The year was 2021. Yes, it was that recently. On their way to an AL East title and a 100-62 record, the Tampa Bay Rays went 18-1 against the Orioles.

“That was rough,” Ryan Mountcastle remembered in the Baltimore clubhouse yesterday morning.

That Orioles team would finish 52-110. Tampa Bay wound up outscoring Baltimore by 79 (150-71) on the year - the second-largest run differential against a single opponent in the divisional era (since 1969), behind only the Los Angeles Dodgers’ +82 mark over the San Diego Padres in 1974.

Things are very different now.

After winning nine of 11 games while the Rays have lost 11 of 14, the teams were tied in the standings as of last night. But the Orioles have the AL East lead by percentage points at .611 (58-37) to the Rays at .606 (60-39).

Dean Kremer didn’t view today’s start as some sort of revenge game. His goal was to give the Orioles a chance to win and avoid their first series sweep in 14 months. The opponent presented an opportunity to visit with friends from his former organization. Don’t read more into it.

Tyler Wells threw 40 pitches in the second inning last night and was done. Kremer threw 37 in the first and tried to rework the script.

The Orioles fell behind by two runs, answered back with four in the bottom of the first as a sudden rain shower sent fans scrambling for cover, and produced their 34^th comeback win to lead the majors. But Kremer fell one out short of qualifying for the decision.

Ramón Urías doubled twice and drove in three runs and Gunnar Henderson hit his 15^th home run in an 8-5 victory over the Dodgers before an announced crowd of 22,248 at Camden Yards. The bullpen covered the last 4 1/3 innings after Kremer was charged with five runs in 4 2/3.

The Rays lost in Texas and are percentage points behind the Orioles for first place as the teams begin a four-game series Thursday night at Tropicana Field.

NEW YORK - Orioles reliever Yennier Cano smiled through his entire media session Sunday after being chosen to the All-Star Game.

Sitting in front of a microphone shared with interpreter Brandon Quinones, he tried to convey what the news meant to him, how a pitcher who didn’t impress last year or break camp with the team in spring training emerged as a dominant setup man and endearing personality.

Earning an honor that he never dreamed about, let alone having it latch onto his reality. As crazy for him as it seemed to everyone else.

Cano handled a curveball question better than hitters can attack his sinker.

How did he turn into Superman?

Perhaps it will work out anyway.

A team selects a player first in the draft, a generational talent, and makes him the key component in a rebuild. Expects him to move quickly through the farm system coming out of college. Expects him to be impactful.

To be an All-Star.

Catcher Adley Rutschman will need some help from players and the commissioner’s office after losing to the Rangers’ Jonah Heim in phase two of fan voting in the American League. The announcement came tonight on ESPN.

Rutschman is vying for a spot on the bench, with his stiffest competition likely Kansas City veteran Salvador Pérez, who finished third in phase one. Every team must be represented.

MILWAUKEE - Left-hander Danny Coulombe is back in the Orioles bullpen tonight after his reinstatement from the bereavement list. Infielder Terrin Vavera was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk as the corresponding move.

The roster has returned to the usual alignment of 13 pitchers and 13 position players for the series opener against the Brewers.

Coulombe missed two games in San Francisco. Vavra is batting .245/.315/.245 (12-for-49) with no extra-base hits in 27 games.

The Orioles chose to hold onto Josh Lester, who collected his first major league hit and two RBIs Sunday. They selected his contract to replace Coulombe.

Lester can play the corner infield and outfield positions, offering versatility similar to Vavra's.

The Orioles placed left-handed reliever Danny Coulombe on the bereavement list today and selected infielder Josh Lester’s contract from Triple-A Norfolk.

Reliever Dillon Tate was moved to the 60-day injured list with a right elbow flexor strain to create room for Lester on the 40-man roster.

Coulombe struck out the side last night in the seventh inning to lower his ERA to 2.08.

An off-day on Monday could limit Coulombe’s absence from the Orioles to two games. They’re carrying 12 pitchers tonight and 14 position players.

Lester, signed to a minor league deal on Dec. 6, was batting .282/.339/.549 with nine doubles, two triples, 14 home runs and 50 RBIs in 52 games with Norfolk. His second and last major league game was Sept. 6, 2022 with the Tigers in Anaheim.

When the Orioles beat the Tampa Bay Rays Wednesday night 2-1 in a series-deciding game, righty reliever Yennier Cano was remarkable again. He got a drama-free save, getting three quick outs in the ninth on just eight pitches. He sure earned a save.

But sometimes an unofficial save can come before the ninth inning, and for me, Wednesday was one of those nights.

Lefty reliever Danny Coulombe, who had given up some runs in the Kansas City and Atlanta series, came on in the top of the eighth, just after Tampa Bay had cut a 2-0 deficit to 2-1. Coulombe got two huge, huge outs to keep the O’s ahead and set up Cano to do his thing in the ninth.

Coulombe, acquired by the club in late March from Minnesota for cash considerations, has done a real nice job this year for the Orioles. And he's doing that throwing his fastball, which averages only 91.3 mph, just 13 percent of the time.

He told me earlier this year how he is very confident in his ability to “spin” the ball, meaning that he can throw quality breaking pitches. And he sure can. Per Statcast, he uses his slider 54 percent of the time and his sweeper 17 percent. That's a very high percentage of breaking balls for Coulombe, who is 1-1 with a 2.84 ERA in 16 games over 12 2/3 innings. He has walked three and fanned 18 with a 1.03 WHIP to go with a .208 batting average against and .575 OPS.

The regression that’s so common with major league bullpens from one year to the next, deserving of an attached warning label each spring, hasn’t impacted the Orioles. Relievers in the first month are immune to it. Can’t touch them.

Being an exception really defies logic when factoring the loss of veterans Dillon Tate and Mychal Givens to injuries. Zero appearances in 2023 beyond Tate’s one inning Wednesday with High-A Aberdeen.

Givens is expected to pitch Saturday at Double-A Bowie, where Tate is set to join him. Meanwhile, the Orioles have a 2.78 bullpen ERA that ranks third in the majors. They were ninth in 2022 at 3.49.

They’ve done some shuffling, with Yennier Cano recalled April 14 and Logan Gillaspie optioned five days later, but they haven’t folded.

Cano ran his streak of retired batters to begin the season to 24 yesterday, tying the club record, in a 6-2 win over the Red Sox. He nailed Justin Turner on the elbow but hasn’t allowed a run or hit or walked a batter.

The newest addition to the Orioles is continuing to make a nice first impression, even though he has pitched in four games now. Lefty Danny Coulombe, 33, has thrown 3 2/3 scoreless thus far on just one hit with no walks, four strikeouts and an .083 batting average against.

He got the first two outs of the seventh inning Sunday and then allowed a single. Logan Gillaspie then replaced him and stranded the inherited runner. Coulombe was acquired by the club very late in spring training, on March 27, from Minnesota for cash considerations.

“Everybody has been great so far, really welcoming. It’s a really young team, but really talented. Enjoying it so far,” Coulombe said recently about fitting in well so far as an Oriole.

“There is so much talent in this clubhouse and on the pitching side it’s been fun to see how these guys work. These pitchers have an idea of what they want to do. That is fun to see. It’s still early and I’m still trying to get to know people but it’s been fun so far,” he said.

Coulombe said he had some nerves going for his first outing with the his new club during the second game of the season at Boston.

ARLINGTON, Tex. – Well, that was unexpected and unlikely but most welcome.

An Orioles pitching staff that had allowed nine runs three straight games completely reversed its fortunes last night deep in the heart of Texas. They threw a four-pitcher, one-hitter at Globe Life Field. Against a Texas team that was 3-0 and leading all of MLB with 29 runs scored.

Last night Texas went 1-for-29 for the night and 0-for-24 after Josh Jung’s infield single with one out in the second inning. It was the fewest hits allowed by the Orioles since they one-hit the Chicago White Sox on the road on June 24, 2022.

The pitching game plan had to call an early audible when starter Kyle Bradish took a liner off his right foot. He suffered a contusion, but preliminary X-rays were negative for a fracture. We should get an update later today at the ballpark.

Lefty Danny Coulombe came in and got four outs, three against lefty hitters. In the dugout, Tyler Wells was not dressed in full uniform because he wasn’t scheduled to pitch until tonight. But he told Brandon Hyde to use him if needed and Hyde took him up on the offer. Grab that jersey quick.

BOSTON – Orioles manager Brandon Hyde posted his first lineup of the 2023 season with Ramón Urías and Adam Frazier in the infield and Gunnar Henderson serving as designated hitter.

Kyle Stowers is the odd man out, beginning the game on the bench while the Red Sox start right-hander Corey Kluber.

Urías is playing third base, Austin Hays is in right field and Anthony Santander is in left – in front of the Green Monster.

Asked in the dugout this morning about starting Urías at third, Hyde said, “Well, I’ve got Kyle Gibson on the mound and Urías won the Gold Glove at third base last year and Jorge Mateo should have won the Gold Glove at shortstop, so I feel pretty good about the left side of our infield. Obviously, I want Gunnar’s bat in the lineup.

“These guys are going to move around quite a bit. When we face (Chris) Sale, it’s going to be different, when we face (Tanner) Houck, it’s going to be different. So, it’s going to be pretty much starting-pitcher-against-us-dependent, with also who we have on the mound. But all these guys are going to play.”

As spring training began, it seemed like there was a great chance it would end with O’s top pitching prospect Grayson Rodriguez heading north to join the team for Opening Day. His MLB debut would await. 

But now we all will have to wait.

The debut is on hold and Rodriguez will start this season on the roster of Triple-A Norfolk. Just where he ended last year.

The spring began with great anticipation to see Rodriguez pitch in spring games and bigger anticipation to see what he could do against MLB hitters in games that count. He had been dominant on the farm and ranked for some of his time there as the sport’s No. 1 pitching prospect.

But as spring camp closed, Grayson was not pitching well enough to make the starting rotation with Opening Day set for Thursday. He will not be with the team in Boston and his MLB debut will have to wait again.

The Orioles have made the following roster move:

Acquired LHP Danny Coulombe (KOO-lohm) from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for cash considerations. He has not yet reported.