Mullins avoids injured list and is in Orioles' lineup

Cedric Mullins is back in the Orioles’ lineup today, playing center field and batting second.

Mullins took early batting practice on the field this afternoon with head athletic trainer Brian Ebel watching and also ran the bases. Mullins wasn’t available last night due to neck soreness caused by his collision Thursday with right fielder Austin Slater.

The Orioles selected outfielder Daniel Johnson’s contract to provide a left-handed bat for the outfield in case Mullins couldn’t play. Terrin Vavra is on the 24-hour taxi squad.

Ramón Urías wasn’t reinstated today from the 15-day injured list.

Heston Kjerstad is the designated hitter. Jackson Holliday is playing second base. Colton Cowser is the cleanup hitter.

Rookie left-hander Cade Povich is making his 15^th start. He’s 2-9 with a 5.74 ERA and 1.536 WHIP in 69 innings.

The Tigers saw Povich last weekend in Detroit and were held to two runs and two hits in five innings. They struck out eight times.

Riley Greene homered off Povich and reliever Gregory Soto.

Povich owns a 3.60 ERA at home and a 9.75 ERA on the road, the second-largest cap in club history in a minimum five starts for each split after Yefry Ramírez’s 8.75 in 2018, according to STATS.

Adley Rutschman is sitting on 399 career hits and trying to become only the third catcher to reach 400 within his first three major league seasons, following Jason Kendall’s 442 in 1996-98 and Russell Martin’s 430 in 2006-08. His 140 extra-base hits rank first.

Gunnar Henderson’s 69 home runs rank second behind Eddie Murray’s 79 for most by an Orioles player in his first three seasons. And Henderson appeared in only 34 games in 2022.

The Orioles’ magic number is down to three. They trail the Yankees by four games in the division but are four ahead of the Royals for the first Wild Card.

The Orioles lead the majors with a .268 average, .479 slugging percentage, 5.52 runs per game and 1.65 homers per game during the day, according to STATS. They rank third with a .334 on-base percentage.

The slugging percentage, 21 points above any other team, would be the highest in club history.

Tigers right-hander Reese Olson has made 20 starts and gone 4-8 with a 3.50 ERA and 1.206 WHIP in 105 1/3 innings.

Olson rejoined the Tigers to make Tuesday’s start in Kansas City and he allowed four runs and four hits in 2 1/3 innings. He returned from a right shoulder strain that kept him from pitching in August.

He’s never faced the Orioles.

Olson hasn’t allowed a run in the first inning this season.

For the Orioles

Gunnar Henderson SS
Cedric Mullins CF
Anthony Santander RF
Colton Cowser LF
Adley Rutschman C
Ryan O’Hearn 1B
Heston Kjerstad DH
Emmanuel Rivera 3B
Jackson Holliday 2B

Cade Povich LHP