Leftovers for breakfast

Heston Kjerstad could recite Kyle Stowers’ at-bats yesterday despite the many miles that separated them. The home run leading off the bottom of the second and the RBI double later in the inning. The triple in the fourth after Coby Mayo’s daily homer.

The cycle was three-fourths complete with only a single keeping Stowers from an historic achievement. The easiest of the hits.

“I really hope he gets that single. That would be sick,” Kjerstad said while sitting at his locker.

“I’ve actually been watching the game, kind of keeping an eye on it to see if he can do it. That would be really cool. That’s a really hard thing to do. Anytime someone gets close, normally they’re not a single away.”

It wasn’t meant to be. Stowers popped up in the fifth inning and grounded out in the seventh.

Stowers’ 13^th home run did more than just tie the game. It also matched the career franchise record of 52 held by former Orioles scouting director Gary Rajsich.

Rajsich got there in 203 games in parts of two seasons when the Tidewater Tides were a Mets affiliate. Stowers appeared in his 226^th yesterday over parts of four seasons.

“Obviously, he brings a lot of power,” Kjerstad said. “He hits a good amount of homers. He drives the ball well to all parts of the field, handles lefties and righties. He’s a pretty well-rounded hitter, honestly. Really solid.”

Just like their friendship.

Kjerstad and Stowers are left-handed hitting outfielders with power as a premiere tool. They eye the same prize, an extended stay with the Orioles, which can place them in direct competition but never hurt the relationship.

“We definitely are close with each other, good friends,” Kjerstad said. “We’ve kind of flipped on the roster a little bit here and there, but it’s part of the game. We both know that eventually we’ll both be on the same roster together on the same team and we’re both going to go and have good careers. We pull for each other.

“We still hang out all the time. It’s just one of those things, it’s part of being an athlete. You’re always competing against people for the same job, but also at the end of the day you understand the bigger picture, too.”

The Orioles first recalled Kjerstad on April 23 and optioned him May 13 while bringing up Stowers. They optioned Stowers on June 19 and Kjerstad arrived five days later.

With Colton Cowser also here, the Orioles haven’t kept Kjerstad and Stowers together above Triple-A.

“I’m sure at some point we will,” Kjerstad said. “It’s just a matter of time for things to shake out like that.”

Kjerstad hit his first homer of the season last night and third in the majors, a two-run shot in the third inning. He singled in the first.

Halfway to a cycle that also would elude him.

Stowers was probably tracking it.

* Ryan O’Hearn advanced to Phase 2 of All-Star balloting by moving up two spots among American League designated hitters, a jump that wasn’t anticipated after Monday’s update had him fourth.

"It's incredible," he said. "When you're a kid it's a dream to be a major league All-Star and it seemed unattainable for a long time. Until the last year or so I didn't believe it could actually happen. We're not there yet, but to be a finalist is an honor and something I don't take lightly."

O'Hearn considered it a win just to be in the running.

"It was cool to see my name up there near the top and get some notoriety and all that, but just, Birdland supporting me and voting for me and all that means a lot," he said. "Very cool to have a fan base like the Baltimore Orioles fan base that had my back like that and think I'm worthy of going to the All-Star Game."

Manager Brandon Hyde obviously is rooting for O’Hearn to be honored with a selection.

“I’m excited he’s getting All-Star consideration, too, and well deserved,” Hyde said. “I hope he goes.”

O’Hearn’s became the seventh Orioles player with a double-digit home run total Wednesday with his insurance shot in the eighth inning.

“He’s really good. He can just flat-out hit,” Hyde said.

“I was kidding him yesterday. I heard him say something that he was stuck on nine for a while. I didn’t even realize it because he gets so many big hits. I didn’t even realize that he hadn’t hit a homer in a while. He goes, ‘I didn’t hit a double in a while.’ But that just shows you that he’ll take the single through the middle, he’ll back-side a single with runners in scoring position. He doesn’t punch out much, walks. He’s just a really, really tough out. He’s tough to pitch to and he uses the whole field, and he’s got power, too.

“Something clicked with him last year and we’re lucky to have it and we’re lucky to have him because he’s just a ballplayer in every single way.”

* Guardians catcher Austin Hedges threw out Cedric Mullins trying to steal second base in the fourth inning Wednesday night after a two-out single and Jorge Mateo in the fifth after a leadoff single. Two players with a combined 28 steals in 33 attempts. Teammates with four 30-plus stolen base seasons between them.

“That’s got to be the first time that’s ever happened,” Hyde said before last night’s game. “That was Austin Hedges. That was a clinic. To throw out those two guys with a guy (Carlos Carrasco) who’s not that fast to the plate, that should be in a catching manual what Austin Hedges did.”

Upon further review, Hedges wasn’t the first catcher to nab the duo in the same game.

According to STATS, it also happened on Aug. 12, 2022 against the Rays at Tropicana Field with Christian Bethancourt behind the plate.

Former Orioles reliever Jimmy Yacabonis was on the mound when Bethancourt threw out Mateo.

The more you know …