Mountcastle reinstated from concussion list

The Orioles will have a healthy first baseman on their roster for tonight's game against the Rays.

With Trey Mancini hobbling and Ryan Mountcastle moving past concussion protocol, the rookie has been reinstated from the injured list and likely will be in the lineup as the Orioles attempt to end a 12-game losing streak.

Outfielder Ryan McKenna was optioned again to Triple-A Norfolk to make room for Mountcastle, who left an Aug. 6 game against the Rays at Camden Yards after absorbing a hard tag to the head from shortstop Wander Franco.

The offense misses Mountcastle, who's carrying an eight-game hitting streak. He's 14-for-29 with three doubles, three home runs and eight RBIs during that stretch.

Mountcastle took batting practice yesterday and performed some defensive drills to convince the Orioles that he was ready.

McKenna has appeared in 63 games and slashed .208/.328/.287 in 121 plate appearances.

The bench still holds three players despite Mancini leaving last night's game after fouling a ball of his left calf and foot on separate pitches and stumbling into second base on a double, and infielder Ramón Urías moving in and out of the lineup with soreness in his upper right leg/groin.

Mancini is batting .347/439/.694 (17-for-49) with five doubles, four home runs and 10 RBIs in 13 games against the Rays this season, but he may be counted among the reserves tonight.

John Means will try to play the role of stopper and end losing streak that's two short of the season high in May.

Means' ERA is at a season-high 3.21 after he allowed six runs in 4 1/3 innings Thursday against the Tigers. He surrendered a season-high three home runs to run his count to 20 in 98 innings - three short of his career-high over 155 innings in 2019.

In three starts against the Rays this season, Means has allowed 10 earned runs and 11 total with 21 hits, two walks and 13 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings.

Mike Brosseau and Randy Arozarena homered off Means on May 19 in Baltimore, and Arozarena and Francisco Mejía hit home runs on July 20 at Tropicana Field.

The Orioles are 38-79 overall, 1-13 this month and 1-12 against Tampa Bay. They've been outscored 113-36 during the losing streak.

The team ERA is 9.62 ERA during the streak, highest in the majors in that span. The starters are 0-9 with a 8.88 ERA and the relievers are 0-3 with a 10.37 ERA.

The Orioles are 6-21 at Tropicana Field since the beginning of the 2018 season.

Meanwhile, the batch of minor league promotions yesterday caused a roster crunch for the Orioles, who released the following players:

Triple-A Norfolk: infielder/outfielder Stevie Wilkerson
Double-A Bowie: infielder Seth Mejias-Brean, left-hander Tyler Erwin
Single-A Aberdeen: outfielder Craig Lewis, right-hander Dallas Litscher
Single-A Delmarva: outfielder Trevor Kehe, right-hander Jake Zebron

Wilkerson missed the 2020 season with a fractured finger on his right hand, but appeared in 30 games this season and went 12-for-72. He was batting .244/.352/.341 in 36 games with the Tides.

The Orioles used Wilkerson at every position except first base and catcher, and in 2019 he became the first position player in history to record a save.