Kyle Bradish must not be the sentimental type. Not on the nights that he’s pitching.

The Orioles welcomed back Trey Mancini, who returned to Baltimore for the first time since his trade, but Bradish made himself the center of attention.

He didn’t allow an Astros batter to reach base until Mauricio Dubón lined a first-pitch slider into left field with two outs in the sixth inning. He didn’t have any intention of letting in a run.

Friendships are cherished, but so are shutouts. Bradish came within an out of getting it by himself.

Bradish retired 26 of 28 batters, Rougned Odor celebrated his return to the lineup with a two-run single off Justin Verlander in the second inning, and the Orioles beat the team with the best record in the American League, 2-0, before an announced crowd of 16,417 at chilly Camden Yards.

The newness struck Trey Mancini before he stepped inside Camden Yards. The bus ride to the ballpark. A different mode of transportation and route. And, of course, the walk to the visiting clubhouse with his Houston Astros teammates.

Mancini described it as “wild,” and that was in a calm moment.

“I didn’t really know where anything was in the locker room, where the kitchen was, anything like that. So, it was a little strange being in such a familiar place but being so unfamiliar with part of it,” he said, as media crowded him.

“It’s pretty crazy coming back. I spent a lot of time here and obviously love my time here. I stopped in on my way in, saw some of the trainers, and a couple guys were in there. It’s always good to see old friends and co-workers and everything.”

This isn’t the usual return of a former player, however. Mancini meant way too much to the team, the city and its fans. The survivor of Stage 3 colon cancer, recipient of three Comeback Player of the Year awards in 2021, the fighter who inspired and taught.

The Orioles stay outside of their division tonight as a new opponent arrives in Baltimore, but the Astros are sitting on 99 wins while owning the best record in the American League.

The teams will play four games. Houston has won four in a row, 10 of 11 and 12 of 14.

Manager Brandon Hyde hit big with last night’s lineup, and he’s keeping Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Kyle Stowers and Terrin Vavra in it tonight.

In this arrangement, outfielder Austin Hays and infielder Ramón Urías join the other reserves.

Henderson is playing third base and Rougned Odor has resurfaced at second. Vavra is in left field and Stowers is in right, with Anthony Santander serving as the designated hitter. He’s also the cleanup hitter.

The Orioles’ 2022 schedule is much lighter with only 14 games remaining. My mailbag, however, is gaining weight.

Can’t keep blaming the pandemic. Mix in a salad.

I could set up a buffet with all the questions sent to me. Maybe I should rename it “Around the Horn & Horn”.

I’ll table that idea for now.

Here’s the latest sequel to the original mailbag that launched during the Eisenhower administration. Or in 2008 after I joined MASN. The years run together.

Akil Baddoo raced back to the left field wall tonight, jumped and brought down Ryan Mountcastle’s fly ball to end the first inning. Mountcastle rounded the bag and stared at Badoo in disbelief. Denied a home run on a 393-foot drive with a man on base, a souvenir in any other ballpark.

Mountcastle shook his head and tossed his batting helmet to first base coach Anthony Sanders. This couldn’t be happening again.

The next fly ball from Mountcastle in the third inning produced a sacrifice fly and expanded the lead to three runs, more than enough for Jordan Lyles. Finally, the Orioles felt in control. They wouldn’t get handled again by the Tigers.

Lyles tossed his second career complete game, Kyle Stowers hit his second major league home run and had three RBIs, Gunnar Henderson singled twice, and the Orioles avoided the sweep with an 8-1 victory at Camden Yards.

The Tigers had won nine games in a row against the Orioles dating back to August 2021, tying the longest streak since 1954.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde isn’t sitting on the same lineup while the offensive production keeps slipping and the organization is curious about some of the younger players who graduated this year from Triple-A.

Veteran Rougned Odor is on the bench for the fourth consecutive game. The Tigers started left-handers the past two nights, but right-hander Matt Manning is closing out the series.

Odor is 13-for-78 since going 4-for-5 on Aug. 12. He’s hitless in his last 15 at-bats and is 4-for-29 with a double, home run and 10 strikeouts this month.

“Roogie’s been an ultimate team guy and so great in so many ways for us this year,” Hyde said. “We’re giving some other guys some opportunities right now. You’re going to see (Terrin) Vavra play a little bit more, and I’ll still find spots for Roogie. But we’re just looking at some other players, too.”

Vavra is starting at second base tonight. The lineup also has Gunnar Henderson at shortstop and Kyle Stowers in right field, with Anthony Santander on the bench.

The Orioles have scored five runs in five games against the Tigers this season, all losses, and are 1-for-26 with runners in scoring position.

To avoid another sweep tonight, they’ll count heavily on their youth and the handful of prospects who made it to the majors.

Gunnar Henderson is batting third tonight for the first time after making his debut last night as the leadoff hitter. He was the cleanup hitter on Sunday.

The hot hand is touching the higher spots in the order.

Henderson has moved to shortstop, with Jorge Mateo going to the bench.

ABERDEEN, Md. – In the minor leagues it’s like the equivalent of playing a Game 7 of the World Series. For the O’s high Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds affiliate tonight, it’s the final game of a series and the season.

Aberdeen hosts Bowling Green, a Tampa Bay Rays farm club, in Game 3 of the best-of-three South Atlantic League championship series at 7:05 p.m. Bowling Green won 5-3 Sunday and Aberdeen won at Ripken Stadium 13-6 last night. Tonight’s winner will be the 2022 SAL champions.

The last two O’s farm teams to win championships were the Single-A Frederick Keys in 2011 with Manny Machado and Jonathan Schoop in the Carolina League and the Double-A Bowie Baysox in 2015. With a team that included Trey Mancini and Mike Yastrzemski, the Baysox won the Eastern League title.

Aberdeen, an O’s affiliate since 2002, had never even won a single playoff series until this year.

Ahead of tonight’s winner-take-all game, some notes and quotes from Aberdeen.

Adley Rutschman didn’t put down any fingers for Ryan McKenna in the ninth inning of Monday night’s game against the Tigers. The rookie was catching an outfielder with their team behind by nine runs. The usual routine already had been dismantled.

Just try to get the ball over the plate and get off the field. Don’t increase the embarrassment of a lopsided loss to a last-place club that dragged an anemic offense into Camden Yards.

McKenna didn’t think to jokingly shake off Rutschman and get inside the hitters’ heads a little bit. A funny idea that he hopes won’t present itself again this season.

Two trips to the mound are too many for a position player.

McKenna hadn’t pitched since his high school days at St. Thomas Aquinas in New Hampshire, describing his usage has “very minimal,” but bench coach Fredi González approached him in the dugout during a Sept. 10 game against the Red Sox at Camden Yards and asked whether he’d be willing to do it with the Orioles running out of pitching.

There really isn’t any momentum in baseball.

Rallying to win Sunday in Toronto didn’t thrust the Orioles past a difficult stretch this month. It didn’t ignite the offense. The euphoria never made it through customs.

The last-place Tigers won again tonight, 3-2, at Camden Yards, and the Orioles are left with trying to avoid being swept again by a team that sits at the bottom of its division.

The Orioles are 76-71 overall and 8-10 this month. They’ve lost 10 of their last 15 games.

Gunnar Henderson, batting leadoff for the first time, hit a two-run homer off Joe Jiménez with two outs in the seventh to break up the Tigers’ shutout bid. The 409-foot shot onto the flag court in right field was Henderson’s third homer in the majors and first in Baltimore.

Gunnar Henderson’s move to the top of the order tonight makes him the fifth-youngest Orioles leadoff hitter in club history, as well as the youngest since Manny Machado on Sept. 22, 2013.

Henderson, at 21 years and 83 days, is the youngest player to bat leadoff in the majors since the Padres’ Fernando Tatis Jr on Aug. 13, 2019.

Manager Brandon Hyde is trying to find a spark for the offense against Tigers left-hander Joey Wentz.

“We’ve had a tough time against left-handed pitching, especially of late, and just like the swings that he’s been taking,” Hyde said. “Giving it a try. Like to see him be at the top of the order and get as many at-bats as possible.”

The Orioles are 27-19 against left-handed starters this season, but Tyler Alexander no-hit them for six innings last night. Rich Hill started on Sept. 11 when the Red Sox shut out the Orioles 1-0.

The Orioles have lost all four games against the Tigers this season, including last night’s 11-0 rout that left them five behind the Mariners for the last wild card. The White Sox are a half-game behind them.

Tonight’s game feels “must win.”

They all do at this point.

Manager Brandon Hyde has performed a major shakeup of his lineup, moving Gunnar Henderson to the leadoff spot for the first time. Henderson is starting again at third base.

Adley Rutschman is lowered to the cleanup spot for the sixth time. He’s batted second in 47 games, a spot occupied tonight by Ryan Mountcastle.

The opposing pitcher last night wasn’t going to influence the entirety of manager Brandon Hyde’s lineup. Just a couple of concessions.

Gunnar Henderson was playing third base despite the left-on-left matchup with Tigers starter Tyler Alexander. You can’t sit the rookie. Get him in the box as much as humanly possible.

He flied to the center field fence in the second inning, one of the few hard-hit balls against Alexander in an 11-0 loss.

Adley Rutschman was catching and batting second despite splits that are much more favorable from the left side of the plate. He began last night slashing .286/.389/.510 with 26 doubles, 10 home runs and 32 RBIs in 306 plate appearances against right-handers and .165/.295/.266 with five doubles, one home run and four RBIs in 95 plate appearances versus southpaws.

Hyde will catch Rutschman or use him as the designated hitter. It’s the stretch run. The triceps injury seems like a lifetime ago.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde didn’t fear an emotional regression from his team after Sunday’s comeback win and the Tigers arriving with their anemic offense and one of the worst records in baseball. He wasn’t worried about the clubhouse losing its edge. Not with so much at stake.

Hyde remembered the three-game sweep in Detroit back in May, and the past struggles against the Tigers under his watch.

“You can’t let your guard down,” he said this afternoon.

Tyler Alexander wouldn’t let the Orioles get a hit until the seventh inning. Something that Hyde never saw coming.

Two walks were the only blemishes on Alexander’s line before Ryan Mountcastle lined a single into center field leading off the seventh in the Tigers’ 11-0 victory over the Orioles at Camden Yards.

Ryan Mountcastle will tonight wear a protective guard on his left elbow for the first time after being hit by a José Berríos pitch during Saturday’s game in Toronto. He isn’t back to full health, and he’d have been doubtful for the series opener against the Tigers if the season hadn’t moved past May.

“We’re not in May,” said Orioles manager Brandon Hyde.

All hands are on deck. All elbows, too.

Mountcastle is serving as the designated hitter instead of starting at first base, which is a concession to the injury.

“The elbow’s still sore, but he wants to play,” Hyde said. “Left-hander (Tyler Alexander) on the mound, he feels like he can hit, feels good enough to be out there.”

Ryan Mountcastle returns to the Orioles lineup as the designated hitter for tonight’s series opener against the Tigers at Camden Yards. He missed yesterday’s game in Toronto with a bruised left triceps.

Jesús Aguilar is the first baseman against Tigers left-hander Tyler Alexander.

Cedric Mullins stays in the lineup but moves down to eighth. Austin Hays is leading off.

Gunnar Henderson is batting .328/.388/.557 with six doubles, one triple, two home runs, 12 RBIs and six walks in 17 games and 67 plate appearances. He’s the third baseman tonight.

Adley Rutschman had his 24^th multi-hit game of the season yesterday. He’s registered a .367 on-base percentage, with 31 doubles and 56 walks, in 97 games.

We could harp on the two games lost over the weekend in Toronto, a bad outcome for a team scrambling to earn the last wild card. The Orioles needed to win the series, and a sweep would have been huge. Each defeat feels like a dagger. And Ryan Mountcastle was unavailable yesterday after being hit Saturday above the left elbow.

Or …

Yesterday’s comeback again says so much about the 2022 Orioles, even if they don’t make the playoffs. And so much about the future of this team. What may lie ahead next summer.

Down 1-0, 2-1 and 3-1. The Blue Jays starting Cy Young candidate Alek Manoah, who had 14 wins, a 2.43 ERA and a 0.996 WHIP. Closer Jordan Romano, with a 1.91 ERA and 34 saves, on the mound in the ninth. Everything working against them. But I’d love to know the spin rate each time the Orioles turn the tables this season.

The 15^th triple play in club history, executed in the third inning after the Orioles fell behind 2-1.

TORONTO – After 26 innings of mostly frustration on offense this weekend in Toronto, the 27^th inning proved quite fruitful for the Orioles today.

Against right-handed All-Star closer Jordan Romano, one of the saves leaders in MLB with 34, the Orioles scored three runs in the ninth on Adley Rutschman’s huge two-run single and an RBI single by Jesús Aguilar.

The Orioles, who never led today until the ninth, beat Toronto 5-4 to salvage the final game of this series.

Winning for just the fifth time in 13 games, the Orioles come home at 76-69, and this win sparked a little life into their flickering playoff hopes.

Romano had recorded 14 consecutive scoreless appearances over 15 innings and had allowed just one earned run this season at home in 28 games. His home ERA of 0.31 was the best among all qualified MLB relievers. 

TORONTO – The Orioles have just 18 games remaining, and at this point, injured first baseman Ryan Mountcastle is not a candidate for an injured list stay. But he is also not in today’s starting lineup for the series finale in Toronto.

“He’s pretty sore today,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “He’s trending in the right way. Spent a lot of time in the training room this morning. It’s just the tricep, it’s right above the elbow, is pretty sore.”

Mountcastle was hit by a pitch, a 94 mph fastball, from right-hander José Berríos in the second inning on Saturday afternoon. He stayed in the game and ran the bases, but when the O’s took the field for the last of the second, he had been replaced at first base by Jesús Aguilar. And Aguilar is playing first base today.

The Orioles have had an MLB-low 12 players on the injured list this season and Hyde gave some props today to his medical, training and strength coach staffs for that.

“We’ve done a really good job with workload. And the credit goes to (head athletic trainer) Brian Ebel and his staff and the two strength guys. And how we’re monitoring playing time and the communication that goes on between all of us and workload and how these guys are playing. Don’t jinx it, we’ve got two and a half more weeks to go. But we’ve been able to keep guys healthy into the middle of September, now getting into the deeper part of September. Only had a handful of major injuries. Look at others teams’ injury lists and they are a lot longer than ours. Lot of credit goes to the guys in the training room," Hyde said. 

The Orioles are reduced today to trying to avoid a sweep in their three-game series in Toronto. Not how they wanted it to play out.

The Blue Jays have won the first two games by the same 6-3 score, and they lead the Orioles by seven games in the wild card race. The Orioles trail Seattle by five for the final spot.

Eight losses in the last 12 games have put the Orioles in a precarious position.

Ryan Mountcastle is out of the lineup after being hit yesterday above the left elbow by a José Berríos pitch. Jesús Aguilar is playing first base.

Gunnar Henderson is the third baseman and cleanup hitter today. Henderson is 20-for-58 (.345) with a .973 OPS, six doubles, one triple, two home runs and 12 RBIs in 16 games.