Orioles promoting pitcher Mike Baumann

The Orioles are poised to recall one of their top pitching prospects, right-hander Mike Baumann, from Triple-A Norfolk, according to sources.

Baumann's arrival in Baltimore today would seem to indicate that Jorge López is going on the injured list after rolling his right ankle yesterday.

López faced one batter and sustained the injury while covering first base on Andrew Benintendi's ground ball to Ryan Mountcastle. He's pitched in six games since moving to the bullpen and allowed two runs with 10 strikeouts over 8 1/3 innings.

Baumann, 25, was due a promotion after allowing four runs last month in 22 innings with Norfolk. He held Charlotte to one run in six innings with no walks and seven strikeouts on Aug. 31.

MLBPipeline.com ranks Baumann as the organization's No. 10 prospect and Baseball America has him ninth.

A third-round pick in the 2017 draft out of Jacksonville University, Baumann recovered from another bout of discomfort in his right elbow/forearm to post a 2.00 ERA in six starts with the Tides and is 4-3 with a 3.44 ERA and 1.146 WHIP this summer in 18 starts between Norfolk, Double-A Bowie and Single-A Delmarva.

The Orioles already have used 56 players this season, two short of the club record set in 2019, and 14 have made their major league debuts, one shy of the 2018 record.

Left-hander Alexander Wells makes his fourth major league start and seventh appearance tonight after allowing 16 runs and 27 hits in 18 2/3 innings. Wells has walked nine batters and struck out 15.

Tonight marks his first appearance with the Orioles since Aug. 10 against the Tigers, when he worked the ninth inning and allowed a run. His last start was Aug. 3 in Yankee Stadium, when he surrendered six runs and seven hits in 2 1/3 innings.

The Royals are starting right-hander Jackson Kowar, the 33rd-overall pick in the 2018 draft out of the University of Florida. Kowar is making his fourth major league start and fifth appearance, carrying a 9.82 ERA and 2.182 WHIP in 11 innings. He's allowed 12 runs and 16 hits and walked eight batters.

In his last start, Kowar held the Indians to two runs over six innings and struck out six.