NEW YORK - The smallness of baseball’s world, always contradicting the sports’ population and broadening reach, led Mike Elias and DL Hall into the same room again. A different state and under much different circumstances, but together again. And they both found the humor in it.

Elias was in the Astros’ front office, a year away from the Orioles hiring him as their executive vice president/general manager and handing him the keys to an organization beginning an aggressive teardown. Dayton Lane Hall was a high school left-handed pitcher from Valdosta, Ga. with a commitment to attend Florida State University.

Hall, later to become known simply as DL, was “a target” for the Astros, in Elias’ exact words. But they never expected him to be available with the 15^th pick.  

“After the summer circuit, he did all the high-profile events,” Elias said this week. “He was considered kind of a consensus top seven, top 10 guy. We didn’t think it was going to be somebody that was going to get to us. His spring was a little inconsistent start to start, and for whatever reason he just became one of these guys who fell more toward the middle of the first round.”

There’s one break that could have changed the course of Orioles’ draft history and maybe their rebuild.

NEW YORK – Bruce Zimmermann wasn’t going to pitch around Aaron Judge tonight after Aaron Hicks led off the bottom of the first inning with an infield hit. Zimmermann pretty much emptied the bag, showing Judge his curveball, changeup, fastball and slider while running the count full and getting a groundball double play.

Anthony Rizzo came up next and homered into the second deck in right field.

Win some, surrender plenty.

Jose Trevino homered into the visiting bullpen in the third inning and Gleyber Torres found the seats in left with two outs in the fourth, and again with one out in the seventh. Judge cut the Orioles a break tonight, halting the constant torment, but Zimmermann lost other battles.

The Orioles eventually lost the game, the first beyond regulation after four successes.

NEW YORK – Adley Rutschman sat at his locker this afternoon with his head bowed and his eyes fixed on a tablet. Robinson Chirinos approached Rutschman, his own tablet in hand, and said a few words to the rookie before they walked out the door for a pregame meeting.

Chirinos is no longer the starting catcher for the Orioles, but he's able to contribute on a nightly basis – whether he’s in the lineup or Rutschman’s ear.

“Robby’s a player, but he really could be a coach,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “His baseball intellect, he’s just so smart when it comes to the game and understands hitters and pitchers. A lot of valuable years, a lot of experience. So, to have Adley be able to work with him on a daily basis, talk to him, have his locker next to him, that’s really, really important. I know Adley’s very appreciative of Robby, as well. He’s got a good thing going there.”

Chirinos agreed to a deal in March worth a guaranteed $900,000 knowing that there would be a transition. Understanding how his role would change.

Perfectly aware that Rutschman wasn’t spending 2022 in the minors.

NEW YORK – The Orioles will go for the series win later tonight in the Bronx with Adley Rutschman starting behind the plate for the second time since his promotion to the majors.

Trey Mancini is the designated hitter and batting second. Rutschman is sixth behind first baseman Ryan Mountcastle.

Mancini has reached base in 17 consecutive games. He’s batting .369/.453/.477 during that stretch.

Ramón Urías, starting again at third base, tied his career high with three hits last night, including the go-ahead home run in the sixth inning. He’s 6-for-13 in his last three games.

Austin Hays is 7-for-22 with two doubles, six RBIs, five runs scored and two walks in his last six games. He’s in left field.

NEW YORK – No matter how badly the Orioles want to get Mike Baumann into a set routine, circumstances tend to pry him out of it.

Baumann was optioned in late April, recalled Saturday and optioned again yesterday due to a lack of available relievers in the bullpen. Burned by his own productive outing on Saturday, when he allowed one run against the Rays and walked none in 3 2/3 innings.

The Orioles try to keep their pitching prospects away from the Triple-A shuttle, but stuff happens. Long games, injuries and other unfortunate occurrences.

It’s the nature of the baseball beast and it devoured Baumann.

“You can try to plan things out in this game as much as possible, but things just do not work out, unfortunately,” said manager Brandon Hyde.

NEW YORK - A road series prohibits the Orioles from adding to the five walk-off wins that lead the majors and match their total from last season. They’re willing to ditch the dramatics. They’d like to take an early lead and coast. Slow the heart rate a little.

There’s also no rule against rallying on the road, though the Yankees make it harder by blinding opponents while flashing baseball’s best record.

The Orioles scored four runs off Gerrit Cole in the third inning to battle back from an early deficit, Aaron Judge brought his usual torment by homering twice off Jordan Lyles and tying the game in the fifth, and Ramón Urías responded with an opposite-field shot in the sixth.

A bullpen that ran on fumes over the weekend and needed fuel registered important outs behind Lyles, and the Orioles defeated the Yankees 6-4.

Félix Bautista stranded two runners in the seventh and retired the side in order in the eighth. Jorge López handled the save responsibilities, and the Orioles won for the fourth time in five games.  

NEW YORK – Spenser Watkins is on the 15-day injured list with a bruise at the top of his right forearm, forcing a weekend change in the Orioles rotation.

Manager Brandon Hyde needs two starters for Saturday’s doubleheader in Boston. Watkins no longer is an option for either game.

“It’s pretty sore,” said Watkins, who faced only three batters and left after Ji-Man Choi’s line drive struck his arm. “We’ve got a great training staff here that put me through the ringer so far, so it’s feeling a little bit better but still stiff, as you would assume.

“I didn’t really know what the move was going to be. They didn’t really give an inclination one way or the other. But they’re going to make the best move for the team and go from there.”

The Orioles don’t know if Watkins will be ready after 15 days.

NEW YORK – The Orioles are making massive changes to their pitching staff heading into tonight’s series opener at Yankee Stadium.

Right-handers Marcos Diplán, Logan Gillaspie and Beau Sulser have been recalled from Triple-A Norfolk, with pitcher Mike Baumann and infielder Tyler Nevin optioned after yesterday’s game and Spenser Watkins placed on the 15-day injured list with a right elbow contusion.

Watkins was hit by a 106 mph line drive off Ji-Man Choi’s bat in the first inning of yesterday’s game.

Gillaspie is able to return early from the minors because he’s replacing an injured player. He’s tossed 3 2/3 scoreless innings in two appearances.

Sulser, wearing No. 67, made his major league debut this season with the Pirates and appeared in four games before the Orioles claimed him off waivers May 14. He’s the brother of former Orioles reliever Cole Sulser.

The patience that executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias keeps preaching through the rebuild process, from number of wins at the major league level on down to the development of prospects, paused yesterday at Gunnar Henderson.

Henderson doubled yesterday at Double-A Bowie, walked twice, scored two runs and raised his average to .291 with a .988 OPS.

His age also is going to increase. He turns 21 next month.

Just a teenager when the Orioles selected him in the second round of the 2019 draft out of John T. Morgan Academy in Selma, Ala. They grow up so fast.

But there’s only one acceptable pace for the Orioles in player development.

The Orioles won’t rush a prospect to the majors, in terms of how they dictate the pace, just to fulfill an unexpected and ill-timed need on the major league roster. They’re adamant about it. There’s no gray area in black and orange besides the uniform.

They might need to do something about their rotation after Spenser Watkins threw 13 pitches today and was drilled on the right arm by a 106-mph line drive from Tampa Bay’s Ji-Man Choi.

Watkins spun off the mound as third baseman Ramón Urías retrieved the ball, glanced home and threw late to first base. All three batters reached against Watkins, whose ouster forced Joey Krehbiel into a game that the Orioles rallied to tie with two outs in the ninth, just as a storm hit and halted play after three hours, 52 minutes.

It resumed following a 51-minute delay, Cionel Pérez tossed two scoreless innings, leaving the bases loaded in the top of the 11th, and Choi whiffed on Rougned Odor’s chopper to first base that scored automatic runner Adley Rutschman and gave the Orioles a 7-6 victory before an announced crowd of 23,778 to close out the homestand.

Chris Owings laid down a sacrifice bunt before Odor batted, and the Orioles had their third walk-off win in four days. Rutschman had his first major league run, with the play scored a fielder's choice and no error.

Adley Rutschman will have two home games on his major league resume before the Orioles hit the road again, his debut coming last night in front of an enthusiastic crowd that reacted to his every movement.

Rutschman will catch again Monday night in the Bronx after serving as designated hitter today. There was speculation that he might have his contract selected on the trip.

“It was tricky timing-wise,” executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias said this morning while sitting in the dugout. “We wanted to get him up as soon as possible. I think we had hopes that he would break with the team in Sarasota. We had a very ill-timed injury. With it being on his throwing arm and him missing the entirety of spring training, it was not something we could rush. And so there was a very careful rehab process in Sarasota and then an equally careful workload and at-bat buildup in the lower minors, mid-minors, and then eventually Norfolk.

“Luckily, he seemed to hit the ground running from a hitting perspective, didn’t get a lot of indications that his timing was off from anything that he did at any of the three levels, and it was really just more about kind of building up the catching to ultimately checking the box of doing three days in a row, which is something that, if he had a normal spring training, (manager) Brandon Hyde is doing back-to-backs with the catchers, and Adley just missed all that. So, once that box was checked, we figured it was a live ball and then looking at the schedule, Yankee Stadium didn’t seem like a great option for a debut.

“It just seemed like he was ready and this weekend made the most sense. And now he will get the experience of going to play in Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park, which is cool for him, because that’s life in the AL East, then come back for a nice homestand around Memorial Day. So, I think the timing worked out as well as it could have given that we were constrained by his injury.”

Adley Rutschman is serving today as the designated hitter and batting fifth in a lineup that the Orioles hope can provide enough runs to give them a series win over the Rays at Camden Yards.

The next eight games are on the road.

Rutschman made his major league debut last night and tripled in the seventh inning.

Trey Mancini is playing right field and Anthony Santander is in left. Austin Hays is out of the lineup.

Ramón Urías is the third baseman.

Follow the Orioles long enough and you can begin to compile a list of players who made brief stops, got their major league debuts out of the way and returned to the minors. Some came back later, others disappeared as if walking into a heavy fog or an Iowa cornfield.

There’s more than a kernel of truth to it.

If there must be some shuffling on the pitching staff, the club would prefer to do it based only on the need for fresher arms after a long game, homestand or road trip, not an epic failure. The conversations in the manager’s office are a little easier when they begin with, “It isn’t you, it’s me.”

As a team, you know that you’re trending in a good direction.

But there’s also the other side of it. Shaking hands for a job well done and arranging for travel papers.

Adley Rutschman walked into the dugout around 6:30 p.m., turned and headed back into the tunnel. Photographers jostling for position on the other side of the railing lowered their arms. Stakeouts apparently come with a pause button.

Rutschman immediately came back, again in his full catching gear, walked up the steps and smiled as fans cheered and yelled his name. He wasn’t animated, but he noticed it.

The top pick in the 2019 draft is known as a big autograph signer, but the starting pitcher needed him in the bullpen.

Another ovation broke out as Rutschman’s name was read over the public address system, and again as he walked back from the bullpen to the dugout. The game hadn’t started and he already was bathed in sweat and showered with affection on a steamy evening at Camden Yards.

The major league debut of baseball’s No. 1 prospect was going to be rated a success just by getting him to Baltimore.

Orioles fans arrived early at Camden Yards this afternoon, unable to pass through the gates but hopeful of scoring an autograph from catcher Adley Rutschman near the players’ entrance. Or at least get a glimpse of him.

A sign was hung outside Pickles Pub that read: “You Adley At Hello”

This is Rutschman’s day, for sure, but the Orioles had other business to handle, some of it more pleasant than others.

John Means avoided next Thursday’s arbitration hearing in New York by agreeing to a two-year contract, $5.925 million contract. The file-and-trial approach discarded again in a multi-year deal.

Means remains arbitration eligible in 2024, but his salary is set as he recovers from last month’s Tommy John surgery.

Adley Rutschman sat in Triple-A Norfolk manager Buck Britton’s office late last night and listened to advice about relaxing and just being himself, along with an explanation as to why he wasn’t in the lineup. Nodding his head. Exuding the same calmness that’s allowed him to thrive under enormous expectations. To never feel suffocated by the constant attention.

Then came the sneak attack by teammates - outfielder DJ Stewart reached him first - who knew he was called up to the majors and wanted to share in the moment. To intensify it, get physical with it.

His baseball world has been a blur since it happened, coming with its own spin rate.

Rutschman is batting sixth and catching rookie Kyle Bradish – purely coincidence, manager Brandon Hyde said - as the Orioles resume their series against the Rays at Camden Yards. He’s also going to be used as the designated hitter in certain games, but he won’t play first base.

The Orioles have plenty of other options.

Adley Rutschman makes his major league debut tonight as the Orioles’ No. 6 hitter in a lineup that looks a lot different with him in it.

Rutschman’s contract was selected from Triple-A Norfolk this morning. The Orioles designated catcher Anthony Bemboom for assignment.

Rutschman will be catching Kyle Bradish, the No. 10 prospect in the system per MLBPipeline.com. Bradish, who’s a year older than Rutschman, has posted a 5.06 ERA and 1.359 WHIP in four major league starts.

Bradish has struck out 22 batters in 21 1/3 innings.

Ryan Mountcastle was activated from the injured list, as expected. A big day in Baltimore.

The No. 1 prospect in baseball is coming to Baltimore today.

The Orioles are selecting the contract of catcher Adley Rutschman from Triple-A Norfolk, ending a wait that stretched beyond the patience of a fan base wondering when he’d finally debut.

Rutschman will report to Camden Yards this afternoon, wearing No. 35 and settling into a lineup that’s expected to carry him for many years to come.

Catcher Anthony Bemboom has been designated for assignment to create room on the 26 and 40-man rosters.

Rutschman, 24, was the first-overall selection in the 2019 draft, also the first for new executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias. He’s hit .282/.391/.488 in 179 games, with 38 doubles, three triples, 30 home runs and 110 RBIs in 778 plate appearances.

Ryan Mountcastle is coming off the injured list this afternoon, ensuring that the Orioles make at least one roster move before playing the Rays at Camden Yards.

Maybe more with their bullpen on fumes.

Manager Brandon Hyde didn’t want to use Bryan Baker last night. He’s had Cionel Pérez warm the last four nights, and the left-hander worked two-thirds of an inning in an 8-6, 13-inning win.

The Orioles are carrying 14 pitchers and could whittle the staff again to accommodate Mountcastle, but then they’re back to having multiple relievers down tonight. Otherwise, a position player is headed out the door.

Whatever. They’ll figure it out.

While the Orioles were beginning their home series tonight against the Rays, catcher Adley Rutschman sat on the visiting bench at Truist Field in Charlotte. The Triple-A Norfolk lineup card listed him among the reserves. He stood in front of the dugout for the anthem.

Any reported sightings at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport were done in jest.

The debut remains on hold, leaving fans to press for answers, some more aggressively than others, and a team to worry only about its opponent and life inside an unforgiving division.

The Yankees carried baseball’s best record out of Camden Yards, and the Rays walked in after beating the Orioles 18 times in 19 games last season and sweeping them this year in the opening series.

They won 15 in a row against the Orioles, their longest streak against any opponent in franchise history, and their last loss in Baltimore came in 2020.