BOSTON – The Orioles finish their series in Boston with Austin Slater in right field and Emmanuel Rivera at third base.

Jackson Holliday is playing second base and batting eighth.

Dean Kremer is coming off his six scoreless innings against the Rays, when he allowed only two hits. He’s registered four quality starts in his last five outings.

Kremer hasn’t faced the Red Sox this season. He’s made eight career starts against them and posted a 6.45 ERA and 1.540 WHIP. He’s 0-3 with a 10.47 ERA 2.082 WHIP in four starts at Fenway Park.

Rafael Devers is 7-for-18 with a double and two home runs lifetime against Kremer.

Orioles reliever Danny Coulombe is ready to begin his rehab assignment.

Coulombe will join Triple-A Norfolk for Wednesday night’s game in Durham, his first competition beyond live batting practice since undergoing surgery in June to remove bone chips in his left elbow.

The Orioles haven’t used Coulombe since June 8, when he retired all six batters faced and struck out three at Tropicana Field. On hold is a 2.42 ERA and 0.615 WHIP in 29 appearances, and a streak of all 12 inherited runners stranded, that led to some early talk about a possible All-Star selection.

The Orioles would settle for making him available to manager Brandon Hyde in a pennant race.

Left-handers are batting .171/.229/.400 against Coulombe and right-handers are hitting .130/.175/.315. He's evolved into a high-leverage reliever and an absolute steal from the Twins in a March 27, 2023 cash transaction trade.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde plucked three relievers from his nine-man bullpen last night after Dean Kremer carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and didn’t record an out.

Yennier Cano inherited a bases-loaded, no-out mess and retired three batters without a run scoring. Cionel Pérez retired two batters and left a runner for Seranthony Domínguez, who recorded the four-out save.

They are three sure things to keep pitching for the Orioles, if healthy, through September and the playoffs.  

Switching out arms is a common practice but the Orioles could take it to another level this month.

Jacob Webb had made two injury rehab appearances in the minors and is nearing a return from right elbow inflammation. The Orioles’ medical staff checked him yesterday and a decision is pending. One more game with an affiliate or reinstatement.

More positive injury news came out of Camden Yards this afternoon. Momentum for the Orioles isn’t restricted to winning the next series.

Grayson Rodriguez completed his first bullpen session this afternoon and remains confident in his return later this month from a lat/teres injury.

Rodriguez threw about 20 pitches, mixing off-speed stuff with his fastball.

“Arm’s feeling good and I think right now that’s the most important thing is just being able to get back on the mound, let it eat a couple times,” he said.

“Everything felt good. The ball was spinning well.”

The Orioles are pushing to regain a significant chunk of their health before October.

Let’s start with reliever Danny Coulombe, who faced hitters today for the first time since undergoing surgery in June to remove bone chips from his left elbow.

Coulombe has thrown off a mound, but today represented a significant step in his progression toward a rehab assignment and reinstatement from the injured list.

“Definitely encouraged,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “We’ll see how he feels tomorrow. He’s in the weight room kind of getting his post-throw lift in. He felt pretty good, so hopefully it feels good tomorrow, too.”

Reliever Jacob Webb tossed a scoreless inning with Triple-A Norfolk on Sunday and he’s pitching again for the Tides on Wednesday. The Orioles will decide after the outing whether he’s ready to get back into their bullpen.

Anthony Santander is in right field tonight and Coby Mayo stays on the bench as the Orioles continue their series against the White Sox at Camden Yards.

Eloy Jiménez is the designated hitter. Emmanuel Rivera is at third base.

Gunnar Henderson hit his 34^th home run yesterday to tie Cal Ripken Jr. (1991) and Miguel Tejada (2004) for most by an Orioles shortstop in a season. He produced the team’s 12^th leadoff homer to tie the record set in 1996.

Austin Slater is batting .295/.404/.432 (13-for-44) since joining the Orioles, but he’s on the bench tonight. Colton Cowser is in left field and Cedric Mullins is in center.

Rookie Cade Povich is making his 12^th major league start and trying to lower a 6.58 ERA and 1.731 WHIP accumulated over 52 innings. Povich has allowed 10 runs and 18 hits in his last two starts over 8 1/3 innings.

LOS ANGELES – With 28 games left in the regular season, the chase is on for the Orioles. They are chasing a playoff berth and an American League East title, but also chasing the calendar in terms of getting their injured players back with enough time both to perform at their previous levels and also impact the playoff race.

In that regard, Sunday could be a big day for the team in their series finale at Colorado. Right-hander Zach Eflin can return from the injured list that day. He is 4-0 with an ERA of 2.13 in four O’s starts. The last one was Aug. 15 and he went on the IL with right shoulder inflammation after that game.

But now, without a rehab assignment or even having faced any hitters in a simulated game, he is on the verge of rejoining the rotation.

“He is a possibility for Sunday, yeah,” manager Brandon Hyde confirmed today. “I know he was going to throw today, but yeah, there is a chance he can pitch Sunday.”

Meanwhile right-hander Grayson Rodriguez threw off flat ground pregame twice during this series with the Dodgers on Tuesday and again today. Rodriguez, 13-4 with a 3.86 ERA, last pitched July 31 and is on the IL with right lat/teres discomfort. 

NEW YORK – Players changed into their home white uniforms last week at Camden Yards and filed out of the clubhouse and onto the outfield grass for the annual team photo. Closer Félix Bautista was there despite the elbow surgery that cost him the entire season. Danny Coulombe joked with Jordan Westburg, wondering if they’d be asked to leave.  

An agreement was reached.

“If you’re going, then I’m going.”

You’ve gotta laugh to keep your pennant hopes from dying.

The roster has undergone so many dramatic changes that some players might be hard to identify without a scorecard or elite facial recognition skills.

Orioles reliever Danny Coulombe is beyond the beginning stages of his throwing progression.

Coulombe smiles as he provides the latest update, which includes playing catch from 90 feet.

“I’ve been revving up my throwing,” he said yesterday. “I’m on track, so hopefully it just keeps going well. And as long as it keeps going well, we’ll keep going.”

Coulombe was shut down and underwent surgery on June 18 to remove bone chips from his left elbow. He knew that he hadn’t torn his ulnar collateral ligament again. The pain was in a different spot, but it cost the Orioles a top high-leverage reliever who held right-handers to a .130 average and .490 OPS and left-handers to a .171 average and .400 OPS.

The Orioles could have Coulombe increase the distance on his throwing. That’s how it usually works.

Much of today’s pregame talk with the Orioles centered on their bullpen and the gains made by injured relievers.

Jacob Webb said he’s experiencing improvement in his right elbow and is encouraged with his progress since his placement on the 15-day injured list with inflammation.

Webb will begin playing catch this weekend.

“I’m feeling good,” he said. “I feel like it’s getting there. It’s toned down, which is definitely helpful.”

Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias referred to the discomfort over the weekend as the elbow “barking.”

ARLINGTON, Texas – Danny Coulombe and John Means are visiting teammates at Globe Life Field this weekend, another reminder of how much they are missed.

Means is recovering from his second Tommy John surgery and has his left elbow in a brace. Coulombe underwent a procedure to remove bone chips from his left elbow.

Coulombe said his recovery is “going along really well.”

“I feel like it’s right on track. We’re pretty optimistic about it,” he said.

“We’re still just working on a little bit of range-of-motion stuff. But it’s coming along really well. And, hopefully, soon we can start some catch and then just get it rolling.”

ARLINGTON, Texas – Time to get back to work.

The All-Star break was more restful to some players than others, but it offered a needed reset for a team that’s 9-13 since leaving the Bronx on a high note.

The Orioles worked out last night at Globe Life Field, where Corbin Burnes, Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Anthony Santander and Jordan Westburg played in the All-Star Game. Burnes is rejoining the club after flying back to his Arizona home that night.

Whether the Orioles repeat as American League East champions is probably the top question hanging in the air. They’d need to experience a monumental collapse to finish outside the playoff field, but yes, it’s a mathematical possibility.

We’ll lump those two together. Do they make the playoffs, and if so, are they atop the division?

OAKLAND – Former Orioles manager Buck Showalter used to warn that he didn’t want to hear about a problem unless you had a solution. The first part is easy. Don’t point it out and offer nothing more than the obvious.

The bullpen over the course of the entire 2024 season hasn’t qualified as a major issue, but losing left-hander Danny Coulombe increased the urgency to make at least one trade.

Craig Kimbrel burst past his slump and has allowed only one earned run in his last 21 innings. Save after save after save, some less dramatic than others. And he's an absolute All-Star snub.

Yennier Cano is a weapon on most nights but doesn’t seem quite like the All-Star model from 2023. No one was beating that drum this month, but he struck out two batters yesterday in a scoreless eighth and has a 2.89 ERA.

I think most teams would take that.

SEATTLE – Danny Coulombe hasn’t thrown a pitch for the Orioles since June 8. He faced six batters at Tropicana Field, retired all of them and struck out the side in the eighth inning. Five straight scoreless appearances lowered his ERA to 2.42.

Talk of a possible berth in the All-Star Game sounded legit.

Out of the many losses to the roster due to injuries and surgeries, Coulombe’s stings as much as any. It isn’t a knockout punch, but it can stagger a team.

Rather than feel around for the mouthpiece on hands and knees, manager Brandon Hyde keeps hunting for ways to compensate in close games.

Bring up Coulombe’s name to people in the industry, as I did again over the weekend, and they tend to cringe, shake or tilt back their heads and convey just how badly it hurts the club. As if Coulombe is the one guy who has a lower profile but a higher impact because of the clutch outs he gets – and doing it more than every fifth or sixth day.

The Yankees Aaron Judge was not happy. He got plunked by a pitch in the hand on Tuesday night and missed Wednesday's game.

He was quoted by New York media after Tuesday's game.

“Definitely pissed,” Judge said about the pitch that got him. “There was a couple balls up and in. It’s part of it. They like to throw in.”

If they, the Orioles, like to throw in, where do the Yankees like to throw?

As of game time last night, New York pitchers had hit 40 batters this year to lead the American League. With 24, the Orioles staff tied for 12th most. The team with the fewest HPs in the AL had hit 23 batters. Yankees pitchers had hit the Orioles five times this year and O's pitchers had hit the Yankees three times.

NEW YORK – The list of injured Orioles pitchers keeps growing, along with the worries over how the team will move forward and stay upright.

Kyle Bradish underwent Tommy John surgery this morning in Arlington, Texas, with an internal brace part of the reconstructive procedure. And high-leverage reliever Danny Coulombe had bone chips removed from his left elbow yesterday in Los Angeles, with an optimistic return date of September.

Executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias met with media at Yankee Stadium earlier today to provide the updates.

Dr. Keith Meister handled Bradish’s procedure, which is a little more complex than his work with John Means and Tyler Wells. It’s reconstructive rather than a repair, which likely leads to the usual 12-to-18 month recovery, but the brace brings additional support and makes in a hybrid.

Bradish was diagnosed in January with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow and received a platelet-rich plasma injection. He made eight starts after his reinstatement from the injured list and posted a 2.75 ERA and 1.068 WHIP with 53 strikeouts in 39 1/3 innings.

The baseball industry won’t experience a shortage of theories on why the amount of healthy pitchers is declining. On why elbow pain is on the rise and the injured list is getting more crowded than a Memorial Day beach.

Pitchers are throwing too hard at a young age. The pitch clock is rushing them. Banning sticky substances puts more pressure on arms, whether by tightening grips or forcing spin action.

That’s just a sampling. Other theories are floated, with players and management often shooting them down.

The harder question is, what can be done to minimize the damage?

The Orioles just lost Kyle Bradish again to a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. John Means underwent his second Tommy John surgery on June 3, and Tyler Wells is approaching his own reconstructive procedure. Danny Coulombe has inflammation in his left elbow.

The Orioles live by the next-man-up credo. Outfielder Austin Hays referred to it Friday night as a “mentality.” Manager Brandon Hyde and starter Cole Irvin used the phrase multiple times yesterday.

“We just rally together, we stick together,” Hays said, “and guys continue to just step up for one another.”

How many steps on the ladder before a hard fall?

The attitude is admirable but eventually can be overwhelmed by the reality of the situation. We didn’t know the severity of Kyle Bradish’s elbow injury until yesterday. Some soreness would have been the best news, though still a reason to put him back on the 15-day injured list and let it calm down.

The fan base would do the same.

Let’s state the obvious, get it out of the way and refuse to treat it as fresh news. Think of it as Chinese takeout in the back of the fridge.

Just don’t bother sniffing it first.

The Orioles are trying to find another reliever, making it clear to other teams that they remain in the market. I say “remain” because they’ve been open to fortifying the bullpen pretty much since the first day of spring training.

Losing closer Félix Bautista to Tommy John surgery led them to veteran Craig Kimbrel, who recorded his 16^th save Wednesday and hasn’t allowed an earned run in his last 12 appearances. That didn’t alleviate all of the concerns.

They’d like to strengthen the setup portion of the ‘pen, and closing experience would be ideal. Whether they’d express a preference for a left-hander probably depends on the severity of Danny Coulombe’s elbow injury. Anyone who can get outs.

The Orioles bullpen has to try to do it again. Continue with the next man up philosophy even as they lose another key member. Lefty Danny Coulombe with a 2.42 ERA in 29 games, went on the 15-day injured list before Tuesday’s game with left elbow inflammation.

The bullpen has been pitching all year without 2023 closer Félix Bautista, an All-Star and went through a stretch earlier this year when others, like current closer Craig Kimbrel, struggled.

The beat goes on and the recording of outs must go on.

It’s a Baltimore bullpen that began play last night with a 3.24 ERA that ranked third-best in the American League and fourth in the majors.

A bullpen that hit a speed bump in the eighth last night when Atlanta's Matt Olson hit a two-run shot off Keegan Akin. It tied the game 2-2 and ended the O's 23-innings scoreless run on the mound. But when Colton Cowser hit a two-run shot in the home eighth they had the lead again. The O's 4-2 win was their season-high sixth in a row.