The gut check came early tonight for Orioles rookie Cade Povich.

The first three Cleveland batters reached against him – a leadoff single on an 0-2 pitch, a walk after getting ahead 1-2 and José Ramírez’s run-scoring single that had fans grumbling and a manager wondering how he’d cover the rest of the game if Povich didn’t stick around.

The inning lasted 31 pitches, far from ideal, but Povich struck out Josh Naylor on a sweeper and David Fry on a changeup after a double steal. Will Brennan flied out and the Guardians settled for one run.

They scored again in the second and the Orioles tied the game again in the third. Ramírez led off the sixth with a homer to give him the last word.

Brandon Hyde got 5 2/3 innings and 95 pitches out of Povich. Much more than the kid appeared capable of offering back in the first. But the offense has scored four runs in the last three games. Much less than what it usually does.

After losing three games over the weekend at Houston and getting swept for the second time this year by a combined 27-13 score, the Orioles are back at home tonight. They host the Cleveland Guardians in the opening game of a three-game series and seven-game homestand.

The Orioles (49-28, .636) have the third-best record in the American League and begin play tonight 1.5 games back of the division-leading New York Yankees.

When they faced the Phillies, they held the best record in the National League and the Yankees were atop the AL when the O's played them in New York. Tonight they host a Cleveland team that at 49-26 (.653) currently holds the best record in the AL and second-best in the majors behind Philadelphia.

Cleveland has won five in a row over Seattle and Toronto by a combined 33-12 score. Cleveland batters clubbed 12 homers and batted hit .273 in the win streak with a team OPS of .899 while scoring 6.6 runs per game.

Cleveland has scored at least six runs in each of those five wins. The last time the team won five consecutive games with at least six runs in each was in July 2019, last doing so in six straight in May 2018.

The Orioles are prepared to wait a little longer on Dean Kremer before he returns to the rotation.

Kremer is expected to make a third injury rehab start after throwing only 39 pitches in two-thirds of an inning Saturday with Triple-A Norfolk. He worked 3 2/3 innings and threw 59 pitches in his first outing, and the Orioles hoped that he could build on it.

“We haven’t finalized it, but I would assume that he’s going to make another rehab start just because he didn’t get his pitches up, didn’t get out of the first inning there,” manager Brandon Hyde said earlier today. “It wasn’t an ideal situation for him from a pitch-count standpoint, but he did feel good after the two-thirds that he threw down there.

“I’m going to assume that we’re going to give him another rehab start. We just haven’t finalized it yet.”

Cole Irvin and Grayson Rodriguez start the last two games of the Guardians series. The Rangers arrive next for a four-game set that apparently won’t provide Kremer with his first major league start since May 20 in St. Louis.

Heston Kjerstad marks his return to the majors by starting in left field tonight for the series opener against the Guardians.

Ryan O’Hearn is the first baseman and Adley Rutschman is the designated hitter. Ryan Mountcastle is on the bench.

Cedric Mullins is in center field and Anthony Santander is in right, which also puts Colton Cowser on the bench.

Gunnar Henderson has reached base in 30 straight games. Per STATS, the only other Orioles shortstop to do it in 30 or more consecutive games is Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. – twice at 30 in a row in 1986 and in 46 straight in 1998.

The Orioles won their last two games against Cleveland with their starters going at least seven innings with only one run allowed. The last time they got three consecutive starts like this against an opponent was in 2017 versus the Royals, per STATS. The last time against Cleveland was in 1978.

The Orioles made last night’s reported move official today by recalling outfielder Heston Kjerstad from Triple-A Norfolk. He’s back in the majors for the third time in his career and the first since they optioned him May 13.

Infielder Nick Maton was designated for assignment to make room for Kjerstad on the active roster. The 40-man roster is reduced to 39 players.

Kjerstad is batting .300/.397/.601 with 14 doubles, a triple, 16 home runs and 58 RBIs in 56 games with Norfolk. MLB Pipeline ranks him as the No. 21 prospect in baseball.

Appearing in only seven games earlier this season, Kjerstad collected two hits and struck out six times in 14 at-bats.

The offense could use a jolt after scoring one run in each of the last two games on Jordan Westburg homers. The Orioles were swept in Houston.

HOUSTON - In baseball, you are riding high one day and not the next. Or you have plenty of momentum and you are winning series against two of baseball's best teams one day and getting swept by a team starting to play well again the next.

When the Orioles rallied from 11 runs down to get within three late in the game at Houston Friday night, we were marveling at this team's effort and fight and ability to come back even when down double digits runs.

Now two losses later - games that were not close at the end - we are left wondering if the Orioles are a tired team? If they are now suddenly having pitching issues and if the injuries finally caught up to them?

The real question to answer here - and it may take days, weeks or even longer to begin to figure out - is has this team hit a bump in the road or a real big pothole? Is this just a few losses or the beginning of a longer downward trend? Are the Orioles not as good as they looked just, what seemed like hours ago?

My guess is this too shall pass, and this club will return to winning soon. They have bounced back so many times the last couple of years, what is another?

HOUSTON - After their series win at Yankee Stadium produced such good vides, the game of baseball struck back at the Orioles this weekend in Houston. They were 11 runs behind on Friday night and held to one run and four hits Saturday as they lost by 14-11 and 5-1 scores.

The Orioles (49-27) were not swept for 106 consecutive regular-season series, a run that ended when they were swept last month at St. Louis. A loss today and they will have been swept twice in the past 10 series.

Between the two series they played very good baseball, going 4-0 in Chicago against the White Sox, 2-1 in each of two home series versus Boston and Tampa Bay, and then 2-2 in Toronto and 4-0 at Tampa Bay. The club then went 2-1 against Atlanta and Philadelphia and in New York against the Yankees.

They went 7-0-1 in eight series since St. Louis but need a win today to avoid their second 0-3 series of the year.

The Orioles had scored 28 runs in two games, 35 in three and 51 in their past six until they were shut down by righty Ronel Blanco and two relievers on Saturday.

HOUSTON – When Orioles right-hander Albert Suárez took the mound to face the New York Yankees on Tuesday night, he was a pitcher on a real roll.

He was 3-0 with a 1.61 ERA and had an ERA of 1.08 over his previous nine games. He had been big for the Orioles, both out of the bullpen and in the rotation.

But that night in the Bronx was not his normal day.

He walked five Yankees and gave up three runs over 3 2/3 innings as the Orioles lost the series opener. It was his shortest start of the season and a season high in walks.

As he got ready to make his next start, which comes today at Houston, Suárez felt what went wrong in that game in New York can be a quick fix.

HOUSTON - Coming off a 14-11 loss Friday in which O's pitching allowed a season-high 14 runs and saw its team ERA jump from 3.13 to 3.28, it's a good time today to send their ace pitcher to the mound. 

They do just that as right-hander Corbin Burnes (8-2, 2.14 ERA) makes his 16th start. Burnes begins today tied for first in the American League in ERA with Boston's Tanner Houck.

But heading into this outing, Burnes has a streak of 10 straight quality starts riding. In that span he is 5-2 with a 1.85 ERA and .561 OPS against since April 26.

The Orioles are 11-4 when Burnes starts, winning his last six games in a row.

In his past four games Burnes has allowed, in order, zero, one, zero and two earned runs. In those games he is 4-0 with a 1.00 ERA and a .190 batting average against.

HOUSTON – Outfielder Colton Cowser is returning home this weekend as the Orioles play at Houston's Minute Maid Park. It’s a ballpark he has been in as both a fan and a player.

“Feels like home. Hot,” he said Friday afternoon in the Baltimore clubhouse.

Born in Houston, Cowser still lives in the area. He attended Cypress Ranch High School in Cypress, Texas, about 26 miles northwest of Houston and led his team to the 6A state playoffs as a senior in 2018. He played his college ball at Sam Houston State, which is about 68 miles north of Houston.

A few local TV reporters wanted to talk with him yesterday ahead of the series opener. Cowser estimates he saw about 30 games in Minute Maid Park over the years.

“Lots of memories coming to this ballpark growing up," he said. "Came to a lot of games and really cool, really excited. My mom, talked to her last night and my parents are excited.

HOUSTON – Some nights you win by 12 runs and some nights you lose big. It doesn’t happen on back-to-back nights very often.

It actually was about to happen to the Orioles, who were down by 11 runs after Houston scored nine in the sixth inning. But it did not, as the Orioles' relentless offense produced three homers in the eighth inning when they scored seven runs.

In the end, the crazy final was Houston 14, Orioles 11 in the series opener.

The roof fell in on Baltimore's pitching not long after they had taken a 3-2 lead in the top of the fifth.

The Orioles, who began this night leading the American League in team ERA and tied for first in MLB, allowed three runs in the Houston fifth and nine in the sixth.

HOUSTON – After a stunning 17-5 win over the New York Yankees on Thursday, which gave the O’s two wins in three games that series, their road show has arrived in Houston for a weekend series against the Astros at Minute Maid Park.

The Orioles (49-25) are on a 107-win pace after winning back-to-back series from Philadelphia and New York.

Overall they have won four of their past five, 10 of 13, 15 of 21 and 20 of their last 27 games. They are now 24-11 on the road and score 5.6 runs per game in road contests this season.

The Orioles have gone 5-2 this season against New York and are 19-7 for the year in division games.

Their 17 runs topped their previous season high of 13 runs on March 30 versus the Los Angeles Angels. Their 19 hits topped the previous season's high of 15. The 12-run win was the largest victory margin of the year topping their 11-1 win on May 5 at Cincinnati.

HOUSTON – It’s a bit of a family affair in the dugouts in Houston this weekend as the Astros host the Orioles for a three-game series. Two good friends, who are now also brothers-in-law, will manage against each other in the O’s Brandon Hyde and Houston’s Joe Espada.

Their friendship goes back many years and they married sisters.

Espada was Houston’s bench coach since 2018 and took over as skipper last November after Dusty Baker’s retirement.

“It’s going to be definitely a great experience and a great thing for our family,” said Hyde this afternoon at Minute Maid Park to a crowd of reporters that cover each team. “Me and Joe go way, way back. He was my hitting coach (with Greensboro in the South Atlantic League) when I was managing in 2006. We’ve known each other a long time and I’m really proud of him and happy he got this opportunity. Going to be cool to see him in the dugout in a little bit different seat this year. Going to be a lot of fun.”

Hyde and Espada were candidates for the same big league managing job several times as they both worked their way toward getting the jobs they have today.

The Orioles begin their three-game series in Houston with Colton Cowser out of the lineup for the second consecutive day.

Ryan O’Hearn is making his second start in left field, with Cedric Mullins in center and Anthony Santander in right.

Jordan Westburg is the third baseman. Adley Rutschman is serving as designated hitter.  

Texas native Grayson Rodriguez is making his first career start in Houston. He faced the Astros last season at Camden Yards and allowed two runs in six innings.

Rodriguez has made three starts this month and allowed five earned runs in 19 1/3 innings. He’s walked two batters and struck out 16.

They did it the hard way. It began last Friday where the Orioles were headed into a six-game stretch versus Philadelphia and the New York Yankees, the teams with the two best records in their respective leagues.

Where some fans might have been happy with a 3-3 split, the Orioles won both series and go 4-2 in this stretch. And yes, they did do it the hard way, losing the series-opening game each time and then winning two in a row.

They did it by bashing two of baseball’s best pitchers in 2024 in Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler and Yankees right-hander Luis Gil.

Wheeler entered his start against the Orioles Sunday – in the game that was to decide that series – at 8-3 with a 2.16 ERA. His ERA was 1.57 in his previous five starts. Then the Orioles got nine hits and eight runs off him by hitting four homers against him in 4 1/3 innings. Wheeler entered that start with a 0.62 HR rate on the year among the best in baseball. But against the Orioles he allowed a career-high in homers and tied his career high for earned runs.

Then in the game to decide the series in the Bronx, they faced Gil. He entered his start at 9-1 with a 2.03 ERA and was 8-0 with an ERA of 1.14 in his previous nine starts. He had given up 4.4 hits per every nine innings this year.

NEW YORK – Ryan Mountcastle pulled into second base, turned to the visiting dugout and pumped his fist with such force that he could have flattened a bull.

A punch was finally thrown in the series. It landed flush.

The Orioles held their composure for three games. They got hit and took their base. Couldn’t be lured into a fight or a war of words but wouldn’t back down from the first-place team in their division in a hostile environment.

They sent 12 batters to the plate in the second inning and scored six runs to build on their early lead. The pummeling was done to Luis Gil, who began the day with the lowest ERA in the American League. No one is immune.

A 17-5 victory allowed the Orioles to move within a half-game of the Yankees. They set a major league record by going 22 division series in a row with a win or split.

The Orioles (48-25) and the New York Yankees (51-25) are now separated by just 1.5 games in the standings with New York in first place heading into today's third and deciding game of the current series.

The Yankees won 4-2 on Tuesday night and the Orioles won 7-6 in 10 innings last night. The Orioles are 4-2 versus the Yankees this year and five of those six games were decided by two runs or fewer with Baltimore going 3-2 in those games.

A win today would give the Orioles back-to-back series wins over the Phillies and Yankees after losing the first game of each series.

The Orioles have had just one day off since May 31 but have gone 13-6 in this span against the Rays, Jays, Braves, Phillies and Yankees.

The Orioles are 18-7 (.720) in games this year versus American League East teams while the Yankees are 10-11 (.476).

NEW YORK - Jordan Westburg was on the field early today to perform agility drills and test his bruised left hip. He did fine and is starting at second base this afternoon in the series finale against the Yankees.

Left-hander Cole Irvin is 6-3 with a 3.03 ERA and 1.229 WHIP in 13 games (11 starts). He’s made three career appearances against New York, including two starts, and gone 0-2 with an 8.31 ERA and 1.615 WHIP in only 13 innings. He’s allowed 12 runs and 15 hits and walked six batters.

Irvin has allowed a .329 average against this month after he held opponents to a .212 average in May. Opponents are hitting .314 on his fastball this month compared to .200 in May.

DJ LeMahieu is 4-for-7 with a double. Giancarlo Stanton is 3-for-6 with a home run. Aaron Judge, who sat out last night’s game with a sore left hand, is 2-for-4 with a homer.

The Orioles haven’t lost a division series in the last 21, tying the major league record. They need a win today to maintain the streak.

The Yankees Aaron Judge was not happy. He got plunked by a pitch in the hand on Tuesday night and missed Wednesday's game.

He was quoted by New York media after Tuesday's game.

“Definitely pissed,” Judge said about the pitch that got him. “There was a couple balls up and in. It’s part of it. They like to throw in.”

If they, the Orioles, like to throw in, where do the Yankees like to throw?

As of game time last night, New York pitchers had hit 40 batters this year to lead the American League. With 24, the Orioles staff tied for 12th most. The team with the fewest HPs in the AL had hit 23 batters. Yankees pitchers had hit the Orioles five times this year and O's pitchers had hit the Yankees three times.

NEW YORK – The Orioles are two-thirds into a series hyped by media as a do-or-die matchup. Lose two games or get swept and don’t bothering playing out the rest of the season.

The club tried to downplay it after the last homestand. Manager Brandon Hyde and his players can read the standings. They also can read a calendar.

If you’re still reading this, here are a few thoughts and opinions about what’s transpired at Yankee Stadium.

* The fuss over the hit-by-pitches in the first game was over the top.

Not unexpected, mind you. Just way over the top.