Orioles have scored fewer than three runs in 14 of their 24 games this season and four times the past five games. The Orioles rank 30th in the majors with a team slugging percentage of .311 and are 28th in OPS at .609. They are averaging only 3.08 runs per game.

Bradish made his big league debut on Friday and went six innings, allowing five hits and three runs (two earned) against Boston with one walk and two strikeouts. He threw 81 pitches in a 3-1 loss. Bradish used his four-seam fastball 45 times that night, at an average velocity of 94.1 mph, which topped at 97.2. He used his slider 20 times, curveball nine times and changeup seven.

Ryan Mountcastle has been here before. He is struggling early in the season. During a 2021 season that ended for him with an Orioles rookie record 33 homers and with a .796 OPS, he got off to a very slow start.

Through 25 games last season, Mountcastle, who went on to finish sixth in the American League Rookie of the Year voting, was batting .198/.229/.286/.515. He is actually struggling a bit less now, per the stat sheet, through 22 games, batting .227/.261/.307/.568.

Since he got out of a major slump early last year, he just has to do it again. And having done it once sure gives him experience and confidence that he will do it again.

“A little bit," he said today in the O's clubhouse. "This year I feel like I’m putting together better at-bats than I did last year early in the year. Some things just aren’t falling right now. I feel like I’ve probably lined out about five or six games in a row. That’s just baseball. You have to get through it, and hopefully they start dropping soon. Going through that struggle last year has definitely kept me level-headed going through a rough patch."

So what did he do then that could help now?

Catcher Adley Rutschman’s rise toward his major league debut took another big step last night as he began a rehab assignment with Double-A Bowie when the Baysox opened a six-game series at Prince George’s Stadium against Harrisburg.

Rutschman’s chances to make the O’s opening day roster were dashed early in big league spring training by a strained right triceps. But he’s doing much better now and last week at high Single-A Aberdeen he went 6-for-13 with three doubles. He went 4-for-5 on Saturday for the IronBirds.

Several reporters, including those from the "MASN All Access" crew, interviewed Rutschman before Tuesday’s game at Bowie.

“Felt great so far. I think the training staff, all the coaches, they’ve just done a tremendous job so far," Rutschman said of his return to game action. "Helped me feel right at home and get me back in the swing of things. It’s been great.

“Just continue now to keep progressing forward. Just trying to feel good and stay healthy. Get to see guys and keep those relationships up. Last week was a great week. Got to see all the guys and now looking forward to this week.”

The Orioles continue to play a series of low-scoring close games at Oriole Park, with the new wall dimensions this year no doubt contributing greatly to that. Last night the teams combined for just three runs on 11 hits as the Twins beat the Orioles 2-1 to start a four-game series.

The Orioles went 2-4 versus the Twins last year and have now lost 17 of 20 to Minnesota since 2018. The Birds are 14-33 against the Twins since 2014.

The Orioles (8-15) scored nine runs – a season-high – in winning Sunday against the Red Sox. But they have scored just one, two and one run in the other three games around that one recently. So the offense remains remarkably inconsistent. This series the offense is matched up against a pitching staff that ranks second in the American League and fifth in the majors with a team ERA of 3.06. The Twins' rotation ERA of 2.58 is first in the AL and second in the majors.

The Twins (14-9) lead the AL Central by 3 ½ games over the Guardians and by 4 ½ games over the White Sox. Minnesota began the year going 4-8 but have now won 10 of 11 games, allowing just 23 runs in that span. In those 11 games, the Twins have a plus-33 run differential.

Tonight’s game features a marquee pitching matchup between two somewhat unheralded pitchers that have put up excellent numbers to begin the 2022 season. It’s O’s left-hander Bruce Zimmermann (1-1, 0.93 ERA) against Twins right-hander Joe Ryan (3-1, 1.17 ERA).

For a team that ranked last in the major leagues in team ERA last season, the Orioles have made some impressive pitching improvement thus far in the 2022 season. Baltimore’s ERA was 5.84 in 2021 and the next closest team to that was really not that close with Arizona at 5.11.

But this season the Orioles have gone from worst to, at one point on the recent road trip, close to first. They ranked near the top of the league to that point in team ERA, rotation ERA and bullpen ERA.

The club took a step back when it gave up 27 runs in three games at Yankee Stadium, but still is doing overall much better in American League pitching stats. Through last night’s game – a 2-1 loss to Minnesota at Oriole Park – the team ERA of 3.60 is eighth in the league and the rotation ERA of 3.53 is fourth. In bullpen ERA, at 3.67, the O’s are ninth.

Right-hander Tyler Wells gave up one run in five innings last night. It was the 19th time in 23 games that an O's starting pitcher allowed two earned runs or less. That happened 10 times in the first 23 games a season ago. O's starters have an ERA of 1.72 in home games.

It is a nice trend for the better. During the West Coast trip, I sat down with O’s second year pitching coach/director of pitching Chris Holt to discuss some reasons for the potential turnaround. Holt was one of the first hires by executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias after he took over with the Orioles and he headed up the O’s minor league pitching development starting in 2019 and still does today, even with his bigger role now on the major league staff.

The Orioles' homestand continues tonight at Camden Yards. After the Birds took two of three from Boston over the weekend, winning the last two games, they begin a four-game series against Minnesota.

The Twins (13-9) are a team on a good roll. They are 9-1 since a 4-8 start to their season. They just won two of three from Tampa Bay, taking the last two games versus the Rays by 9-1 and 9-3 scores. Minnesota is now 13-7 against Tampa Bay since July 2018. The Twins' run differential is a plus-32 over the past 10 games.

Minnesota has moved into first place in the American League Central, leading by three games over Cleveland and by 4 1/2 over the Chicago White Sox. The Twins are the fourth current first-place team the Orioles have played. Baltimore went 1-2 versus Milwaukee, 2-4 against the New York Yankees and 2-1 versus the Los Angeles Angels, so 5-7 against the first-place teams.

Minnesota’s rotation ERA of 2.62 is the best in the AL and fourth in the major leagues. The Twins' overall team ERA of 3.15 ranks second in the AL, and its 3.80 bullpen ERA rates 13th. Over the last 10 games, Minnesota pitchers have allowed just 22 runs total and allowed two runs or fewer six times in that span.

The Twins are 3-4 in series openers, 3-3 against the AL East, 5-5 in road games and 8-0 when they outhit their opponent.