As the Orioles begin the second-half tonight, they take the field in Texas at 58-38 and are leading the AL East by one game over the New York Yankees and 4.5 over the Boston Red Sox.

It looks like the division race could be tight all year and it’s now a three-team, not just a two-team chase.

The O’s .604 win percentage has been dragged down by the 1-5 homestand they finished on Sunday and by going 9-13 since June 21.

On June 20 they were 49-25 and a ½-game out of first in the division, playing .662 ball and on a 107-win pace.

But even in going 9-13 they gained 1.5 games on the Yankees to now lead the division as New York is 7-14 in that time. The O’s are now playing at a 98-win pace.

When the Orioles took the field last October for Game 1 of the American League Division Series against Texas, they looked like a pretty complete team. One that produced 101 wins and a division championship, had an emerging young talent base and a few different ways to beat their opponent.

There was at least one element missing however – they had little playoff experience.

A few veteran players had played in the postseason before, such as Aaron Hicks, Adam Frazier and James McCann and a few pitchers had a few postseason innings like Kyle Gibson, Jacob Webb and Jack Flaherty, but the core of the roster did not. Their young talent which led the club all year, did not.

Was that the reason Texas swept the Orioles three in a row? Well, not the only reason but more likely one of many. The five-day layoff between the regular season and the first playoff game seemed challenging for several teams that won 100 games to include the Orioles. That was another factor. So was the fact that within the playoffs, teams generate their own momentum, and it can come fast. Texas swept two straight from Tampa Bay and was a team starting to roll when they arrived in Baltimore.

They let the AL West get away from them late in the year. But as a No. 5 seed, they rolled to the World Series title. The playoffs are a crapshoot and unpredictable and that has as much to do with the loss as anything most likely.

When the Orioles took the field for Game 1 of the American League Division Series, we would be watching the eventual World Series champion. It just would not be the team in Orange and Black.

But the Texas Rangers, a team that lost 102 games in 2021 and went 68-94 last year. A team that won just 90 games this year and a team that from Aug. 16-Sept. 8 went 4-16 and was outscored by 61 runs. Yep, that team. A team that went 1-3 on the season’s final weekend to let the AL West get away and enter the playoffs as the No. 5 AL seed.

The Rangers had a losing record on the road during the regular season, going 40-41. So of course, they went 11-0 on the road in the playoffs. They had a losing record in one-run games (14-22) during the regular year. So of course, they went 3-1 in one-run games during the postseason and 2-0 in two-run games. A team that entered the postseason with the bullpen ranked 11^th in the AL. And of course, during the postseason, the trio of Jose Leclerc, Aroldis Chapman and Josh Sborz pitched to a combined 2.14 ERA.

Remember when we thought the O’s might find an edge in that while Texas’ team OPS at home ranked first in the AL, they were just seventh on the road.

The Rangers this year had the 10^th-best team ERA in the American League at 4.28. That is 10th as in better than just five clubs. We should all remember that the next time someone says the O’s pitching is not good enough to win the WS.

For the Baltimore Orioles - a division champion coming off 101 wins, a team with higher expectations than they've had in years and a team with a talented young roster - it's nice to have options.

And I don't mean player options, although that roster flexibility is always important for any club.

No, I mean options for the front office. I mean choices. As they look to improve this club there are a lot of different directions they can go to look to do that.

There were no glaring weaknesses on the 2023 Orioles. There are no areas that you can say this team better have this or that or they won't win again.

One of the strengths of the '23 club was that it had a lot of strengths. They were good home and road. They were strong in close games. They scored the fourth most runs in the AL and finished fifth in team ERA. They finished first in team ERA in the second half. The defense featured playmakers. They even ran the bases pretty well. They had plenty of young talent and more is on the way.

ARLINGTON, Texas - For the Orioles there was sort of a clear theme to their postgame interviews last night after the Game 3 loss to Texas. The Rangers took an early 6-0 lead on their way to a 7-1 win and a series sweep in the American League Division Series.

Proud of a very good season and AL East championship. But also hoping and truly believing this is just the first step for this talented group of players.

They got swept three straight by Texas and the country didn't get to see the Orioles that we saw most of the year. Take the experience and learn from it. Use it as motivation to return next season and go farther.

"We have a lot of guys who have never been to the postseason before. So, this hurts and it's okay to hurt," manager Brandon Hyde said. "It's okay to have this kind of fuel to your fire in the off-season. It's going to take a while for us to get over this a little bit. But I think our guys will come in hunting and hungry in spring training. The guys coming back, especially the young guys, know what this feels like, know what it tastes like, and it sucks. If they did soak it in a little bit, they're going to be better for it down the road."

Outfielder Austin Hays expressed similar sentiments. I asked him when he has time this offseason to look back on the 2023 season, what will come to mind?

ARLINGTON, Texas – Some games are called “must win” but they really are not. But you can use those words for the Orioles tonight. After an amazing season, a surprise (to many) AL East championship and 101 wins, they need one more tonight to force a Game 4 against Texas in the American League Division Series.

In September the Orioles twice lost the first two games of key four-game series, both at home versus Tampa Bay and at Cleveland, and yet won the third and fourth games to split those series. This time they have to do that and one better.

It started on the mound in those earlier games against the Rays and Guardians. In the four wins, O’s pitching allowed zero, four, one and one run.

Catcher Adley Rutschman was asked before Monday’s workout at Globe Life Field about the club’s ability this year to put losses behind them quickly and how they do that?

“I think our team is really process-oriented,” said Rutschman. “So, each game is a new game, and we try to treat it as such. And you know, learn from anything from the day before and then move on. Our guys do a good job of banding together and trying to just focus on the here and now.”

Next stop Arlington, Tex. That is where the Orioles are headed looking for a win. What they hope is the first of three in a row over the next five days to save their season.

The Texas Rangers ended the regular season losing three of four at Seattle to let the AL West title get away. They were 40-41 on the road this year. None of that mattered as first they took out the 99-win Tampa Bay Rays, winning two on the road. And now they have a 2-0 lead in games in a best-of-five on the 101 win Orioles. Winning two in Baltimore.

In Game 1, the Orioles didn't hit enough. In Game 2 they didn't pitch well enough. Not nearly losing 11-8. The 11 runs allowed is the most they have ever given up in their postseason history, which amounts to 94 games since 1966.

They walked 11 batters and six of them scored and all 11 helped the Rangers to the win.

In the quiet of the postgame clubhouse, Gunnar Henderson who went 2-for-4 with a homer, expressed confidence they have another three-game win streak in them.

Players filtered onto the field earlier today to begin their workout leading into Saturday’s Game 1 of the American League Division Series. The batting cage set up. Ground balls hit to infielders. Pitchers throwing in the bullpen. Members of the grounds crew leaning against the dugout railing with arms folded, knowing they were in for a long day with the Rangers following the Orioles.

It seemed routine, like any other afternoon, which is what manager Brandon Hyde wanted and expected. The 163^rd game in 2023 wasn’t rattling anyone’s cage.

“We have so much inexperience and so many guys that haven't had postseason experience,” Hyde said. “Just today I got to the park, it's really loose, and that's a great sign. Their workouts have gone really well the last few days. I don't feel any tension or guys feeling nervous about the games coming up. Our clubhouse right now is pretty loud and seems very, very normal like the regular season, and that's what I was hoping was going to happen.”  

The stands were empty but a sellout crowd is coming Saturday. Playoff baseball in Baltimore for the first time since 2014.

“It's been exciting,” said catcher Adley Rutschman. “It was cool to have fans out on Wednesday for the sim game and just feel the energy of people getting excited. I think we're excited for Saturday and ready to get going.

I first met Matt Hicks somewhere I guess it was in 1985 or 1986 maybe as we were both broadcasting high school football and teams we were covering were going to play each other in the Maryland state playoffs. It was Frederick High of Frederick County on my end against McDonough High of Charles County, the team Matt was covering. 

He was an outstanding broadcaster then and remains that many years later as a radio broadcaster in his 11^th year with the Texas Rangers. Matt has broadcast baseball play-by-play for 34 years and from 1989-1994 broadcast the games of the O’s Frederick Keys affiliate.

A Washington, D.C. native who grew up following his hometown Senators until they moved, Matt would later get his baseball fix attending games with friends and traveling to 33^rd Street watching the Orioles at Memorial Stadium. He grew up in Prince George’s County, is a graduate of Bladensburg High and is a 1983 University of Maryland grad. This Terp is back in the state where he grew up. When we see each other this weekend, neither of us is covering high school football any longer, but those were fun days too.

The Rangers and Orioles play Game 1 of the American League Division Series tomorrow afternoon. The winner of the best-of-five series advances to the AL Championship Series.

The Rangers are on what amounts to a two-week road trip. Starting Sept. 25, they ended the regular season with three games in Anaheim against the Angels and four in Seattle vs. the Mariners. When they failed to win the AL West on the final day, it was a cross-country flight to Tampa where they would beat the Tampa Bay Rays two in a row, and they landed in Baltimore Thursday afternoon.

Brandon Hyde has fielded the same question multiple times in recent days about whether he’s reached out to other managers with playoff experience leading into Saturday’s Division Series. Whether he’s picked their brains about the differences between his dugout duties during the regular season and in October and what he can expect.

Former Rays manager Joe Maddon’s name has come up, since they’re good friends. Hyde said he intended to speak with him.

Hyde also can make it much easier on himself by sitting down with or standing next to his bench coach, Fredi González, who managed the Braves from 2011 until his firing in 2016. His club played in the 2012 wild card game and won its division the following year. He's been there.

A total of five games past the regular season, with the only win against the Dodgers in the Division Series.

“We have spoken a little bit,” González said. “Just the other day he asked me how many games I have managed in the postseason. Not as many as Joe Maddon and those guys. But the experience I gained from those five games, it’s fast, and you don’t necessarily need to give a long leash to a starter because you have the off-days built in. And I think that you have to be prepared to make moves and maybe be unconventional at times. But the biggest thing for me is it’s fast and everything’s under the microscope, and if something doesn’t work out, then you get dissected until the next game – good, bad or indifferent.”

When the regular season was winding down for the Orioles, they went through an eight-game stretch from Sept. 15-22 when they allowed nine runs once, seven runs twice and five runs twice. But then their pitching was really rolling in the season’s final eight games, pitching two shutouts in that span and allowing one run or less five times.

But the Baltimore offense was certainly not rolling. They hit just .138 scoring eight runs in the last four-game series versus Boston. In the last 11 games, the Orioles scored two runs or fewer seven times.

But over the long haul, the stats covering all 162 games, this just served to improve the O’s in the pitching stats. Their final team ERA of 3.89 ranks fifth best in the American League. And while their final runs scored per game dipped under 5.00 to finish at 4.98, that is still fourth best in the AL.

And while there are many different stats we could look at to evaluate their pitching and offense, ranking fifth in pitching ERA and fourth in scoring is a pretty good combination, one that led this team to 101 wins.

But should Birdland worry about an offense that scored just 32 runs while hitting only three homers in those last 11 games?

The Orioles know which team to prepare for, the opponent that dictates how their roster is constructed in the American League Division Series.

No other reasons to wait. The Rangers eliminated the Rays in the wild card round by a combined score of 11-1. The matchup is set.

The teams split six games this season, with Texas taking two of three at Camden Yards in May, including a 12-2 victory in the series opener. The Rangers were the Orioles' first road opponent and lost twice.

Jacob deGrom prevented a sweep with one earned run and 11 strikeouts in six innings, but he hasn’t pitched since April 28 and underwent Tommy John surgery two months later. Austin Voth was charged with the loss after relieving Grayson Rodriguez and allowing three runs in 1 1/3 innings, but he isn’t with the club.

Hardly worth mentioning, I suppose, but there it is.

The Orioles host the Texas Rangers tonight in the second of a three-game series and seven-game homestand that will also include a series with the Los Angeles Angels.

The Orioles took an early 2-0 lead on the Fourth of July and then fell behind 5-2 in the fifth. They tied the game 5-5, fell behind 6-5 on Marcus Semien's homer in the ninth but tied it 6-6 on Adley Rutschman's RBI double with two outs in the ninth. And they won it 7-6 when Jorge Mateo was hit by a pitch with no outs and the bases loaded in the last of the 10th.

The Orioles (37-44) reached the midpoint of the 162-game season with Monday's win. They have won two in a row and eight of the last 14 games. They are 10-7 over the past 17 games, 13-9 in 22 and 23-20 since they were 10 games under .500 on May 19. They are 30-30 since May 1 and are 19-17 at home.

Most walk-off wins in MLB:

10 - New York Yankees
6 - Orioles, San Diego Padres
5 - Minnesota Twins, Tampa Bay Rays
4 - 7 teams tied 

Austin Hays has his right wrist wrapped and is out of tonight’s lineup against the Rangers.

Hays was hit by a pitch yesterday, but X-rays were negative. He tried to swing a bat in the cage today and said it just didn’t seem like “a good idea to try to push it and make it even worse,” so he’s sitting as a precaution.

At least he avoided the injured list.

“It’s not feeling too bad,” said Hays, who’s celebrating his 27^th birthday today. “The swelling seems like it’s stayed down, so it’s really just certain movements are what’s bothering it. It’s just like a day-to-day thing right now. X-rays were clean, no bad news from that front.

“I’ll be available off the bench tonight if I need to. … Let the trainers do their thing and treat it, and it should be good to go either tomorrow or the next day.”

Dane Dunning’s 89 mph sinker dug into Austin Hays’ right wrist today in the second inning. Hays slammed down the bat, spiked his elbow guard and voiced his displeasure as he walked to first base.

Nothing aimed at the Rangers’ starter. Just some general venting.

Getting hit has become a major issue for the Orioles.  

The pitch wasn’t intentional. They usually aren’t. But the pain is real.

Hays has a well-documented injury history and doesn’t appreciate being hit under any circumstances.

What a crazy way to win a crazy game.

A walk-off hit by pitch in the last of the 10^th. That is how the Orioles beat the Texas Rangers 7-6 today to start a series and week-long homestand. This after they fell behind in the top of the ninth and had to score in the home half to tie it up.

Lefty Matt Moore came on for Texas in the 10^th with placed runner Austin Hays on second base. He then muffed a bunt attempt by Rougned Odor that was scored a hit to put runners on the corners, and then walked Ramón Urías intentionally to load the bases with no outs. Moore’s next pitch hit shortstop Jorge Mateo near the left knee and he limped toward first base as the game ended in bizarre fashion.

A walk-off hit by pitch giving the Orioles a record of 37-44 at the midpoint of their year with their sixth walk-off win of 2022. They were 27-54 at this point in the 2021 season.

An inning earlier we saw what was likely Adley Rutschman's biggest hit as an Oriole and it forced extra innings. Down to their last out in the ninth down by one, Rutschman lined a double off the right field wall to tie Texas 6-6 and force a 10th inning. Rutschman lined a 96 mph fastball from closer Joe Barlow for the tie. He began today 0-for-15 his previous four games.

After ending a four-game losing streak and hanging on for a 3-1 win Sunday at Minnesota, the Orioles make a quick turnaround today for a day game on the Fourth of July against the Texas Rangers. It is the opener of a three-game series and seven-game homestand that also includes four games with the Los Angeles Angels.

Right-hander Tyler Wells produced his latest strong start in the Twins series finale, allowing three hits and one run over six innings with one walk and a career-high seven strikeouts. He improved to 7-4 with a 3.09 ERA for an O’s team that allowed just eight runs in the weekend series.

Wells has allowed one run or less in each of his last four starts and has been the winning pitcher for the last five, going 5-0 with an ERA of 1.93 in that span. The Orioles have won his past seven games and his ERA is 1.89 during that 7-0 run.

O’s starting pitchers have been on a tremendous roll, allowing one earned run or less in 13 of the past 16 games, with a rotation ERA of 2.03 in that span.

Today's game with Texas marks the first time the Orioles have played at home on the Fourth of July since 2008, also against Texas. The O's won that game, 10-4. The Orioles have played in Baltimore on Independence Day 19 times in club history, going 14-4-1 with a 6-6 tie against Kansas City in 1964 at Memorial Stadium. The O's have hosted six Fourth of July matchups at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, going 4-2.