MINNEAPOLIS – Adley Rutschman is back behind the plate for today’s series finale at Target Field that also closes out a three-city road trip.

The Orioles are attempting to end a four-game losing streak, and 12 in a row in Minnesota. They’ve suffered back-to-back walk-off loses over the weekend.

Cedric Mullins is out of the lineup. Ryan McKenna starts in center field.

Austin Hays is in left and Anthony Santander is in right.

Richie Martin is the shortstop today.

MINNEAPOLIS - The Orioles are closing out their series in Minnesota today, and their road trip, with the same infield options on their roster.

Change is coming.

Ramón Urías began his injury rehab assignment last night at Double-A Bowie, starting at third base and going 0-for-3 with three strikeouts and committing a fielding error. He hadn’t played since June 9, due to a strained left oblique, or received an at-bat since June 7.

There’s bound to be some rust. And the Orioles will be careful to make sure he doesn’t experience any setbacks with an injury that requires a lengthy period of inactivity.

Urías hasn’t been the same hitter who crafted a .279/.361/.412 line in 296 plate appearances, but he can move around the infield and has some pop. His six home runs in 188 plate appearances are one fewer than he totaled last season, but he’s slashing .225/.273/.387.

MINNEAPOLIS – Jordan Lyles keeps it pretty basic.

Just give him the ball and don’t try to take it back. Let him push deep into games, ignoring the pitch count, and protect “the boys” in the bullpen who shouldn’t have to finish his work.

Lyles has volunteered to move up a day in the rotation because he wants to spare manager Brandon Hyde the task of finding a fill-in starter based on injuries or a weather-induced doubleheader.

“When Jordan’s on the mound,” Hyde said earlier today, “you know you’re going to get a pro start.”

Sometimes, it’s much more. And many times, it just isn't enough.

MINNEAPOLIS – Infielder Ramón Urías is expected to begin his injury rehab assignment tonight with Double-A Bowie.

Urías hasn’t played since June 9 due to a strained left oblique. Jonathan Araúz and Tyler Nevin are handling third base, and Richie Martin is available to share second base duties with Rougned Odor.

Starter Kyle Bradish threw on flat ground yesterday without any discomfort in his right shoulder, and he’ll have a bullpen session Sunday morning.

“Encouraged by both of those things,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “Good to see Kyle start to get ramped up a little bit, going through his throwing progression, and Ramón in some game action.”

“Hopefully there aren’t any setbacks and he stays healthy during his rehab assignment.”

MINNEAPOLIS – Trey Mancini returns to the Orioles lineup today at Target Field after pinch-hitting last night. He didn’t start due to a sore right hand that required a cortisone injection.

Mancini’s eight-game hitting streak ended last night with his ground ball.

Mancini is playing right field and Anthony Santander is in left. Austin Hays is the designated hitter.

Robinson Chirinos is catching in a day game following a night game. Adley Rutschman is on the bench.

Tyler Nevin starts at third base.

MINNEAPOLIS - The numbers over the past few starts didn’t impress. They might have concerned fans begging the organization to bring him to the majors as the next elite prospect to make his debut, setting the alarm early on Mondays, when these promotions usually happen.

DL Hall is fine. He’s made 11 starts at the Triple-A level after being held to only seven last summer at Double-A due to a stress reaction in his left elbow. The Orioles slow-played him in the spring, careful to build up his innings at a safe pace.

The nine earned runs (12 total) and 10 walks in 7 2/3 innings in his previous two starts before last night left his ERA at 5.17 and WHIP at 1.591. But he had 59 strikeouts in 38 1/3 innings for the season. He allowed one run and struck out 11 in 4 1/3 before those next two starts, which quieted some of the outside talk about promoting him.

Inside the organization, everyone has the same faith in Hall and sees the same qualities that make him profile as a top-of-the-rotation starter.

They were on display last night with four scoreless innings, one hit allowed and eight strikeouts against Gwinnett. The only hit was a bunt single, and Hall exited after 71 pitches.

MINNEAPOLIS – The Orioles had just tied tonight’s game in the top of the third inning on Cedric Mullins’ two-out double. Austin Hays lined out, Spenser Watkins began to warm and manager Brandon Hyde reached his boiling point.

Hyde was ejected from the game, his second this season and the eighth of his career. This one was hardly noticeable.

The dispute began after a strike call to Mullins on the first pitch of the at-bat, which the Orioles thought was high and prompted some barking from the bench.

Plate umpire Ramon De Jesus kept turning back to the dugout, and Hyde came onto the field after the inning. Hyde carried his argument from De Jesus to crew chief Alfonso Márquez, appearing to gesture that the Twins had a similar beef earlier in the game that went ignored.  

Hyde tried to go back to De Jesus, and Márquez pushed him with both hands toward the dugout. Hyde walked down the steps and raised a hand to calm catcher Robinson Chirinos.

MINNEAPOLIS – Trey Mancini is out of tonight’s lineup due to soreness in his right hand that necessitated a cortisone injection and the standard waiting period before trying to play.

Toronto’s Alek Manoah nailed Mancini with a 91 mph sinker on June 13. Mancini was hit on the left hand by a Lance Lynn pitch with the bases loaded in a June 25 game in Chicago, but it’s the previous incident that’s keeping him on the bench.

Mancini sat at his locker this afternoon with the hand wrapped, his eight-game hitting streak put on hold.

“I say I got hit, I swung at the pitch in Toronto,” Mancini said, still agitated by a sequence that resulted in an out after the ball rolled up the third base line. “Obviously have had some hand issues a little bit lingering since then, and we found a carpal boss whenever we scanned it, and we think that just me getting hit in the hand exacerbated that a little bit.

“Nothing crazy or major at all, but I got an injection for it a couple days ago and we just wanted to wait until tomorrow, give it 72 hours to play a full game.”

MINNEAPOLIS – Trey Mancini is out of the Orioles’ lineup tonight for the second time in three games, as they visit the Twins on the final stop of their three-city road trip.

Mancini, who has an eight-game hitting streak, didn’t play Tuesday and the Orioles were off yesterday. He went 1-for-5 with a double on Wednesday.

Anthony Santander is the designated hitter tonight, with Ryan McKenna in left field and Austin Hays in right. Adley Rutschman is batting fifth.

Jonathan Araúz gets another start at third base.

Spenser Watkins has a 5.14 ERA and 1.629 WHIP in nine starts, but he allowed only an unearned run in five innings in Chicago. He faced the Twins on May 5 at Camden Yards and surrendered three runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings. Byron Buxton homered.

If left-hander Bruce Zimmermann is getting a reset in the minors, Justin Ramsey is one of the most important people trusted to push the right buttons.

The Orioles gave Zimmermann 13 starts before making the hard decision to send him down to Triple-A Norfolk. They didn’t want to create another hole in their rotation and try to piece together innings with heavy bullpen usage. They didn’t want to demote a pitcher, the Baltimore native, who broke camp as their No. 4 starter and stood on the mound for the home opener.

They didn’t have much choice. Zimmermann allowed 35 earned runs in his last 36 1/3 innings and surrendered 17 home runs, bringing his total to 18 that tied for most in the majors.

The 14 2/3 scoreless innings to begin the season couldn’t save his job.

Ramsey, in his first season as Tides pitching coach, is tasked with getting Zimmermann to a point where the Loyola Blakefield graduate is ready to reclaim it.

The Orioles headed to the West Coast this week and my mailbag stayed in Maryland. A three-hour indifference if you don’t care.

This thing fills up faster than my tear ducts during the last scene of “Field of Dreams.” Have a catch? Yeah, toss me the tissues.

Fans are curious about the trade deadline. Who might go, who might arrive. Buyers or sellers. Live and let die.

Now I’m winging it.

I don’t get it.
This isn’t the interactive part.

Pitching and defense have been the story of the series for the O’s in Seattle. The first two games, excellence. The finale's 9-3 loss? Not so much.

In the previous two games, the O’s started Tyler Wells and Dean Kremer. Wells entered Monday’s game with a 2.57 ERA in the month of June, and Kremer was even better at 1.71. 

Austin Voth hadn’t exactly been on a similar roll, but was still effective in a small sample size. Voth combined to pitch just 5 2/3 innings in his previous two starts, but the 30-year-old allowed only one earned run while striking out seven in the process. 

In the second inning, the defense started to come back to Earth after a spectacular stretch. Cedric Mullins and Austin Hays collided in the outfield trying to cut off a ball in the gap. Jonathan Araúz committed an error on back-to-back plays, and then Adley Rutschman tried to wait on a swinging bunt down the line that stayed fair. Just like that, three runs came across to score. 

“Thought he threw the ball well,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “Just didn’t make a couple of plays behind him that hurt.”

SEATTLE - With two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, Julio Rodríguez sent a scorcher back up the middle on a two-strike count. The ball ricocheted off pitcher Félix Bautista, and Ryan Mountcastle nearly made a great play to end the inning. 

Instead, the ball got away from Mountcastle, Rodríguez was safe at first, and Jesse Winker drove two runners home in the very next at-bat. Had Rodríguez’s flukey single been an out, the Orioles and Mariners would’ve been knotted at 0-0 entering the top of the ninth. 

Of course, you’re not going to win very many baseball games recording just one hit, which was all the O’s offense was able to muster last night. But the combination of Dean Kremer, Cionel Pérez and Félix Bautista kept Baltimore firmly in the ballgame until the very end. 

“We’re pitching better, they’re keeping us in games. The starting pitching has done a great job,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “Dean Kremer was incredible last night, Tyler Wells was awesome the day before … Our bullpen guys have done a great job of keeping the game right there.” 

You would have to go back to June 13, an 11-1 loss to the Blue Jays, to find a game in which the Orioles truly felt out of it. Every other game since then, a 14-game stretch, has either been a Baltimore victory or a loss in which the O’s fell by three runs or fewer. 

The Orioles will try to earn another series win this afternoon following last night’s 2-0 loss to the Mariners.

Dean Kremer’s seven scoreless innings lowered his ERA to 1.29, but the Orioles were held to one hit. Kremer has registered 18 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings.

Austin Voth makes his third appearance and sixth start today with the Orioles. He’s been stretched out to three innings and 47 pitches, and manager Brandon Hyde will try to bump him a little further.

Voth has allowed one run in a combined 5 2/3 innings in his two starts, and he’s struck out seven batters. He’s never faced the Mariners.

Adley Rutschman is catching after serving last night as the designated hitter. He stole his first career base.

The Orioles knew that it was time.

The individual performances and the calendar dictated that outfielder Colton Cowser and infielders Coby Mayo and Connor Norby should rise to the next level of the farm system. Putting them together at Double-A Bowie. And in the same lineup last night, occupying the top three spots.

Three of the top 10 prospects in the organization, according to MLBPipeline.com.

Cowser, the fifth-overall selection in last year’s draft, homered in his first at-bat and went 3-for-3 with a walk. Norby, batting leadoff, singled and walked.

“We’re looking forward to seeing what these guys are going to do in Bowie,” said executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias.

SEATTLE – As the city of Seattle should know, defense wins championships.

Wait, sorry, wrong sport. Defense sometimes wins baseball games, as it nearly did tonight for the Baltimore Orioles. The offense didn’t hold up its end of the bargain in a 2-0 loss, in which the Birds mustered just one total hit. 

"We're playing really well defensively," said manager Brandon Hyde. "That's why we're staying in games, pitching and defense is still extremely important, and we've been doing that." 

"I wouldn't be able to do it without the help of the defense," added Dean Kremer. "They're spectacular." 

Entering tonight’s game, Kremer had posted a 1.71 ERA through his first four starts of the season. In the same sample size, Robbie Ray boasted a 1.80 ERA in his previous four starts. They both pitched as their resumés would suggest on Tuesday night. 

SEATTLE – By now, I’m sure you’ve seen the fact that the Orioles have secured their first winning month since Aug. 2017. That’s a really long time. 

What’s been behind that winning month? 

The O’s have gone 14-10 in June, outscoring their opponents 121-96, good for a +25 run differential. The offense has averaged 5.03 runs per game over that stretch, which is third-best in the American League.

Last night’s nine runs showcased just how potent this offense can be. 

“Excited with how we swung the bat last night,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “We did a great job of grinding out a starter, spoiling a bunch of pitches. Even our outs were loud at times.”

Adley Rutschman’s family and friends can watch him serve as the Orioles’ designated hitter tonight in Seattle.

Rutschman is batting fifth and trying to extend his six-game hitting streak. He’s 18-for-55 (.327) in his last 15 games, with 10 doubles, three home runs and nine RBIs.

Tyler Nevin is starting at third base. Austin Hays is in right field and Anthony Santander is in left.

Rougned Odor gets the start at second base.

For the Orioles
Cedric Mullins CF
Austin Hays RF
Anthony Santander LF
Ryan Mountcastle 1B
Adley Rutschman DH
Tyler Nevin 3B
Rougned Odor 2B
Robinson Chirinos C
Jorge Mateo SS

Triple-A Norfolk outfielder Johnny Rizer, the Orioles’ seventh-round draft pick in 2019 out of Texas Christian University, underwent hip surgery last week in Philadelphia and is out for the remainder of the season.

The Orioles made the announcement this afternoon.

Rizer appeared in 22 games with the Tides and went 14-for-72 (.194) with five home runs and 12 RBIs in 81 plate appearances. He hit a combined .253/.312/.423 last summer with 15 doubles, three triples, 14 home runs and 53 RBIs in 98 games between Double-A Bowie (83) and Single-A Aberdeen.

Carter Baumler, a fifth-round selection in 2020 out of Dowling Catholic High in Iowa, will miss his next start at Single-A Delmarva due to right shoulder inflammation.

Baumler didn’t begin his professional career until this year after undergoing Tommy John surgery. He’s allowed two earned runs, walked seven batters and struck out 20 in 11 2/3 innings.

Pitching is the No. 1 reason why the Orioles are better in 2022 than past years of the rebuild. And it’s inexplicable in a sense.

We can break down the numbers, but how is the rotation able to withstand the loss of ace John Means for the rest of the season? Followed by the demotion of left-hander Bruce Zimmermann, who allowed 17 home runs in his last seven starts, and rookie Kyle Bradish’s slump and placement on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation.

Bullpen games are plotted and won. Tyler Wells, last year’s Rule 5 reliever who earned the closer’s job, entered last night’s game in Seattle as easily the most dependable starter on the staff.

Spenser Watkins was No. 5 in the rotation, injured and optioned. He returned Saturday in Chicago, the guy who re-signed with the Orioles in November as a minor league free agent, and allowed just an unearned run in five innings. The Tigers released him in 2020.

Austin Voth was a waiver claim, which made him a perfect fit on this team, and viewed as a potential starter down the line. He was needed more as a long reliever, to stretch him out as much as anything.