ANAHEIM - Some of us probably don’t notice it much. But Ryan O’Hearn’s 4.5 walk rate is lowest among the 10 Orioles with 200 or more plate appearances in 2023. We don’t notice it because he is productive and thriving in so many other areas.

He hits the ball about as consistently hard as anyone on the team and has the stats to prove that. But O’Hearn won’t take all the credit for his big offense this year. Not even close. He praises the O’s hitting coaches and even notes the shift ban helping him too.

“I’ve always hit the ball hard,” O’Hearn said in an interview at Angels Stadium. “I just think the direction of where the ball is going is better now. That’s God-given and I have always put the work in. There is no secret to it – just hard work.

“I’ve probably hit the ball harder in year’s past. The hardest ball I’ve ever hit was in 2019, but I beat a lot of balls into the ground. When you do that with the shift, you don’t get many results. Guys playing short right field would throw you out.

“I think it’s a combination of the shift going away and just becoming a more complete hitter. Hitting the ball all over the field. Better launch angles have made me more consistent and able to put up better numbers.”

ANAHEIM - On the night the Orioles blew out the Los Angeles Angels 10-3 to complete a three-game sweep and win their fifth straight, two players that had strong first halves had big nights.

Both right-hander Kyle Gibson and outfielder Austin Hays have been looking to get it going and last night showed signs that both could be doing just that.

Hays has been swinging it well recently and had a 4-for-4 night with a double, two singles, a homer, three runs and four RBIs. He is now batting .288 with a .799 OPS.

At the All-Star break, Hays, a 2023 All-Star, was batting .314 but that dropped to .279 in mid August. In July he hit .162 with an OPS of .446.

Now in 18 games since Aug. 15. he is batting .338/.413/.646/1.059 with eight doubles, four homers and 13 RBIs. The Orioles are 13-5 in those 18 games.

ANAHEIM – For the second night in a row the second-place Tampa Bay Rays posted a win earlier in the night that the Orioles would later match. Tonight, the Orioles’ 10-3 romp over the Los Angeles Angels in front of 29,021 meaning they not only swept this series but maintained their season-high 3.5 game lead over the Rays atop the AL East.

The Orioles scored five early runs tonight and then added some late-game longballs to enjoy a much more comfortable win than last night when they were behind after eight innings and had to pull it out in the tenth.

Now 88-51, the Orioles are 37 games over the .500 mark for the first time since 1997. They have won five in a row on this road trip after losing the trip opener Friday in Arizona. Overall, the Orioles have won seven of nine, 11 of 14, 14 of 18 and 25 of the last 35 games.

They improved the American League’s best road record to 46-25 and are 34-16 in the second half.

Tonight they recorded their ninth series sweep and eighth of three games. 

ANAHEIM - Most of the time this year, but not all, when the Orioles won the first two games of a three-game series, they won the third game to complete the sweep.

While the Orioles have gone 84 straight series without being swept, they have nine sweeps of their own. They have seven three-game sweeps and one of two games in the 2023 season. 

They can add to their list of sweeps tonight at Anaheim against the Angels after posting wins by 6-3 and 5-4 in 10 innings at Angel Stadium.

On their recent homestand, the Orioles twice won the first two games of a series, but they lost the third both to Colorado and the Chicago White Sox.

For the year the Orioles are 7-4 in the third game of a series where they won the first two and had a chance for a sweep.

ANAHEIM – The Orioles are tweaking their rotation before the series with Red Sox that begins Friday night at Fenway Park. Had they stayed on turn after tomorrow’s off day with their current six-man, they would have thrown Cole Irvin Friday, then Kyle Bradish Saturday and Jack Flaherty on Sunday against the Red Sox.

But manager Brandon Hyde said today it will be Bradish in the Boston series opener, Flaherty next and Grayson Rodriguez Sunday in the series finale in Boston. Irvin is moving to the bullpen for now.

“We’ve put Cole in the ‘pen. He was in the bullpen last night,” Hyde said today. “He’s going to be kind of a length guy right now. Kind of get through the weekend and evaluate series-to-series right now.”

Is this a return to a five-man rotation?

“As as right now, for the weekend it is. After the weekend it might change,” he said.

ANAHEIM - It's September pennant-race baseball and no one cares about style points. Or shutouts, or blowouts, or a game with a lot of runs and numerous well-struck shots in the gap. That's all nice and always welcome, but just win. 

Win and hold onto a season-best 3.5 game lead atop the AL East.

Down to the last bullpen pitcher they had available and their eighth of the night, the Orioles did that last night at Angel Stadium.

They grinded out a 5-4 win in 10 innings over the Los Angeles Angels that was beautiful only where it counts most - in the standings.

A 2-0 lead in the third became a 3-2 deficit and became a 4-3 lead in the ninth. But it became 4-4 in the last of the ninth. Then they got the lead again and now Japanese right-hander Shintaro Fujinami was going to try for a save.

ANAHEIM – In the end right-hander Shintaro Fujinami was on the mound, the Orioles eighth pitcher of the night, looking for his second career save.

And a game where the O's led, were tied, trailed, led again and were tied again, would end in an O's victory. They pushed across a run in the top of the 10th and Fujinami got the save in the last of the tenth, stranding the tying run on third with one out.

The 5-4 win over the Los Angeles Angels gives Baltimore an 87-51 record and four-game win streak and the O's maintain a 3.5 game lead on Tampa Bay, which won earlier.

The Orioles, who have 24 regular-season games left, have won six straight series and are 38-16 (.703) since July 5 - the best record in the AL in that span. 

In the O's 10th, placed runner Austin Hays advanced from second to third on a groundball and scored the winning run on a Jordan Westburg groundout for the 5-4 edge.

ANAHEIM – The Orioles have won three straight games on this road trip by a combined 21-11 score and they look to keep that momentum going tonight in the second game of a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels.

Baltimore (86-61) opened a 3.5 game lead atop the AL East after Monday’s 6-3 win at Angel Stadium. Gunnar Henderson hit a three-run homer, Austin Hays added an RBI double while Ryan Mountcastle and Aaron Hicks produced run-scoring singles.

The Orioles are 3-2 against the Angels this year and 9-3 since the start of the 2022 season.

The Birds are 44-25 with the best road record in the AL and are 32-16 in the second half. The Orioles are 42-19 (.689) versus sub .500 teams.

Los Angeles (64-74) has lost seven of eight and 11 of 14 games and they are 8-23 since Aug. 1.

ANAHEIM – Orioles manager Brandon Hyde is pleased with the results for the club since they went to a six-man rotation. He said, “it’s been enormous for all our starters, so happy we did that.” But as the games begin to wind down and the playoffs approach, he said today the club could be returning at some point to a five-man rotation.

“Yeah. We’re still talking about all that," he said. "We’re mapping out some guys for certain teams and series. Might have a spot start here and there. Might just go straight five-man. Lot of different scenarios. We’re kind of getting through the weekend in Boston and then kind of reset a little bit. We’ve got Tampa and some big games coming up. All these are big games and trying to act accordingly."

Hyde is still not ready to announce how the Orioles will use lefty John Means who is scheduled to pitch for Triple-A Norfolk tomorrow night. His 30-day rehab ends Friday, so his next game after this one should be for the Orioles.

“Things can happen on a daily basis. We have some plans in place, some different scenarios, but we’ll kind of wait and see where we are after his start. See how he throws and do what is the best thing for our team at that time,” Hyde said.

The skipper today was asked again about picking up his 300th O's win last night becoming the fifth Orioles manager to win 300. Did he get any hardware for a milestone win?

Anaheim, Calif. - The road trip is picking up a head of steam. After scoring two runs in a loss on Friday at Arizona, the O's have won their past three out west by a 21-11 score over the Diamondbacks and Angels. They won the series opener 6-3 last night at Anaheim.

In this win, youth was served as the Orioles opened a 3.5 game lead atop the AL East - their largest first-place lead of the year. 

Third baseman Gunnar Henderson, 22, hit a three-run homer in the seventh to turn a one-run nail biter into a four-run comfortable lead. Grayson Rodriguez, 23, allowed two runs over six and delivered another quality start. Jordan Westburg, 24, continues to look more and more comfortable at the big league level. He had two more hits and made a sensational catch running from the infield into the outfield in the ninth.

“We have really, really talented young players and you saw a few of them tonight," manager Brandon Hyde said. "Grayson, DL (Hall) and how about the play Westburg made in the ninth? That is a difference in that inning and then Gunnar obviously and we’ve got more guys coming too and Adley (Rutschman) is not very old either. We have a lot of really good young players."

Henderson's 23rd homer drove in three in the seventh, a rocket liner out to right field. He is learning how to excel in late-inning, game-on-the-line spots.

Anaheim, Calif. – The Orioles seemed to be headed for another game that went down to the last out and maybe the last pitch. They have played in a lot of close games this year and won a lot of close ones.

But in need of some insurance runs in the seventh tonight, Gunnar Henderson provided them.

His almost nightly big play or big swing came at the plate this time. He blasted a three-run homer to turn a one-run lead into a more comfortable four-run edge.

The Orioles went on to beat the Angels 6-3 tonight to improve to 86-51 and win their third in a row, ninth in 12 games and 23^rd in the past 33 games.

They are now 17-6 in road series-opening games, produced their 43rd comeback win and have opened a season-high 3 1/2-game lead atop the American League East over the Rays, who lost this afternoon to the Red Sox.

Anaheim, Calif. – The Orioles' road trip has moved to California as the Angels (64-73) host them (85-51) tonight at Angel Stadium to start a three-game series. 

The Orioles improved to 28-13-3 in series play and to 12-7 in rubber match games after taking Sunday’s game 8-5 at Arizona to win that series 2-1.

The Orioles scored just two runs in losing Friday, but scored 15 runs on 25 hits, going 8-for-20 with runners in scoring position, in the series’ final two games.

Los Angeles (64-73) has struggled big time recently and got swept three in a row over the weekend at Oakland with losses by 9-2, 2-1 and 10-6. The Angels have lost six of seven and 10 of their past 13 games.

On Aug. 1, they were 56-51 and had decided to not trade Shohei Ohtani at the trade deadline. But they are 9-22 since that date.

Anaheim, Calif. - The Orioles will face three left-handed starters this series against the Angels, a rare occurrence. For tonight, it puts Ryan O'Hearn on the bench as Adley Rutschman rests.

O'Hearn is hitting .300 with an .830 OPS in 83 games. He has just 22 plate appearances this year against lefty pitching and is 5-for-20, but two of the five hits are homers.

"Well, it gives guys opportunities," manager Brandon Hyde said of his lineup against left-hander Kenny Rosenberg tonight. "But a lot of times in those games, too, those lefties come off the bench in big spots. So even though we are facing a lefty a lot of times O (O’Hearn) will hit, (Adam) Frazier will hit. I have Adley off the bench tonight, too.

"Best-case scenario is we can chase a starter early and get into their bullpen, which kind of sets us up for the series. We are going to face a lot of righties after this. At least two of three in Boston and at least two with St. Louis and probably four against Tampa."

Speaking of the Rays, they lost today 7-3 at home to the Red Sox. So the O's Amarican League East lead is three games at the moment and could be 3.5 games at the end of tonight.

PHOENIX – He has now played 50 games in the big leagues, and it feels like that went by pretty fast for O’s rookie Jordan Westburg. 

As a pinch-hitter on Sunday at Arizona, he produced an RBI double in the sixth inning which turned a 5-4 Baltimore lead into a 6-4 edge that would become 8-4 before the inning was out.

It was a nice contribution from Westburg, who is batting .281 with an OPS of .829 with runners in scoring position.

It was another game where the Orioles showed they are resilient. After Arizona tied the game in the fifth and the Orioles didn’t get what they felt was a sure running out of the baseline call by the D-backs Geraldo Perdomo, they just came back to bat and put up four runs to take charge of the game for a second time.

“I think we’ve been doing it (bouncing back well) all season,” said Westburg. “You brush off the losses and you come back with a brand-new mindset. It’s a new day and everyone in the clubhouse trusts the offense. I think the hitters know that we are good enough to put up 10 runs on a given night.”

PHOENIX - Baseball's No. 1 prospect is moving on up. Again. Shortstop Jackson Holliday will play for his fourth team of the minor league season when he joins Triple-A Norfolk from Double-A Bowie this week, according to a source. 

Holliday, 19, will play his first game for the Tides on Tuesday at Harbor Park when Norfolk hosts Jacksonville at 6:35 p.m.

The Tides will play their next 12 games in Norfolk before capping off the regular season with a six-game series at Buffalo. After that, Norfolk will host a best-of-three International League championship series at Harbor Park that begins Sept. 26. If the Tides win that series they will play the Pacific Coast League winner in the Triple-A National Championship Game Sept. 30 in Las Vegas.

Holliday batted .396 with an OPS of 1.182 in 14 games at the start of the season with Single-A Delmarva. His first game with High-A Aberdeen was April 25, and in 57 games he batted .314 with a .940 OPS with the IronBirds. On July 14 he moved to Double-A Bowie and hit .338/.421/.507/.928 in 36 games with nine doubles, three triples, three homers and 15 RBIs.

So over 107 games for the year at three levels, Holliday has hit .333/.451/.517/.968 with 26 doubles, nine triples, 10 homers, 95 runs, 23 steals and 66 RBIs. He has walked 85 times with 101 strikeouts.

PHOENIX - The Orioles' path to a series win today at Arizona – and their 85^th victory of the season – was far from easy. They took an early lead, got tied up in a two-run Arizona fifth and had to win this game a second time today.

They did by scoring four runs in the sixth to break a 4-4 tie and beat the Diamondbacks 8-5 to win the last two games of this series.

The O's start a nine-game road trip with a series win and are now 85-51. Baltimore has won eight of 11, 11 of 15 and 22 of its past 32 games as the road trip now heads to Anaheim, California. 

The Orioles had lost their previous four series at Arizona, making today their first win of a series in this ballpark, and they are now 9-15 all-time against the Diamondbacks and 5-10 at Chase Field.

The task was made even tougher today because the opposing starter was Zac Gallen, a right-hander having a great year. He was the National League starting pitcher in this year's All-Star game.

PHOENIX - The Orioles have played four regular season series in Arizona and lost all four to the Diamondbacks. They lost series there in 2002, 2007, 2013 and 2019.

But after winning 7-3 Saturday night at Chase Field, the O's can take this series with a win this afternoon against Arizona (70-66).

The D-backs, who won 4-2 on Friday night, have won five of their last six series, and are 11-6 their past 17 games and 13-7 in the last 20. They are 36-33 at home and 18-18 versus American League clubs.

Right-hander Kyle Bradish, pitching for the first time in his home state as a big leaguer, got the win last night for the Orioles, allowing two runs and four hits over six innings on a career-high 107 pitches. 

He has allowed two earned runs or fewer for five consecutive starts, recording a 1.88 ERA in that span. In 14 games since mid-June he has gone 8-4 with a 2.28 ERA.

PHOENIX -  Orioles manager Brandon Hyde is still not ready to pass on what the next steps will be for injured closer Félix Bautista. Bautista, who has a 1.48 ERA with 33 saves, made the 2023 All-Star team, but went on the 15-day injured list Aug. 26 with a right UCL injury. The next steps – and what they will look like – may not be completely formulated yet.

Hyde was asked today if it’s possible Bautista can pitch again this season. 

“Well, we are waiting for the inflammation to go down honestly, before we kind of reassess and do anything else. We are letting the inflammation die down and then we are going to make some decisions after that," the manager said. 

As to when that inflammation will lessen is not a question Hyde can answer right now.

“That would be a medical question," he said. "Not really sure, it’s been a while now. Think we are waiting a few more days.”

PHOENIX - Kyle Bradish said it was the most nervous he's been in a major league game. It was the first time he pitched as a big leaguer in his home state of Arizona, first time he faced his boyhood team, the Diamondbacks, and the first time he had 70 family and friends in person hanging on his every pitch.

But the local (Arizona) kid made good. He got another win and so did the Orioles as Bradish allowed two runs over six innings in the Orioles' 7-3 win over Arizona.

“I didn’t think he had his best command tonight, honestly, or his best breaking ball," manager Brandon Hyde said of Bradish, who is 8-4 with a 2.28 ERA over his last 14 starts. "He’s just really tough to hit. Because it’s firm and it goes in different directions. To get through six innings, throw a bunch of pitches there, really happy about that. He competes."

Bradish was born in Peoria, just a few miles from Phoenix, and went to Millennium High School in Goodyear, about 20 miles west of Phoenix.

“I’ll be honest, that was probably the most nervous I’ve been," he said after picking up his 10th win. "Even more so than my debut, knowing I would have that many people out there. You want to go out and have a good game.

PHOENIX - If you watched the first three innings of the Orioles game at Arizona tonight, you would not have had a clue about what was going to happen in the top of the fourth.

Through three the Orioles had two hits and no runs against Arizona rookie right-hander Slade Cecconi, their No. 14 prospect via MLBPipeline.com. His slider was working nicely and the O’s had scored just two runs in the first 12 innings of this series.

On top of that a messy last of the third saw Arizona take a 2-0 lead against right-hander Kyle Bradish.

Things could have been better. And they soon would be.

Suddenly the Orioles were producing loud contact and suddenly they had a six-run fourth inning which featured seven straight hits and led 6-2.