ATLANTA – Ramón Urías is making his first major league start at first base tonight, as the Orioles try for their eighth series win in a row.

Ryan Mountcastle is the designated hitter.

Austin Hays is out of the lineup again with a deep cut on his right middle finger. Kyle Stowers gets the start in left field.

Gunnar Henderson is at third base. Adam Frazier is the second baseman.

Anthony Santander, who's in right field, has hit three home runs in the last two games, including last night's first career grand slam.

ATLANTA – Cedric Mullins was lowered in the order again last night against a left-hander, batting seventh while also being one of the first players credited with a 9-4 win over the Braves.

Anthony Santander homered twice, including a grand slam, but Mullins led off the seventh with a homer against Max Fried.

Mullins is 12-for-43 (.279) against southpaws, with six extra-base hits and 13 RBIs. He slashed .209/.265/.313 last season and drove in only 15 runs.

“Just continue to work,” he said. “I’ve said many times, just how I prepare against lefties going forward. I’ve had a lot of success, so just sticking with it.”

Mullins added a run-scoring single off right-hander Joe Jiménez in the seventh and he leads the team with 28 RBIs.

ATLANTA – One mistake pitch, a meatball in the heart of the plate. Is that asking too much?

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde hoped that Atlanta left-hander Max Fried was due. Or perhaps it was just wishful thinking.

Hyde can recite Fried’s line from the four-hit shutout tossed at Camden Yards in 2021, right down to the zero walks. He knows about the three consecutive scoreless starts this season and the one run allowed in 20 innings.

Fried didn’t locate a fastball in the fourth inning tonight and Anthony Santander sent it over the left-center field fence to break a tie. That was the mistake. Cedric Mullins barreled a sinker leading off the seventh for another home run. That was a mistake.

So was the notion that Dean Kremer would lose a pitchers’ duel with Fried. Or that the harder part of the schedule would crush the Orioles.

ATLANTA – The decision after Thursday’s game to option Ryan O’Hearn to Triple-A Norfolk takes away a true backup first baseman on the Orioles’ roster.

O’Hearn was bumped by new catcher Luis Torrens, acquired from the Cubs this week for cash considerations.

“Ryan did a great job for us,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “That was tough to say goodbye. Might just be short term. We’ll see. But did a really good job for us in the role that he was in when he was here, so expect to see him back at some point.”

Hyde might be thinking a little outside the box to give Ryan Mountcastle an occasional break.

James McCann played an inning at first base this week in Kansas City and made six starts with the Mets. Adley Rutschman played first in college and the minors but not with the Orioles. Anthony Santander keeps taking ground balls at first and got some reps in spring training, but his last real game experience was in 2016 with Single-A Lynchburg.

ATLANTA – Austin Hays is out of the Orioles’ lineup again tonight while waiting for the gash to heal on his right middle finger. He’s wearing a soft splint on it.

“It’s improved a little bit more,” he said. “We’re still just trying to be careful with it so we don’t turn it into something worse. But the same, day-to-day. Just trying to give it that little bit of extra time and make sure it’s fully ready to go. But still available off the bench if opportunity shows up where I need to be there.”

Hays was hit on the finger by Corey Kluber’s 88 mph sinker, and a cut opened on the inside knuckle beneath the bruise. The Orioles had it cleaned out Wednesday.

A blood blister formed when the ball caused the finger to get pinched against the bat, and the cut was discovered.

“There was just no way to know that it was there before,” Hays said. “At that point, we couldn’t put stitches in it. It’s not something that needs to be stitched. It just needs to heal and close up a little bit. But it’s right there.”

ATLANTA – Catcher Luis Torrens has joined the Orioles in Atlanta and is added to the 26-man roster for tonight’s series opener against the Braves.

In a corresponding move, first baseman Ryan O’Hearn was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk.

O’Hearn appeared in nine games and went 5-for-19 (.263) with a .634 OPS, one double and six RBIs.

Torrens, who’s wearing No. 13, gives the Orioles a third catcher and reduces the risk of putting Adley Rutschman and James McCann in the same lineup. He’s also a right-handed bat for the bench.

Rutschman and McCann could pair up again tonight with Atlanta starting left-hander Max Fried.

The Orioles are two-thirds through their road trip and keep winning more than they lose, which seems like a solid plan the rest of the way.

Is it always pretty? Not even close to that, but what matters is the final score and a 21-10 record.

They didn’t win their 21^st game last season until May 30 in Boston. They had 29 losses and nobody was predicting playoffs.

If there really is a soft spot in a major league schedule, the Orioles zipped past it. They play the first-place Braves, with the second-best record in baseball, in a three-game series before returning home and facing the first-place Rays, who possess the best record at 26-6 and have a plus-114 run differential.

The Orioles won two of three games at Truist Park in 2018. The opener lasted 15 innings and the Orioles prevailed 10-7 after they scored six runs in the top of the ninth and Zack Britton was charged with four in the bottom half to send the game to extras. Manny Machado homered in the 15^th.

KANSAS CITY – After the top of the third today, the Orioles were enjoying an 8-1 lead against the Kansas City Royals and former teammate Jordan Lyles. Maybe this would be their rare laughter - a blowout with no late game or even mid-game drama.

Nope.

By the end of the Kansas City fourth, the Royals were hitting rookie right-hander Grayson Rodriguez hard and their 8-1 deficit was now just 8-6. There was nothing to laugh about now. Would the O’s even hold on and get another series win before heading to Atlanta?

Nope, also.

Or so we thought.

The Orioles are sending Grayson Rodriguez to the mound this afternoon in Kansas City while trying to claim their seventh series.

Rodriguez is working on regular rest after starting Game 2 of Saturday’s doubleheader in Detroit and earning his first major league win with a career-high nine strikeouts. He hasn’t allowed a run in 14 straight innings going back to Chicago.

Austin Hays is out of the lineup again today. He also didn’t pinch-hit last night, with manager Brandon Hyde choosing Ryan McKenna to bat for Kyle Stowers.

Hays recently returned after bruising his right middle finger on an attempted bunt.

Stowers is in left field again today. Adley Rutschman is the designated hitter.

The Orioles close out their series in Kansas City this afternoon and board a charter for Atlanta, where they won two of three games at Truist Park in June 2018.

They claimed the series opener, which is their go-to move in 2023.

A win Friday night would make the Orioles 11-0 in the first game of a series, already the longest streak in club history to begin a season, according to STATS.

The old record was seven in April 1974, followed by five in April 1996.

Let us dig a little deeper.

KANSAS CITY – The Orioles had not been shut out yet this year and ranked fifth in the majors in runs per game at 5.45 coming into this outing. But their offense, which produced 11 runs last night, did not come through for the Orioles tonight.

O’s right-hander Kyle Gibson had been 4-0 this year and the Orioles were 5-1 in his 2023 starts. But he would need run support to win this one and didn’t get it.

Kansas City snapped a 10-game home losing streak, scoring single runs in the fourth and sixth and adding four in the seventh to beat the Orioles 6-0 in front of 10,362 at Kauffman Stadium. 

The time of game was one hour and 59 minutes. 

The Orioles will win a seventh consecutive series if they win the rubber match here on Thursday afternoon.

KANSAS CITY – The Orioles today acquired catcher Luis Torrens, a veteran of 264 major league games, from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for cash considerations. He has not yet reported to the team and manager Brandon Hyde said he wasn’t sure what day that would happen. To make 40-man roster room, reliever Joey Krehbiel was designated for assignment.

Hyde said this afternoon that this move is not about the health of either of his two catchers, confirming that both Adley Rutschman and James McCann are fine physically. However, Triple-A catcher Maverick Handley went on the injured list today with a hand contusion. Mark Kolozsvary was seen here this week and it's assumed that he is the taxi-squad catcher for this series. 

For now, the Orioles may be about to again carry three catchers. Hyde was asked if that was the plan.

“Yeah,” he said.

“Haven’t seen much of him (Torrens),” Hyde said during his pregame media update. “Saw him against Seattle last year. But just know that he is a guy that has hit left-handers well in his career (with a .725 OPS) and done a nice job behind the plate. Besides that, don’t know much about him. Looking forward to getting to know him.

The Orioles made a roster move before tonight’s game in Kansas City, and it didn’t involve calling up one of their minor league players.

Catcher Luis Torrens was acquired from the Cubs in exchange for cash considerations, the team announced. He didn't report to the Orioles today, and manager Brandon Hyde may provide more information to the assembled media.

Torrens, who turned 27 yesterday, was batting .250/.318/.300 (5-for-20) with one double and three RBIs in 13 games. He signed with the Cubs as a minor league free agent in January.

The Orioles are Torren’s fifth organization. The Reds selected him from the Yankees in the 2016 Rule 5 draft and traded him that day to the Padres for a player to be named later who became infielder/outfielder Josh VanMeter. San Diego traded him to the Mariners in August 2020 in a seven-player deal.

Torrens has appeared in 264 major league games and batted .227/.289/.352 with 19 home runs and 78 RBIs in 799 plate appearances. He played in 108 games with Seattle in 2021 and finished with 16 doubles, two triples, 15 home runs and 47 RBIs.

The Orioles will try tonight to claim their seventh consecutive series, two short of the club record set in 1968.

They fell behind 3-0 last night and registered their 10^th comeback victory of the season to improve to 20-9, the second-best record in the majors. They’ve won five of their last six games, 12 of 14 and 16 of 20.

Austin Hays and Gunnar Henderson are out of tonight’s lineup.

Kyle Stowers is playing left field and batting fifth. Ramón Urías is the third baseman, with Adam Frazier at second base.

Ryan Mountcastle is the designated hitter after homering twice last night, and Ryan O’Hearn is playing first base.

The Orioles ranked third in bullpen ERA after Yennier Cano registered the save Sunday afternoon in Detroit. They assembled at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City yesterday ranked first.

Success finds the Orioles even when they are away from the field.

The Yankees’ Albert Abreu allowed six runs in one inning Sunday in Texas, and Nick Ramirez surrendered two in 2 1/3. The Rays were in Chicago blowing a 9-5 lead in the ninth, with Jalen Beeks charged with five runs and Garrett Cleavinger two.

What the Orioles did that day at Comerica Park was more typical. Kyle Bradish lasted only 4 2/3 innings, fading after four scoreless, but Cionel Pérez, Austin Voth, Danny Coulombe and Cano shut out the Tigers on one hit over 4 1/3.

Before starter Tyler Wells stepped on the mound last night, Orioles relievers were 10-4 with a 2.86 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and .208 average against in 110 innings. The innings total was tied for sixth in the majors.

KANSAS CITY – On a night when an O’s former American League East nemesis, lefty Ryan Yarbrough, rolled through the Orioles to retire nine straight in the first three innings, the ability to foresee an O’s rally, much less an offensive explosion, might have been challenging.

But these are the 2023 Orioles, a club that rolled off 19 wins in the first 28 games and one that had produced nine comeback wins in that span. Also, a club that had not lost a series-opening game all year, going 9-0.

That streak stayed alive tonight.

Down 3-0 going to the fourth inning, the Orioles use a pair of Ryan Mountcastle two-run homers and Cedric Mullins’ huge two-run single to storm back and beat Kansas City 11-7 tonight at Kauffman Stadium.

They are now 20-9 overall and 10-0 in series-opening games. The Orioles have won five of six, 12 of 14 and 16 of their past 20 games. They improved to 11-5 in road games.

KANSAS CITY – As the Orioles face the Kansas City Royals tonight to start a three-game series, left fielder Austin Hays is batting leadoff again versus a left-hander.

This will be the ninth time Hays will bat leadoff, and he is batting there for the sixth time in the last 10 games. Former Tampa Bay lefty Ryan Yarbrough (0-3, 6.35 ERA) starts for the Royals. 

Hays' numbers batting leadoff show a .313 batting average and .858 OPS at 10-for-32. They are close to his overall numbers for the year at .312/.900.

“Kind of early in the year and we had trouble with left-handed starters last year. Trying to give us a spark in that way. Tried (Ramón) Urías there in Boston, that didn’t go very well. Think he’s been swinging the bat really well against left-handed pitching, so just rolling with it,” manager Brandon Hyde said of Hays batting No. 1.

He said when he puts a hitter in a spot in the lineup that is different (such as Hays batting at the top), he doesn’t want that hitter to change anything, such as take more pitches or have a different hitting approach.

The Orioles will try to improve to 10-0 in series openers tonight when they visit the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

Manager Brandon Hyde is keeping Austin Hays in the leadoff spot against a left-hander, with Cedric Mullins lowered to ninth.

Jorge Mateo is batting fifth again. James McCann is the designated hitter. Gunnar Henderson is the third baseman.

Mullins has a .458 average with runners in scoring position that ranks seventh in the majors among batters with a minimum 15 plate appearances.

Mateo is trying to become the first Oriole to score a run in eight straight games since Mullins in 2021, according to STATS. Mateo’s 21 runs this season are the most through the first 23 games since Trey Mancini scored 22 in 2019.

The Orioles moved past their off-day and are resuming their three-city road trip tonight in Kansas City. The last stop is in Atlanta.

They haven’t moved past the “soft” part of their schedule. The Royals are 7-22, the second-worst record in the majors. They’re in last place in the American League Central, with a minus-64 run differential in 29 games and a 1-12 record at home.

Can’t let down against anyone, but the Royals are scuffling with 13 losses in their last 16 games.

The teams met seven times last summer, with the Orioles going 4-3. They split a four-game series at Kauffman Stadium.

The Orioles are 128-128 all-time against the Royals in Kansas City, with their last three-game sweep in 2007.

DETROIT – The Orioles played their 28^th game yesterday and completed the first full month of the season. The 17^th win on Saturday was a franchise record for April. They have 19 total.

A lot of season is left on the schedule. At last check, they still play 162.

Too early for analysis, predictions, trends and numbers consumption? Of course not. That can commence after Opening Day.

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