Manager Brandon Hyde isn’t ready or willing to contribute to the publication of his team’s obit. Not with more games to play, possession of the first wild card and champagne to chill. He’ll keep trying to clear the air of any negativity.

Hyde isn’t blind to the season’s downward turn, but he retains full confidence in the Orioles' ability to get hot again.

Beyond the usual injury and rehab updates, Hyde spent most of his nine-minute pregame media session rehashing what’s gone wrong during a sub-.500 second half and slippage in the division race. Exactly when he began to worry. Why slumps are lasting for long periods.

Hyde finished with a quip about his players occupying the top of Triple-A Norfolk’s lineup, rose from his chair and returned to his office. And the Orioles backed his trust.

A blown save in the top of the ninth inning was followed by Anthony Santander's two-run walk-off homer and a much-needed 5-3 win over the Giants before an announced crowd of 23,181 at Camden Yards. Bedlam ensued. The Orioles were eager to release their frustration and it spilled all over the dugout, track and home plate.

Blame the injuries, inexperience and faulty execution. Blame the weather, traffic, sound system, advertising signs or astrological signs. Whatever suits the narrative. Whatever the imagination allows.

Just be sure to include how the Orioles raised the bar too high and too quickly.

They went from 83 wins in 2022 to 101 and a division title. They set themselves up for regression and criticism. Fans are demanding that heads roll because their favorite team can’t get on one.

No one in their right mind projected 102 or more wins this season, but playing sub-.500 ball since the All-Star break wasn’t in the brochure. Rock bottom keeps moving, too. An 8-1 loss to the historically putrid White Sox was supposed to be it, until the Tigers no-hit them for 8 2/3 innings after using an opener. Until the Orioles responded to Mike Elias’ words of encouragement and optimistic tone Tuesday afternoon by managing only one hit in six innings against the Giants’ Blake Snell, allowing six runs in the top of the ninth and losing 10-0.

The Yankees, meanwhile, were beating the Mariners in Seattle to open a four-game lead in the division race. Now it's five. The Orioles are choking on the fumes, but they can get healthier this month and still make some noise in the postseason.

Dean Kremer’s first pitch of tonight’s game sailed 397 feet to right field for a leadoff home run. Gunnar Henderson began the bottom of the first inning by flying out and slamming his bat to the ground in anger.

Immediate signs of an Orioles’ turnaround weren’t detected. They’d flicker over the course of the night and burn out.

A lead in the third inning and subsequent rallies provided false hope. Walk-up music reverted back to the original playlist, but the Orioles maintained their post-break ways with a 5-3 loss to the Giants before an announced crowd of 23,856 at Camden Yards.

Kremer allowed four earned runs and five total in six innings, the victim of some tough luck, and the Orioles fell to 84-68 with their fifth loss in six games, eighth in 10 and ninth in 12. They’ve gone 26-30 in the second half but maintain a 2 1/2 game lead for the first wild card.

The Orioles are only 16 games above .500 for the first time since May 31. They're 19-26 against the National League.

The Orioles have lost eight of 11 games and scored 21 runs in that stretch. Tonight’s lineup combination puts Jackson Holliday at second base after Livan Soto made three consecutive starts, and Heston Kjerstad at designated hitter after he came off the bench last night and singled twice.

James McCann is catching. Emmanuel Rivera is playing third base.

Dean Kremer has five quality starts in his last six outings. He’s posted a 3.76 ERA in the second half.

Kremer has made one career start against the Giants and allowed two runs in six innings. Matt Chapman is 2-for-17 with a home run against him, but San Francisco put him on the paternity list today.

Kremer’s fastballs are generating a whiff rate of 32.1 percent in September, per STATS, which is nearly double his 16.8 rate through August.

Talk about being thrown into the deep end and having to swim, that is, in a sense, what is happening to Orioles prospects Jackson Holliday and Coby Mayo.

These are top young talents, rated among the best in the game, that may be cornerstone players one day, but right now they are battling to get hits in a pennant race. And at a time when the team has lost games while the club is not scoring much. It puts pressure on everyone.

Yeah, a real challenge.

Over 51 games for the year, Holliday, age 20, has hit .170/.223/.298/.521. When he came back to the majors on July 31, he hit a grand slam and had an OPS of 1.072 in a 10-game span, hitting five homers with 12 RBIs. A few days later he had a four-hit game.

But now he is 2-for-26 with nine strikeouts the last 10 games. He did not start Saturday or Sunday in Detroit.

BOSTON – Coby Mayo is starting at third base tonight at Fenway Park and Jackson Holliday returns to the lineup at second base.

Cedric Mullins is batting second again.

James McCann is catching, with Adley Rutschman serving as designated hitter.

Albert Suárez needs to bounce back from his last start, when he allowed six runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings against the White Sox. He surrendered three home runs to tie his career high, and Chicago snapped a 12-game losing streak.

Suárez shut out the Red Sox over six innings on Aug. 18.

The Orioles had losing months in both July and August, but they began September with a win Sunday by 6-1 at Colorado. The O's won the series over the Rockies.

The Orioles had gone 0-5-1 in their past six series versus National League opponents. But their win at Coors Field gave them their first series win over an NL team since they beat Atlanta and Philadelphia in Baltimore in mid June.

The Orioles have gone just 19-24 this season versus National League teams. During the six-series winless run that ended yesterday they were a combined 5-12 against the Cubs, Marlins, Padres, Nats, Mets and Dodgers. 

But now at 79-59 for the season, the Orioles have 24 games remaining. With the Yankees loss Sunday, they are 1/2-game back in the AL East.

Of the games remaining, the O's have three against a club well under .500, six games versus clubs over .500 and 15 against teams hovering around .500.

DENVER – The Orioles recorded a hit with a runner in scoring position to take a quick lead, and Zach Eflin retired the side in order on 10 pitches in his return from the injured list. Maybe, just maybe, the Orioles would make it through the afternoon in good health and with a series win. Leaving the drama at the entrance to Coors Field. Starting a new month with a new attitude and better vibes.

They couldn’t possibly know what else Eflin would deliver.

Eflin retired the first 15 batters on only 49 pitches to flirt with the first perfect game in franchise history. He’d settle for seven innings of one-run ball in a 6-1 victory over the Rockies before an announced crowd of 32,961 on another gorgeous Denver day.

Eflin was barreling toward the first Orioles complete game since Dean Kremer on Sept. 23, 2022 against the Astros at Camden Yards. Kremer left last night’s start in the fourth after taking a line drive off his right forearm area. An odd connection was brewing.

Chad Kuhl tossed the last complete game at Coors Field on June 27, 2022.

DENVER – Playing in the majors at age 20 already presents a litany of challenges for Jackson Holliday. Now that he’s in Colorado with the Orioles, he’s tested to remember incidents that happened when he was a young boy. The heartwarming family moments. The silly stuff. Keep ‘em coming.

Matt Holliday spent his first five seasons with the Rockies and returned in 2018 for his final 25 games before retirement. He held Jackson in his arms after his team won the 2007 National League Championship Series, an iconic photo that was shown, among so many others, during last night’s broadcast.

Jackson would celebrate his fourth birthday in December. Things that happened back then aren’t crystal clear in his mind, but media at his locker tried to pry it out of him.

“I remember vaguely just moments here and there, the playoffs, and certain things like, playing yesterday (at Dodger Stadium) they did the MVP chants for (Shohei) Ohtani and I kind of remember that whenever my dad was here,” he said. “And obviously, whenever he came back with St. Louis. To come here and just be a part of everything.”

What about playing Wiffle Ball? Surely, he’s got some tales to share.

DENVER – Orioles manager Brandon Hyde broke out the right-handed lineup tonight, having learned a while ago to write with his fingers crossed.

Emmanuel Rivera would play first base and bat seventh, getting another start with Ryan Mountcastle on the injured list. Rivera responded with his first hits, home run and RBIs with the Orioles to prove that he can do more than draw walks.

They’ll take anything from their offense, of course. This isn’t a team that can afford to be picky.

Albert Suárez navigated some early trouble to complete a career-high seven innings, Jackson Holliday had an RBI triple and run scored in the ninth, and the Orioles defeated the Rockies 5-3 before an announced crowd of 30,444 at Coors Field.

The Orioles went 4-for-15 with runners in scoring position but improved their record to 78-58. The Yankees defeated the Cardinals earlier today to maintain their 1 ½-game lead in the division.

LOS ANGELES – Orioles right-hander Corbin Burnes, who had an ERA of 8.71 his previous four starts, gave up six runs last night as the Orioles lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers. But just one run was earned over five innings.

Does that make it challenging to evaluate how Burnes pitched?

In the Dodgers third, with the O’s leading 3-1 and one out, an error was charged to third baseman Ramon Urias. They could have had two outs and none on, but the Dodgers went on to score four unearned runs – three on Teoscar Hernández’s 431-foot home run.

The fault of the pitching or the defense? Both to blame?

Said manager Brandon Hyde: “He only gave up that one earned run, the (Shohei) Ohtani homer. Pitched much better than the line. Like I said we didn’t play our cleanest defensively. We had some chances to get out of innings. But we’re not scoring a ton of runs either and helping our guys out.”

LOS ANGELES – It's the Orioles' first trip to Dodger Stadium since 2016 as they begin a six-game road trip tonight versus the Dodgers. 

Los Angeles (78-53) took two of three over the weekend from Tampa Bay and has won six of seven, 12 of 16 and 15 of the last 21 games.

But the Dodgers' lead in the National League West is just three games over the Diamondbacks and four games over the Padres.

The Dodgers have won their division every year since 2013, except in 2021 when 106 wins only got them second place. They won 100 last year but lost three straight to the D-backs in the NL Division Series.

Chasing back-to-back American League East titles for the first time since 1973 and 1974, the Orioles (76-56) are coming off a four-game split with the Astros. They began play today two games behind the Yankees in the division. But with the Nationals 4-2 win over the Yankees, the O's would move to 1 game back with a win tonight. 

The Orioles are laboring on offense, hurting for healthy starting pitching and unable to fully trust their bullpen. Otherwise, there’s nothing to see here.

They’re also only two games behind in the division and are first in the wild card chase.

I say “only” knowing that it’s a genuine concern compared to leading the pack, which they’ve done for much of the season. But no one is running away with a division. No one is playing .600 ball. There isn't a dominant team.

The Dodgers are the closest at .595 and are 43-23 at home, and the Orioles arrived yesterday for a three-game series beginning tonight. But otherwise, really, there’s nothing to see here.

There are questions in the mailbag that I cannot ignore. Time again to drum up a sequel to the beloved 2008 original. You ask, I attempt to answer, sometimes the same inquiry comes as if I’m typing in invisible ink, sometimes I playfully ridicule.

The Orioles last three-game win streak came over 30 games ago. They won three straight July 14-20, wrapping around the All-Star break with a win to end the first half and two to start the second half.

They have not won three straight over a three-day period since taking four in a row from June 26-29. With two wins in the first three games versus Houston, the Orioles tonight look for their first home series win over the Astros since May 25-27, 2015. And a win would give them another three-game win streak.

The Orioles ended Houston's nine-game road winning streak 7-5 Friday night and won again yesterday 3-2.

Earlier today the Yankees beat Colorado 10-3 to improve to 77-54. They lead the Orioles (76-55) by one game pending the O's result tonight. Aaron Judge hit two homers today for New York, hitting No. 50 and No. 51.

Jackson Holliday's three-run, pinch-hit double in the sixth inning Saturday afternoon provided all the O's runs in their 3-2 win. It was Holliday's first pinch-hit appearance in MLB.

Triple-A Norfolk outfielder Daniel Johnson is on the Orioles’ 24-hour taxi squad while center fielder Cedric Mullins is reevaluated for left quadriceps tightness.

Mullins exited Friday's game due to discomfort and so far he's avoided the injured list. Johnson was removed from Norfolk’s game after two at-bats that night, and he’s got a locker at Camden Yards in case Mullins’ quad doesn’t improve enough to let him play.

Johnson, also a left-handed bat, is hitting .267/.333/.479 with 17 doubles, a triple, 20 home runs and 70 RBIs in 98 games with Norfolk. He hasn’t played in the majors since 2021 with Cleveland.

The Orioles would need to make a corresponding 40-man roster move to accommodate him.

“A lot of at-bats,” Johnson said when asked to explain his success with the Tides. “Get a lot of at-bats, you can do a lot every single day. So just the ABs. It’s an opportunity.”

The Orioles' last two wins were not just comeback wins over an American League division leader, but they were impressive because of the team and pitchers they beat.

Consider that:

* After beating the Orioles 6-0 Thursday, Houston was 4-0 this year over the Orioles by a combined 33-13 score. They were 9-3 their past 12 against the Orioles.

* On Friday the Orioles won a game started by right-hander Hunter Brown, who had a 1.96 ERA in August, a 2.36 ERA since July 12 and the AL’s best ERA since June 1 at 2.33. On Saturday they won a game started by left-hander Framber Valdez, a pitcher in the top 11 for the AL Cy Young Award three times in his career. Houston had won 10 Valdez starts in a row since they lost to the White Sox, of all teams, June 18. Valdez was 8-0 with a 2.39 ERA those past 10 starts. The O’s didn’t exactly light up either pitcher but they won those games against a hot team starting its hottest starters.

* Through Thursday’s win, Houston was 12-3 over the previous 15 games and 14-6 their last 20. They had won nine in a row on the road and were 19-9 the previous 28 away from Houston.

Anthony Santander didn’t save the Orioles season.

So why does it feel that way?

They were on the verge of falling 2 ½ games behind the first-place Yankees, with zero momentum or offensive thrust. The bullpen was a mess, whether middle, late or closing. Teams in the wild card chase were gaining ground.

I don't recommend panicking but I would have understood.

The Orioles loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth inning Friday night on a couple of singles and a brain cramp from Astros reliever Bryan Abreu, who fielded a comebacker and bypassed the force at second base or easy out at first. Up stepped Santander, who whipped a crowd of almost 40,000 into an absolute, playoff-feel frenzy with his fourth career grand slam to erase a 5-2 deficit.

For the second game in a row, the contest was moving to the later innings. The O’s offense had been very quiet but the Orioles loaded the bases in the sixth down 2-0 looking for that one big swing.

They got it again today.

Jackson Holliday’s pinch-hit, bases-clearing double turned a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead today in the last of the sixth. Another big Camden Yards crowd was roaring as the kid ended an 0-for-20 slump in a huge way.

Holliday attacked the first pitch from reliever Tayler Scott, who entered the game with a 1.92 ERA, an OPS against of .543 and a batting average against of .196 when pitching with runners in scoring position.

But Holliday lined Scott's splitter into the gap in right-center at 105.9 mph off the bat to score three for the lead.

Oriole first baseman Ryan Mountcastle could play later tonight depending on how he reacts to treatments on his sore wrist.

Mountcastle was removed from last night’s game in the top of the ninth inning. Ryan O’Hearn switched from right field to first base and Austin Slater batted in Mountcastle’s spot in the bottom of the ninth.

Manager Brandon Hyde said afterward that the wrist gradually became more sore after Mountcastle’s slide into second base on a double in the second inning – one of only three hits for the Orioles.

“He’s better today, it’s a little better,” Hyde said. “He’s getting treatment right now. He’s going to get treatment up until game time, so we’ll see if he’s available or not. It got pretty sore as the game went on last night but it’s a little bit better today.”

The offense needs a boost. Mountcastle hasn’t homered since July 29 and he’s batting .225/.257/.310 this month in 19 games but he has hits in 11 of his last 17, including three on Aug. 10 and two on the 13^th, 16^th and 19^th.

Corbin Burnes shortened his hair and lengthened his start, but what happened tonight wasn’t pretty.

Burnes allowed four runs in the sixth inning and the offense ran cold again in the Orioles’ 6-0 loss to the Astros before an announced crowd of 22,212 at Camden Yards.

The Yankees lead the division by 1 ½ games, the Orioles’ largest deficit since being two back on June 25.

After surrendering a career-high eight runs and 10 hits last week, Burnes was poised to produce his 20^th quality start. However, the Astros sent eight batters to the plate in the sixth, broke open the game and forced manager Brandon Hyde to dig into his bullpen after 5 2/3.

Burnes allowed six runs (five earned) and eight hits. Damage came heavy with two outs in the sixth, when Ben Gamel singled at only 77.8 mph off the bat to drive in a run, Burnes fielded Jake Meyers’ bunt and threw the ball past first base, and Shay Whitcomb delivered a two-run single.