CHICAGO – The Orioles had been good this year both on the road and in series-opening games, but that combination did not lead to a win today at Chicago’s Wrigley Field.

Playing better baseball after a three-game sweep this week of National League Central-leading Pittsburgh, the Cubs hit three homers this afternoon in one inning off Baltimore lefty Cole Irvin and then had one big inning later versus the O’s bullpen in a 10-3 win over the Orioles.

The Cubs (32-37) won for sixth time in seven games as a big crowd of 37,515 cheered them on in the opener of the weekend series. Chicago is 10-7 the last 17 games.

The Birds had scored 42 runs in winning six of their past seven games, but did not score big today in the opening game of their five-game road trip.

The Orioles fall to 43-26 overall, to 21-13 in road games, to 16-7 in series openers, to 9-3 in road series openers and to 6-11 all-time against the Cubs.

CHICAGO - As the Orioles play the Chicago Cubs today to start a three-game series at Wrigley Field, manager Brandon Hyde expects to see a good number of Orioles fans in the stands.

That was the case last July 12-13 when the O's swept a two-game series at Wrigley.

"We are traveling well," Hyde said pregame in the visitors' dugout. "I'm loving the way our fans are traveling. It's been a lot of fun on the road to see and to hear during the anthem. That's when you notice it the most, honestly, during the anthem. I've been pleasantly surprised. The way they are showing up for us on the road has been awesome."

Hyde provided a brief update on first baseman Ryan Mountcastle, who went on the 10-day injured list Tuesday due to vertigo.

"He is starting to feel a little bit better," Hyde said. "But he's still a little bit under the weather."

Gunnar Henderson is leading off again today at Wrigley Field and Ramón Urías is the designated hitter for the series opener against the Cubs.

The Orioles’ lineup also includes first baseman Ryan O’Hearn in the cleanup spot and Aaron Hicks in center field.

Adley Rutschman is behind the plate. He’s tied with Austin Hays for the team lead in hits with 70 and is first in walks with 46. Sean Murphy and Joe Mauer are the only American League catchers ever to lead their teams in both categories. Mauer did it twice.

Cole Irvin is making his second start since the Orioles put him back in the rotation. He faced the Royals Saturday and allowed one run in 5 1/3 innings.

Irvin’s only career start against the Cubs came on May 22, 2019 with the Phillies at Wrigley Field, when he allowed seven runs in 4 2/3 innings. It was Irvin’s third career game and his first loss.

Tyler Wells took the mound yesterday in the top of the first inning with baseball in hand and also possessing the lowest WHIP in the majors at 0.853.

There’s a lot of season left, but Wells held the Blue Jays to a pair of Danny Jansen solo home runs in 6 2/3 innings in a 4-2 win at Camden Yards. He allowed five hits, walked one batter and left with his WHIP at 0.86.

The club record for lowest WHIP in a season, with a minimum of one inning per team game, is held by left-hander Dave McNally at 0.842 in 1968, according to STATS.

McNally was special, and his ’68 season was magnificent with a 22-10 record and 1.95 ERA in 35 starts. McNally recorded 18 complete games and five shutouts and finished fifth in Most Valuable Player voting in the American League.

A different time, indeed.

Anthony Santander didn’t feed the appetites of the launch angle lovers this afternoon while breaking the final tie of the day. The four combined home runs from the Orioles and Blue Jays would have to satisfy those cravings.

Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. raised his mitt in an attempt to knock down Santander’s 103.9 mph one-hopper with two outs in the sixth inning and could only deflect it, allowing Austin Hays score on the third consecutive single against reliever Yimi García.

Four degrees of separation between a tie and lead.

García was saddled with two losses last month in Toronto, and he earned another today. Tyler Wells turned in his third quality start in his last four outings, surviving two home runs from Danny Jansen, and Yennier Cano and Félix Bautista handled the last seven outs in a 4-2 victory before an announced crowd of 22,555 at Camden Yards.

Hays hit a 439-foot home run off Erik Swanson in the eighth, and the 24th comeback win of the season improved the Orioles to 43-25. They secured their 15^th series and pushed the Blue Jays six games behind them in the standings.

Austin Voth is hoping to begin throwing again next week to test the right elbow that forced him on the injured list yesterday.

Voth is taking a stronger dose of an anti-inflammatory to reduce the swelling.

The Orioles placed Voth on the IL after he allowed two runs and three hits Tuesday in one-third of an inning. He also walked a batter, and Cavan Biggio’s homer was the first that Voth surrendered in his last 18 appearances.

Voth’s previous outing also was a struggle, with two walks in one-third of an inning against the Royals.

“It’s getting better,” he said this morning. “It’s just a matter of calming it down to the point where I can move it without moving something. And from there, I’m not throwing right now, so the next step would be probably throwing in maybe a week to see how it’s doing.”

Ramón Urías is making his second career start at first base this afternoon, as the Orioles concluded their homestand.

Manager Brandon Hyde is stacking his lineup with right-handed bats, including James McCann catching, Ryan McKenna in left field and Joey Ortiz at second base.

Austin Hays is leading off, with Gunnar Henderson in the cleanup spot.

Tyler Wells has posted a 3.24 ERA in 13 games (12 starts), and his 0.853 WHIP leads the majors. He’s allowed five runs in his last three starts over 18 innings.

Wells has made eight career appearances against the Blue Jays, including two starts, and allowed 10 runs and 18 hits in 14 2/3 innings.

Austin Hays got past the illness that kept him out of the Orioles lineup prior to the last road trip. The bottle of Pedialyte in his locker yesterday was gulped more as a preventative measure with four day games in a row. Restore fluids and prevent dehydration.

Hays is trying to remain upright while teammates keep dropping around him.

Cedric Mullins is in Sarasota rehabbing from a strained groin. Ryan Mountcastle went on the injured list Tuesday with vertigo. Austin Voth went on the IL yesterday with elbow discomfort.

Reliever Danny Coulombe was unavailable recently due to illness, going eight days between appearances. Two other relievers, Mychal Givens and Dillon Tate, are on injury rehab assignments this week.

The tale would be much sadder except that the Orioles are winning. Five in a row before last night’s 3-1 loss to the Blue Jays. More than every team other than the Rays when the night began.

To get his first career win in his own division and finally slay the Blue Jays, who battered him last season, Kyle Bradish needed to outduel the pitcher who hadn’t lost to the Orioles in 12 starts.

A pitcher who was perfect through four innings and unhittable until the seventh.

Bradish had good stuff and bad timing.

José Berríos retired the first 13 batters and was still eyeing history when Adley Rutschman singled into center field leading off the seventh. Just a minor glitch for Berríos, who again brought his best against the Orioles.

George Springer homered off Bradish with one out in the sixth, a changeup traveling 437 feet to left field, and the Blue Jays didn’t seem to need anything else in a 3-1 win before an announced crowd of 16,083 at Camden Yards.

The Orioles weren’t finished with their roster moves this afternoon.

Unfortunate business as usual.

Reliever Austin Voth was placed on the 15-day injured list with right elbow discomfort. Reliever Reed Garrett had his contract selected from Triple-A Norfolk to fill the gap in the bullpen.

To make room for Garrett on the 40-man, Mark Kolozsvary was designated for assignment less than 24 hours after the Orioles selected his contract and let him catch the ninth inning.

Voth retired only one batter last night and allowed two runs and three hits with one walk. His homerless streak ended at 17 appearances when pinch-hitter Cavan Biggio took him deep leading off the eighth.

Joey Ortiz is back with the Orioles for the third time.

The Orioles recalled Ortiz from Triple-A Norfolk this afternoon and optioned Mark Kolozsvary, who joined the active roster yesterday and caught the ninth inning.

The move is another response to first baseman Ryan Mountcastle going on the 10-day injured list yesterday with vertigo.

Ortiz’s last game with the Orioles was May 24 in New York. He was optioned two days later and didn’t play for Norfolk again until June 8 due to illness, but he’s gone 9-for-25 with two doubles, a triple and two home runs this month.

Ortiz is 7-for-27 with the Orioles. He’s on the bench tonight.

Ryan O’Hearn fouled off a changeup last night in the third inning, got the barrel on a slider and deposited the ball into the home bullpen.

Home is where O’Hearn is hardest to contain.

He began last night batting .462 with a 1.362 OPS in nine games at Camden Yards and .237 with a .722 OPS in 15 games on the road, though his three-run homer on May 20 at Rogers Centre qualifies as one of the season’s biggest hits.

I wrote yesterday that O’Hearn’s OPS was the highest mark for any Orioles player in his first nine home games with a minimum of 30 plate appearances, per STATS.

There’s more, of course.

Ryan Mountcastle has lost his day-to-day status with the Orioles.

The club announced a few minutes before first pitch that Mountcastle was placed on the 10-day injured list retroactive to Saturday with vertigo.

Catcher Mark Kolozsvary had his contract selected from Triple-A Norfolk, and he reported to the club today.

The Orioles designated pitcher Noah Denoyer for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.

Mountcastle hasn’t played since Tuesday, with the club explaining his absence as an illness. Manager Brandon Hyde said Mountcastle came to the ballpark yesterday to take some swings and was going to be a full participant this afternoon in batting practice.  

Orioles rookie Gunnar Henderson got alerted to the news the way likely many of his fans did as well. He saw it on his phone Monday afternoon that he had been named the American League Player of the Week. It was his first such honor and first for the Orioles since Ryan Mountcastle was POW in the AL in June of 2021.

Henderson hit .526/.550/1.053 (10-for-19) during the week with one double, three homers, five runs scored, six RBIs, one walk, and two stolen bases in five games, hitting safely in all of them.

For the period, he led the AL in batting and on-base percentage, ranked second in slugging and OPS (1.063), tied for second in home runs, third in total bases (20), tied for third in hits, and tied for fifth in RBIs.

“Feel like it’s a testament to the hard work,” he said of the honor today during batting practice in the Orioles dugout. “Just everything I had gone through at the beginning of the year. Just trusting the process and put in a lot of hard work and feel like that has been the biggest thing.”

His OPS was just .659 at the end of April and had dipped to .643 by early May. But as he started to make some louder contact and more often drive baseballs, he felt he was headed in the right direction.

Two veteran Orioles relievers will begin injury rehab assignments this week.

Mychal Givens will pitch for Double-A Bowie on Wednesday and Triple-A Norfolk on Friday. Dillon Tate is scheduled to pitch for Norfolk Thursday and Saturday.

Givens began the season on the injured list with left knee inflammation, made six appearances with the Orioles and returned to the IL on June 2 with right shoulder inflammation. He allowed five earned runs and six total with six walks in four innings.

Tate is waiting to make his 2023 debut. He completed a rehab assignment and went back on the injured list with a right elbow flexor strain. The Orioles transferred him to the 60-day IL to create a spot for infielder Josh Lester.

The latest injury is unrelated to the strained right forearm that kept him from pitching in spring training.

Ryan Mountcastle remains out of the Orioles’ lineup tonight due to an illness. He hasn’t played since Thursday.

Ryan O’Hearn is the first baseman and cleanup hitter to open the Blue Jays series. Gunnar Henderson is leading off and serving as the designated hitter.

Henderson had eight hits while the Orioles swept the Royals, with two home runs and two stolen bases. Per STATS, he's just the sixth rookie in the modern era (1901) to reach those numbers in a three-game series.

O’Hearn has a 1.362 OPS in nine games at Camden Yards, the highest mark for any Orioles player in his first nine home games with a minimum of 30 plate appearances, also according to STATS.

Aaron Hicks gets another start in center field.

Outfielder Aaron Hicks is expected to stay in the Orioles’ lineup tonight for the series opener against the Blue Jays at Camden Yards. His knack for reaching base is keeping him off the bench.

Hicks is 10-for-29 since the Yankees released him, with two doubles, one triple, one home run and seven walks. He’s batting .345/.472/.586 and has gotten on base in all 10 games, collecting hits in seven of them.

Evidence began to surface that Hicks was heating up. He went 6-for-17 in his last seven games with the Yankees before they designated him for assignment, including a 3-for-4 night in Toronto from the bottom of the lineup.

What’s happening now is next level.

This is Hicks’ longest on-base streak since a 12-game run from Sept. 5-18, 2020. His four extra-base hits are one more than he registered in 28 games with the Yankees this season.

The Orioles could send a catcher to the All-Star Game for the first time since 2016 and have their first healthy starter at the position in 36 years.

Adley Rutschman is the leader in voting in the American League at 460,496 to give him a comfortable margin over the Rangers’ Jonah Heim (320,028), a former Orioles minor leaguer. The Royals’ Salvador Pérez is third at 312,615.

Matt Wieters was an All-Star in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2016. He was leading AL catchers in voting in 2014 when he sustained an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery.

Terry Kennedy was voted into the All-Star Game in 1987, and Mickey Tettleton was a reserve two years later.

Rutschman didn’t make his major league debut last year until May 21 and was slow to heat up, but he emerged as the immediate favorite in 2023 and is batting .274/.390/.410 with eight doubles, eight home runs, 28 RBIs and 46 walks that lead the league.

When breaking down the differences between his time with Triple-A Norfolk this year compared to the majors, the stuff that really stood out to him, Cole Irvin’s mind immediately went to the obvious contrast.

The one that might stand alone and made him smile.

He couldn’t resist.

“I think the postgame celebrations are slightly different,” he quipped.

That’s a fair point. The Orioles are in a league of their own when it comes to saluting wins and milestones. They are the masters of merriment. The lights, the smoke, the loud music, the shower cart treatments that threaten to deplete the condiments supply in the food room.

The Orioles’ 22^nd comeback win of the season was planted today in the top of the first inning, uprooted and planted again in the third. The team that digs in and finds a way.

The Royals used an opener while trying to avoid being swept. The Orioles used another variation of their lineup, sitting some regulars and toying again with the order.

Their methods keep working.

Josh Lester started at first base and broke a tie in the third with a two-run single, Gunnar Henderson hit a 462-foot three-run homer and came within a triple of the cycle, Ryan O’Hearn homered and reached base five times for the only time in his career, and the Orioles defeated Kansas City 11-3 before an announced crowd of 23,255 at Camden Yards. They’ve won four in a row to move 17 games above .500 at 41-24 for the first time since July 26, 2016.

Their 41^st win last season came on July 8 in their 85^th game. Today marked their first sweep of the Royals since 2017.